Air Plan Approval; Maryland; Clean Data Determination for the Baltimore, MD Nonattainment Area for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards
Built by the Tribune's code from the Federal Register. No AI wrote this page. Published in the Federal Register May 29, 2026. Document 2026-10755. Updated Nov. 10, 2026.
- What it does
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is determining that the Baltimore, Maryland (MD) nonattainment area (the Baltimore Area or the Area) has clean data for the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS or standard). This determination is based upon quality-assured, quality-controlled, and certified ambient air monitoring data for the 2022-2024 design value (DV) period showing that the Baltimore Area attained the 2015 ozone NAAQS, with the exclusion of certain monitoring data impacted by exceptional events. The EPA is taking final agency action on portions of three exceptional event (EE) requests submitted by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) on February 2, 2024, on behalf of MD, and concurred on by the EPA on November 12, 2025. As a result of the clean data determination (CDD), under the EPA's Clean Data Policy, the EPA is suspending the requirements for the Baltimore Area to submit attainment demonstrations and associated Reasonably Available Control Measures (RACM), Reasonable Further Progress (RFP) plans, contingency measures, and other planning SIPs related to attainment of the 2015 ozone NAAQS, for as long as the Baltimore Area continues to attain the standard.
The Environmental Protection Agency's summary, as published in the Federal Register.
- What changed in the regulation
1 part of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations:
Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).
- Compared with
The Environmental Protection Agency has published 243 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 263 in all of 2025.
Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.
- What happens next and when
This final rule is effective on June 29, 2026.
The agency's dates, word for word.
The record as published
| Document number | 2026-10755 |
|---|---|
| Action | Final rule. |
| Agencies | Environmental Protection Agency |
| Published | May 29, 2026 |
| Effective date | June 29, 2026 |
| Docket | EPA-R03-OAR-2025-2532 |
Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register