North Carolina is on track to meet the new ozone compliance standard, with the entire state currently meeting the new, more stringent standard the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopted Oct. 1.

“This is the first time that North Carolina has been in full compliance with a new ozone standard at the time it was adopted by the EPA,” Department of Environmental Quality Director Sheila Holman said.  

The new standard is that areas not have an eight-hour period averaging an ozone reading over 70 parts per billion, compared to the 2008 standard of 75 ppb. For the past three years, all air quality monitors in North Carolina have already been in compliance with the new tougher standard, according to the state’s preliminary analysis. 

Compare that to the early 2000s, when about one-third of North Carolina counties were classified as non-attainment for ozone, and Code Red and Orange ozone alerts were a frequent occurrence during summer months. Ozone during the past three years has been the lowest since the state began monitoring the air in the early 1970s, due to declining emissions from vehicles, power plants and industry. The improvement is also a result of EPA regulations and the state’s Clean Smokestacks Act of 2002, which required coal-fired power plants to reduce their emissions by about three-fourths.