"EPA Won’t Say Which Areas Don’t Meet Obama Smog Rule"

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) won’t yet say which areas of the country do not meet the Obama administration’s 2015 regulation on ozone.

The agency certified Monday that 2,646 counties, two tribal areas and five territories, or about 85 percent of the nation’s counties, meet the new standard of 70 parts per billion of ozone in ambient air, down from the previous 75 parts per billion.

But officials said they would not yet declare the areas of “nonattainment,” places that exceed the new limit, because they are “not yet prepared.”

The EPA was required under the Clean Air Act to make all the decisions by Oct. 1."

Timothy Cama reports for The Hill November 6, 2017.