San Antonio: Current Attainment Status

Note: This table is intended to provide a listing of designations and classifications for current, active NAAQS. While NAAQS which have been revoked by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) do not appear in this table, some anti-backsliding obligations may continue to apply for revoked standards. This table is to be used for informational purposes only and should not be used to determine regulatory requirements in any of the counties listed.

San Antonio Area Attainment Status by Pollutant

*The EPA revoked the one-hour ozone standard and the 1997 eight-hour ozone standard in all areas, although some areas have continuing obligations under these standards. See ozone history for more information.

**The standard is scheduled to be revoked one year after the effective date of final designations for the 75 ppb standard.

For more information on attainment status, visit the EPA's Green Book webpage regarding nonattainment areas for criteria pollutants.

San Antonio Attainment and Nonattainment Areas

2015 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard Designations: Moderate Nonattainment (Bexar County), effective November 7, 2022 ( 87 FR 60897 )
On October 1, 2015, the EPA lowered the primary and secondary eight-hour ozone NAAQS to 0.070 parts per million (ppm) (effective December 28, 2015, 80 FR 65292 ). On July 25, 2018, the EPA designated Bexar County as nonattainment with a marginal classification and designated Atascosa, Bandera, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina, and Wilson Counties as attainment/unclassifiable, effective September 24, 2018. On October 7, 2022, the EPA reclassified Bexar County from marginal to moderate nonattainment. The attainment date for moderate nonattainment areas is August 3, 2024 with a 2023 attainment year.

2008 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard Designations: Unclassifiable/Attainment, effective July 20, 2012 ( 77 FR 30088 )  
On March 27, 2008, the EPA lowered the primary and secondary eight-hour ozone NAAQS to 0.075 parts per million (ppm) ( 73 FR 16436 ). Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, and Wilson Counties were designated unclassifiable/attainment under the 2008 eight-hour ozone NAAQS, effective July 20, 2012.   

1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard Designations:  Attainment, April 2, 2008 ( 73 FR 17897 )
Counties: Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Wilson

On November 17, 2004, the commission adopted revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Austin, San Antonio and Northeast Texas Early Action Compact (EAC) areas and 30 TAC 114  and 115 . The  San Antonio EAC SIP Revision consists of an eight-hour ozone attainment demonstration for the area based on the local plan submitted to the TCEQ in March 2004 under its EAC.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards

The EPA has set NAAQS for six principal criteria pollutants: ground-level ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter. 

No later than one year after promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS for any pollutant, the governor must submit designation recommendations to the EPA for all areas of the state. The EPA must then promulgate the designations within two years of promulgation of the revised NAAQS. Areas that do not meet (or contribute to ambient air quality in a nearby area that does not meet) the NAAQS are designated nonattainment. Areas that meet the NAAQS are designated attainment; and areas that cannot be classified based on the available information, unclassifiable.

For ozone, the Federal Clean Air Act establishes nonattainment area classifications ranked according to the severity of the area’s air pollution problem. These classifications—marginal, moderate, serious, severe, and extreme—translate to varying requirements with which areas must comply in order to meet the ozone standard.