The process is now half-complete: results from the EPA's most recent monitoring have led the agency to make its preliminary declarations as to which areas attained the agency's lead standards, and which fell short.

The EPA has determined that 16 areas across the country are not meeting the agency's national air quality standards for lead. These areas, located in 11 states, were designated as "nonattainment" because their 2007 to 2009 air quality monitoring data showed that they did not meet the agency's health-based standards.

Follow the chart below to see a list of counties designated for non-attainment – (p) means only part of the county was designated:

State	Area Name	Counties
Alabama	Troy	Pike (p)
American Samoa	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Arizona	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Arkansas	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
California	Los Angeles County South Coast Air Basin	Los Angeles (p)
Delaware	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Florida	Tampa	Hillsborough (p)
Georgia	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Guam	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Hawaii	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Indiana	Muncie	Delaware (p)
Iowa	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Kansas	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Kentucky	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
llinois	Granite City	Madison (p)
Louisiana	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Maryland	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Michigan	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Minnesota	Eagan	Dakota (p)
Mississippi	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Missouri	Iron	Dent (p)
Missouri	Iron	Iron (p)
Missouri	Iron	Reynolds (p)
Missouri	Jefferson	Jefferson (p)
Nebraska	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Nevada	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
New Mexico	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
North Carolina	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Northern Mariana Islands	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Ohio	Bellafontaine	Logan (p)
Ohio	Cleveland	Cuyahoga (p)
Ohio	Delta	Fulton (p)
Oklahoma	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Pennsylvania	Beaver (p)	-
Pennsylvania	Lower Beaver Valley	-
Pennsylvania	Lyons	Berks (p)
Pennsylvania	North Reading	Berks (p)
South Carolina	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Tennessee	Bristol	Sullivan (p)
Texas	Frisco	Collin (p)
Virginia	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Washington, D.C.	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
West Virginia	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-
Wisconsin	Final designations deferred until October 2011	-

In October 2008, the EPA strengthened the nation's air quality standards for lead tenfold to 0.15 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air. The agency also finalized requirements for new monitors to be located near large sources of lead emissions. The EPA has data from existing monitors indicating violations of the standards, and is currently collecting data from new monitors that began operation in January 2010.

Areas designated as not meeting the standard will need to develop and implement plans to reduce pollution to meet the lead standards. Nonattainment areas must meet the standards by Dec. 31, 2015.

The EPA plans to designate areas as meeting or not meeting the standards in two rounds. In the first round announced Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010, the agency designated areas that do not meet the standards based on air quality monitoring data from the existing lead monitoring network. In October 2011, the agency will use data from new monitors to complete a second round of designations that will classify the remaining areas in attainment, unclassifiable or nonattainment.

National average concentrations of lead in the air have dropped almost 92 percent nationwide since 1980, largely the result of the agency's phase-out of lead in gasoline.

SOURCE: EPA press release