EPA expected to downgrade metro Atlanta's air quality rating

ATLANTA - Metro Atlanta come the new year is expected to join a handful of other urban areas around the country labeled as a severe violator of federal anti-pollution regulations. <br> <br> Jimmy Palmer, regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is expected to sign a notice to downgrade metro Atlanta&#39;s 13-county region from a ``serious&#39;&#39; to ``severe&#39;&#39; violator of the Clean Air Act. <br> <br> The designation means the Atlanta area has until November 2005 to clean up its air pollution. Other regions that will carry the designation on Jan. 1 include Philadelphia, Sacramento, Calif. and Ventura County, Calif. <br> <br> The change in designation for metro Atlanta means gasoline suppliers will have to deliver federally approved fuel and as many as 100 businesses now considered minor polluters will be redesignated as major polluters and therefore will be more tightly regulated. <br> <br> It also means the state will have to show that metro Atlanta has decreased nitrogen oxide emissions by 3 percent every year from 1999 to 2005. <br> <br> Environmentalists say they hope the state does not squander the opportunity to come up with a viable plan to improve air quality.