The Deadlines That Failed

But even so, environmentalists have assailed the agency, saying that each missed mark sends the wrong signal.

"It sends a strong message that enforcement is not a priority," said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, which is concerned with coastal areas. "And that just encourages noncompliance with the law."

The EPA's deadline problem is a national one: In 2005, a report by the Government Accountability Office found that of 338 deadlines assigned by the Clean Air Act, the agency had met only 37.

But locally, there has been more than enough to leave environmentalists frustrated.

There was that 1979 deadline, set by the Clean Water Act, when states and the District were supposed to submit the first of their "pollution budgets," showing how much cleanup of unhealthy rivers was needed.

But, in a pattern that was repeated across the country, it took 19 years and several lawsuits from environmental groups before the first local plans were completed. Along the way, local and federal officials say, the EPA did not penalize Maryland, Virginia or the District for missing the original due date.

"It was in the law. It should have been done," said Richard Eskin, an official at the Maryland Department of the Environment.

He said one reason for the delay was that the work required sophisticated computer modeling. But, also, "EPA didn't push the states to do it."

The smog problem has had even more twists. In the early 1970s, the EPA ruled that the D.C. area violated standards for ground-level ozone, a harmful gas whose components come from power plants, factories and car exhaust, among other sources.

Since then, by the EPA's calculations, there have been unmet goals for 1977 (extended from 1975), 1987 and 1999. For years, no significant punishments were imposed -- sometimes because of laws passed by Congress, sometimes because of decisions by the EPA.

After the 1999 deadline passed, environmentalists sued, and the EPA classified the Washington region as being in "severe nonattainment" of its rules. Local jurisdictions were forced to take action to reduce ozone pollution, such as retrofitting buses and imposing new rules on power plants.

The result has been some good news: Officials say the D.C. area has made serious strides to reduce the components of smog.