RALEIGH--For the first time since 1977 the entire state of North Carolina is meeting all air quality standards. Tom Mather of the State Division of Air Quality says the Environmental Protection Agency has recognized the Charlotte metropolitan area as meeting federal ozone standards.

He says this could mean lower fuel costs for Charlotte area residents.

"We have been required in the Charlotte area to use a special blend of gasoline during the summer months that is low volatility and supposedly does not contribute to the ozone problem.  However, we don't feel that that is needed anymore, and it adds by our estimates about seven cents per gallon to the price of gasoline," he says.

Mather says with the lower fuel standards the Triad and Triangle areas saved motorists more than $18 million in the summer of 2014.

He says the Clean Smokestacks Act was a big factor in the decreasing emission of air pollution in the state. The Act required the state's coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions by about three-fourths.