DENVER – Stringent air-quality standards recently announced by federal regulators could mean noncompliance for in Southwest Colorado.
The Environmental Protection Agency strengthened the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ground-level ozone to 70 parts per billion from 75 ppb last week
Ozone forms when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds react in the air. Motor vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions from power plants, gasoline vapors and chemical solvents are some of the major humanmade sources. Vegetation also releases substantial amounts of VOCs, raising questions for rural areas.
Strong sunlight and hot weather cause ground-level ozone to form and reach high concentrations, which results in cloudy smog seen in the skies.
The new standard comes as state health regulators continue to grapple with a 2008 ozone rule, suggesting that compliance with the new standard may be difficult to attain.
An August report from the Center for Regulatory Solutions highlighted the difficulty for Colorado. La Plata County would likely be in non-attainment under the 70 ppb standard, as would several other parts of the state, especially along the Front Range, the report said.
“Background ozone is a critical factor driving non-attainment, and there is almost nothing these local governments can do about it,” the report says, highlighting issues with the Western Slope. “They have small populations and almost no major industrial sources of ozone-forming emissions that could be reduced or eliminated.”
For critics of the standard, the fear is federal repercussions. The EPA has yet to impose penalties on Colorado based on the 2008 standard, but the new requirement raises concerns that sanctions might be inevitable.
“If the EPA carries out this ozone plan, Western Colorado will be placed at a terrible economic disadvantage,” said state Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango. “We have worked hard to responsibly care for our environment even as we grow and diversify our economy. Tightening the ozone standard any further just does not make sense when the existing standard, which is less than 10 years old, is working.”
EPA officials say before they ding states with penalties, the agency will require new action plans.
The Clean Air Act gives states until between 2020 and 2037 to meet the standards, depending on the violations.
The EPA will also review the standard every five years to determine whether it should be revised.
Colorado has proposed several ideas, said Dr. Larry Wolk, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Those proposals include incentives for switching to electric vehicles and phasing out older power plants, among other ideas. Colorado is already working on leak detection at oil and gas operations.
Environmental interests are worried that the standard does not go far enough.
“The EPA should seriously consider further strengthening ozone standards to bring them in line with their own independent scientific advisers,” said Pete Maysmith, executive director of Conservation Colorado.
The EPA pointed to health risks stemming from ozone, including lung disease and asthma.
The health benefits of the updated standards, estimated at $2.9 to $5.9 billion annually in 2025, outweigh the estimated costs of $1.4 billion, according to the EPA.
But business interests, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, worry about sanctions that could curtail economies, including penalties that would withhold transportation funding and halt permitting for highway and transit projects in regions unable to comply.
“This is going to be a real challenge for those places, especially in the West, that don’t have easy ways to reduce it,” said Matt Letourneau, spokesman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.
