WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
EPA to Consider Slashing Smog in the American West

Agency Responds to WildEarth Guardians' Petition Filed Last December to Fix Flawed Clean Air Regulations in 16 Western States, Tackle Interstate Transport of Air Pollution
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

DENVER - In an initial response to a petition filed by WildEarth Guardians, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to consider whether it should take aggressive action to cut smog throughout the American West.

On December 23, 2008, WildEarth Guardians formally petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to force 16 states to revise their air quality regulations, and to establish standards for limiting the interstate transport of ozone air pollution, the key ingredient of smog. In a letter dated January 28, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it intends to review the petition and consider whether to take further action.

"This is a breath of fresh air," said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. "It shows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking the issue of smog in the American West seriously. That's good news for clean air and clean energy."

Ozone air pollution is a poisonous gas that forms when sunlight reacts with pollution from tailpipes, smokestacks, and industrial operations, such as oil and gas drilling. It can scar the lungs of children, trigger asthma attacks, and cause premature death. Federal standards limit ozone concentrations in the air to no more than 0.075 parts per million over an eight-hour period, a very small concentration that reflects the danger of this pollutant.

WildEarth Guardians' petition was filed in response to mounting evidence showing the American West will be blanketed in smog by 2018. Already, many areas suffering from harmful levels of ozone air pollution. Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other cities have violated federal clean air standards limiting ozone. However the problem is spreading, even affecting rural communities.

Air quality in northwestern New Mexico and western Wyoming violated ozone limits in 2008, while hazardous ozone days were reported from remote areas like southern Utah's Zion National Park and Nevada's Great Basin National Park. Already in 2009, three exceedances of ozone health standards have been reported from northwestern New Mexico.

Recent modeling projects further clean air declines in the American West. By 2018, all or portions of 16 Western States are expected to exceed ozone air pollution limits. The modeling, prepared for the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP), which is associated with the Western Governors' Association, projects ozone levels will be highest over much of the Southwestern United States and Southern Idaho.

The modeling also shows that ozone is a regional problem in the American West due to interstate transport of pollution. A draft white paper prepared for the Western Regional Air Partnership stated, "[C]ontrary to assessments of the impacts of the new ozone standards based on EPA's model predictions, WRAP's modeling efforts highlight the regional nature of the ozone air quality problem throughout the Western US." The white paper continued, "Within the WRAP region, the ozone air quality problem is clearly a regional issue, as evidenced by regional [ozone] modeling results[.]"

Transport of ozone air pollution is a known problem in the Eastern United States, but has largely been overlooked in the American West. Mounting evidence shows that slashing smog will require regional solutions that address transport among the Western States.

"With air quality projected to worsen throughout the West, we need regional solutions, not piecemeal plans or fingerpointing," said Nichols. "We hope the Environmental Protection Agency will ultimately provide the leadership and direction needed to put the West on course for clean air."

WildEarth Guardians' petition called on the Environmental Protection Agency to take an aggressive, comprehensive, and expeditious approach to tackling ozone air pollution in the American West, as required by the Clean Air Act. The petition called on the agency to:

* Force 16 Western States to revise their air quality regulations to strengthen ozone air pollution safeguards by 2013. Modeling shows that air quality regulations in the West are failing or will soon exceed limits on ozone air pollution.

* Designate a Western States Interstate Transport Region within 18 months. The designation of an Interstate Transport Region will prioritize the development of regional solutions to tackle ozone air pollution.

* Create a Western States Ozone Interstate Transport Commission. Interstate Transport Commissions are charged with assessing the degree of transport, assessing strategies for combating interstate transport, and recommending strategies for adoption by the EPA.

"Ultimately, this is about clean energy and smart growth," said Nichols. "We need to chart a sustainable path forward for the West, that means shifting away from fossil fuels and unchecked growth, and shifting toward renewable energy, efficiency, and smarter planning."

WildEarth Guardians is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring the American West and is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico with offices in Denver, Phoenix, Bozeman, and Oakland, CA. For a copy of the EPA's response letter, contact Jeremy Nichols with WildEarth Guardians, jnichols@wildearthguardians.org.