The EPA announced Tuesday that the deadline to determine non-attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards on ozone will be delayed by one year. The standard is part of the Clean Air Act and in 2015 designations were lowered from 75 part per billion to 70 parts per billion, affecting many areas including the Uintah Basin. States have been working on their proposals for area designations and areas designated as in “nonattainment” of the standard are facing consequences including increased regulations, restrictions on infrastructure, and increased costs to businesses. The delay is considered great news for the Uintah Basin as it offers more time to make their case for minimal versus moderate or severe nonattainment. “We are arguing for and making the case that we are in minimal nonattainment because atmospheric intrusion caused days with high ratings,” says Uintah County Commissioner Bill Stringer. “Those exceedances had nothing to do with us and if those days were thrown out then we would be in minimum nonattainment which is something different. We don’t know the full extent of what this delay does but I’m hopeful that it at least allows time to handle and make a decision on atmospheric intrusion.” The continued hope is that more time will illuminate the real cause of ozone exceedances before blindly marching into nonattainment to take on expensive fixes that may not even work.
