Ogden has cleaned up its (air) act, EPA says

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed with state regulators that Ogden city has met all the clean air standards necessary to be taken off the non-compliance list for federal carbon monoxide standards.

"It is an explicit acknowledgment by EPA the state is cleaning up its act," said Rick Sprott, director of the state Division of Air Quality. "They are saying the air is clean, as far as carbon monoxide goes."

This past week, the EPA published a notice in the National Register that it had approved Ogden's plan to maintain the improved air quality, moving it from "non-attainment" status under the Clean Air Act to "maintenance" status. The public has until Oct. 14 to comment on the decision.

The EPA ruling will have no effect on current clean air rules and regulations in Ogden, Sprott said, adding the EPA decision does little more than "remove the stigma" that Ogden has dirty air.

Salt Lake City had earlier been designated by the EPA as a "maintenance" area, and Provo currently has an application pending beforethe EPA to approve its maintenance plan and get off the bad-air list.

Sprott said Ogden has not violated air quality standards in quite sometime, and Ogden has demonstrated to federal regulators that it has a plan to keep the air clean over the next 10 years.

"All of the requirements in the original air quality plan are intact," he said. "We want to make sure we avoid any backsliding."

Salt Lake and Tooele counties have a petition pending before EPA to be removed from non-attainment status for sulfur dioxide, and Ogden and Salt Lake and Utah counties have similar petitions to be removed from non-attainment status of PM-10 pollutants.

The EPA ruling on Ogden's carbon monoxide will take effect immediately after the comment period if there are no adverse comments. If there are, the final ruling will be withdrawn and EPA will respond to the concerns before submitting a new ruling.

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