Utah won't meet EPA proposed air rules

Utah will not be able to meet new air pollution standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, a state official says.

"We are meeting the health standards today," said Cheryl Heying, branch manager for the Utah Division of Air Quality, "but if this proposal goes through, given the data that we have now, we should not be able to meet the proposed standard."

That could be especially bad news for Utah County motorists who just last year won a reprieve from having to use oxygenated fuel during winter months due to air pollution violations that occurred in 1991. County gas stations were required to sell the controversial fuel mix — which some car owners blamed for excessive engine wear — from Nov. 1 through the end of February each winter for 13 years.

The new EPA requirements involve the smallest particles of air pollution, those 2.5 microns or less in diameter. They are the type of material that can go deep into the lungs and lodge there, possibly causing damage.

In announcing the proposal, EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson said America's air is the cleanest it has been in a generation and this is the next step in a steady march toward cleaner air, an EPA press release indicates.

According to the release, the particulate matter is a mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. It can come from smoke from a fire or it can form in the atmosphere from the reactions of gases like sulfur dioxide, EPA added.

Larger particulates, such as dust kicked up by tilling fields, may be filtered out of the body, said Heying. But the body doesn't have as many defenses against tiny particles.

The new regulation for 2.4-micron particulates would require that samplers may capture no more than 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air, collected for 24 hours. The present standard is 65 micrograms. Under the proposal, the standard must be met 98 percent of the time or more.

EPA is in the public comment period on the new standards and has not yet promulgated them. In 1997, the agency actually promulgated the present standards, and they are just now going into effect.

The reason for the delay is that the rules were fought all the way to the Supreme Court. A court challenge could happen with the latest refinement, preventing their taking effect for years.

Once the newly proposed rules become law, what will Utah do if it can't meet the standards?

"We'll look at what is causing the pollution," said Heying.

Experts will examine the air pollution filters and analyze the material, she said. They attempt to trace the sources.

"Then we'll strategize with a group of stakeholders," Heying said, "to figure out how to lower the pollution."

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