CLEAN AIR

works extensively on air pollution issues and the Clean Air Act.

e neighbors, in the form of the Utah Attorney General’s o ce, declined comment, citing the lawsuit Utah led in February to block the EPA’s bad neighbor declaration. In voting to fund the lawsuit, Utah lawmakers argued the EPA ruling would force closures of vital power plants, though environmental groups say e ective control equipment can greatly reduce the pollutants.

Colorado environmental groups want the Colorado state government to intervene with the EPA in favor of the Utah restrictions. Backing up the EPA should be part of Colorado’s overall ozone ght, which they say should also include tougher restrictions at home on Front Range oil and gas drilling and transportation emissions. It’s the equivalent of free money in the di cult battle to reduce ozone, which had been declining but then leveled o and began rising again in recent years.

“ ere’s an opportunity for Colorado to join in a lawsuit to help reduce pollution, but the Polis administration has decided not to,” Ukeiley said.

Colorado regulators said in a statement they are monitoring the good neighbor case against Utah.

“We have not joined EPA good neighbor suits in the past,” according to a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment spokesperson. “We are laser focused on continuing the work to protect clean air in Colorado for all.” e EPA’s proposed restrictions on Utah, which the agency says would take e ect in mid-March, are part of a sweeping e ort to declare “good neighbor” sanctions for 26 states under the Clean Air Act. e EPA reduced the ceiling on cities’ ozone allowances in 2015 to 70 parts per billion, with some scientists arguing the limits should be far lower to protect human health. e EPA’s justi cation for the new good neighbor rulings, published in the Federal Register, says the agency’s well-established monitoring methods show Utah contribut- ing more than the 1% threshold of regulated substances to other states. “Its highest-level contribution is 1.29 parts per billion to Douglas County, Colorado,” the EPA said. at number appears small, but the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission and the Regional Air Quality Council spend countless hours discussing strategies and policies to potentially shave a part or two per billion o summer ozone levels in the Front Range nonattainment area. Readings in recent summers have spiked above 80 ppb at some monitors.

It’s too bad, Ukeiley added. States on the East Coast join such lawsuits frequently in order to bolster the case against their ill-behaving neighbor states.

“But Colorado never does that,” he said.

An EPA fact sheet accompanying the good neighbor proposal says it will cut ozone-contributing nitrogen oxide by 29% from power generation across those states, saving lives, reducing asthma and preventing other respiratory illnesses. By 2026, the EPA says, the rules would eliminate up to 1,000 premature deaths, 2,400 hospital and emergency room visits and 1.3 million cases of asthma symptoms.

Some recent policy e orts have focused on reducing ozone-causing emissions from small engine lawn and garden equipment, which state o cials estimate contribute about 2.5 ppb to daily summer ozone. e Colorado oil and gas industry, seeking to head o further regulation, has pointed to the same state emissions list that attributes more than half of daily ozone to “background” sources, including naturally occurring ozone and precursors blown in from out of state, including the West Coast and Asia.

One of the EPA’s proposed solutions to ozone problems in other states has been a “cap and trade” program, where a state in violation of good neighbor policies must set an overall limit on emissions such as nitrogen oxide. Companies including power generators then decide what is the most e cient way for them to reach those lim- its, whether buying and installing scrubbing equipment or acquiring credits from other companies that are below their limits.

Environmental groups call the good neighbor rules some of the most e ective tools the EPA has to combat ozone, and note that the 2023 EPA proposal for cap and trade adds in new sources to control. ose include engines used in pumping natural gas through pipelines, cement kilns, paper mills and oil and gas re neries.

“ ose rules have saved thousands or tens of thousands of lives by reducing air pollution,” Ukeiley said.

If there’s any remaining good news for Colorado out of the EPA actions, it’s that Colorado is not among the 26 states the agency has declared to be a bad neighbor to someone else. You’re welcome, Kansas.

But Coloradans shouldn’t get smug, Ukeiley said, as long as the state fails to contain its own ozone problem.

“ e EPA has not found us to be an upwind state,” he said. “We disagree with that.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.