Blame Utah for state’s air pollution

The EPA does

BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN

ere’s a new strategy in Colorado’s ght against dangerous ozone air pollution: e amount of ozone that Utah is pumping toward Colorado violates the federal “good neighbor” rules of the Clean Air Act, which have been used in the past to force Eastern states to clean up coal plants to help downwind states. e EPA rejected Utah’s State Implementation Plan (SIP) for cutting ozone in February and told the state to prepare more cuts, including adding expensive scrubbing equipment to a handful of coal power plants in Utah and Wyoming.

Blame Utah.

Coal- red power plants and oil and gas drilling in northeastern Utah are responsible for ozone drifting to the east into Colorado’s nine-county nonattainment zone for the pollutant, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Utah’s legislature agreed something needed to be done and set aside $2 million — for legal fees to sue the EPA and avoid the extra cleanup.

“Utah is not being a good neighbor,” said Robert Ukeiley, Colorado senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonpro t that 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 re- duce 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