- Provo and Salt Lake County recently came into compliance with air quality standards for PM2.5.
- This is the first time compliance has been achieved in 15 years.
- The milestone means the air we breathe is getting cleaner.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that the Salt Lake City and Provo areas have met the 2006 PM2.5 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard targets and are now in attainment after 15 years.
“The people of Utah deserve clean air and practical solutions that recognize the realities of life in the Salt Lake City and Provo areas,” said EPA Regional Administrator Cyrus Western.
“Meeting the PM2.5 standard underscores all of the hard work that Utah has done over the past decade to improve air quality. This demonstrates that Utah can meet federal air quality standards in a way that respects local priorities and fosters cooperative federalism,” Western said.
Since 2009, the Salt Lake City and Provo areas have been designated as nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard. EPA’s action redesignates the Salt Lake City and Provo areas from nonattainment to attainment and details how Utah will continue to meet the air quality standard through at least 2035.
This action includes control measures and technologies that are recognized as the Best Available Control Measures/Best Available Control Technologies to control PM2.5 and to ensure clean air in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality Director Bryce Bird said much of that compliance came as the result of 23 new rules targeting emissions from multiple sources.
“The state legislature also supported efforts by providing incentives for retrofitting and replacing high-emission wood stoves and diesel vehicles, alongside transit upgrades and public education campaigns. The work to support growing communities in the area by reducing air pollutant emissions continues and the state works to attain the 2015 standard for ground-level ozone in Utah’s urban counties and the Uinta Basin.”
Bird said at the outset it looked like a very challenging task, but the concerted efforts of multiple players led to this achievement.
The EPA’s approval of what is called a state implementation plan now means the areas go into two 10 year maintenance periods.
“We have to continue to demonstrate we meet the standard,” Bird said.
“Our message, too, is that we are growing so quickly we will have to continue the work that got us here in the first place to achieve the standard.”
The trick will be to stay in compliance despite the rapid growth that is taking place.
Additionally, he stressed that compliance does not mean the absence of air quality action days, so residents need to continue to do their part by minimizing driving, taking public transit and adhering to rules regarding when to use their fireplace or wood burning stoves.
The role of refineries
The achievement also got a nod from the Utah Petroleum Association, as they pointed out the role refineries have played in this accomplishment.
The transportation sector is the largest source of air pollutant emissions, contributing to winter particulate formation during temperature inversions and elevated ozone concentrations in Utah’s urban areas during the summer.
New engine and fuel technologies that were introduced beginning in 2017 termed “Tier 3 fuels and vehicles” have significantly reduced emissions — up to 80% compared to previous Tier 2 vehicles.
Tier 3 gasoline, with its lower sulfur content than previous gasoline, allows the vehicle’s catalytic converters to operate more efficiently. This benefit extended to the older vehicles in use on the roads resulting in lower overall emissions from the transportation sector immediately with the availability of the Tier 3 fuel.
The benefit increases over time as post-2017 vehicles become a larger percentage of the vehicle fleet and will result in continued progress in order to meet the air quality standards.
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