The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Director Scott Pruitt announced this week that the agency was moving ahead with defining places that need to do more to reduce ozone pollution, reversing an earlier decision to delay by a year.
What does that mean for Utah? Basically nothing. Utah’s air quality regulators anticipate Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah, Duchesne and Uintah counties being declared “non-attainment areas,” meaning ozone concentrations reach unhealthy levels too often. The only remaining question is what level of non-attainment the counties have reached. Those that barely exceed are given more time to see if the situation improves, while areas that are bigger violators have to take bigger steps.