A letter signed by Sweetwater County Commissioner Wally Johnson criticizes the Environmental Protection Agency for multiple layers of regulation impacting Wyoming industry.
The letter, sent to Gina McCarthy, the U.S. EPA Administrator in Washington, D.C. comments on and objects to proposed regulations regarding ozone standards. Ground-level ozone is created through the chemical reaction between sunlight and volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides from industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust and electric utilities, according to the EPA’s website. Ozone, the EPA states, can have a negative effect on sensitive vegetation and ecosystems, while aloc causing a variety of health problems for people breathing higher levels of ozone. According to the letter, the cost of complying with the new rules, as well as other regulations such as the EPA’s regional haze rules, clean coal plan and the 2008 ozone regulations would create another layer of costs for industry and government. The letter also criticizes the timing associated with the EPA’s proposed rules.
“After seven years of hard work and great expense, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and other affected parties developed draft ozone rules to comply with the 2008 ozone standard of 75 (parts per billion.) With these rules nearly complete, the EPA had interjected a more restrictive proposed ozone rule with a lower ozone standard ranging between 70 or 65 ppb,” the letter states.
If the rules are adopted, the county’s letter suggests the governmental and industrial stake holders would be sent back to the drawing board to work how they would become compliant with the new rules, calling such an event unfair and a waste of resources as well as potentially damaging to the state’s economy.
Focusing on the potential economic impact of the ozone regulations, the county does recognize that production and use of fossil fuels without regulation can cause “unacceptable levels of pollution in the atmosphere.” However, while the county does support some regulation, it objects to multiple regulatory layers of what it views as unnecessary air quality rules that can lead to higher costs associated with Wyoming commodities, which the letter argues can reduce the competitive edge for local industry.
Using coal as an example, the county states the multiple layers of regulation, including the new ozone rules, could make coal-based electricity more expensive and lead to the closure of Wyoming power plants.
“The loss of coal fired power plants could reduce the demand for Wyoming coal and negatively affect the economy of Wyoming and Sweetwater County,” the letter states.
Contributing approximately $4 billion to the state’s valuation and $244 million to Sweetwater County’s valuation, coal remains an important resource for both county and state. The letter states the coal industry employs 600 within Sweetwater County and approximately 6,000 people state wide.
If the rules are adopted, the letter argues the entire county could be placed within an ozone non-attainment area. The county’s land mass, encompassing 10,480 square miles, would be within the area, despite 95 percent of the county population living within a 20 mile radius of Green River and Rock Springs.
“This leaves the vast majority of the county uninhabited making very little difference to public health if the ozone standard remains at 75 ppb,” the letter states.
The county questions if the rules, which it contends were based on scientific study focused on smaller areas with higher population densities, should be applied in Wyoming due to the vast difference between the two environments. While the county believes ozone rules for the smaller, more population-dense areas could benefit those areas, it questions the application of those same rules in a state with communities existing 100 miles apart, with sparse populations between those communities.
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