DAQ-2024-009981

September 3, 2024

Erica Pryor
Ryan Bares
Utah Division of Air Quality
P.O. Box 144820
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4820

Submitted by email to [e-mail] and [e-mail]

Subject: Comments from the Utah Petroleum Association and Utah Mining Association on
Amendment to R-307-110-13, Modifications to the Utah State Implementation Plan, Section
IX Part D.11: 2015 Ozone NAAQS Northern Wasatch Front Moderate Nonattainment Area

Dear Ms. Pryor and Mr. Bares:

In September 2023, the Utah Air Quality Board (AQB) adopted the final State Implementation
Plan (SIP) for the Northern Wasatch Front Moderate nonattainment area (NWF) under the 2015
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone.1 EPA requires that a Moderate or
higher ozone nonattainment area that does not have a prior approved 15% Volatile Organic
Compound (VOC) reasonable further progress (RFP) plan must provide an initial plan for a 15%
reduction of VOC.2 The 2023 Moderate SIP fell short of providing the full 15% VOC reduction.
However, an area with a prior approved 15% VOC RFP plan may meet the 15% reduction using
nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission reductions entirely or in combination with VOC reductions.3 The
Utah Division of Air Quality (UDAQ) prepared a revision to the Moderate ozone SIP for the NWF
demonstrating that the initial 15% VOC reduction was met through a prior SIP for PM2.5. In July
2024, the AQB approved for proposal this Moderate ozone SIP revision for the NWF (proposed
Moderate ozone SIP revision).4

1 Final Minutes, Utah Air Quality Board, September 12, 2023, available on the Utah Public Notice website
at https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/1041523.pdf.
2 40 CFR §51.1310(a)(4).
3 40 CFR §51.1310(a)(2).
4 Final Minutes, Utah Air Quality Board, July 9, 2024, available on the Utah Public Notice website at
https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/1154351.pdf. See also proposed Moderate ozone SIP revision on UDAQ
public comment webpage at https://deq.utah.gov/air-quality/air-quality-rule-plan-changes-open-public-
comment (accessed on August 27, 2024).
UPA/UMA Comments on Proposed Revision to Moderate Ozone SIP for the NWF
Page 2 of 4

The Utah Petroleum Association (UPA) and Utah Mining Association (UMA) (collectively, the
Associations) are pleased to offer these comments on the proposed changes to the Moderate
ozone SIP for the NWF.

UPA is a statewide oil and gas trade association established in 1958 representing companies
involved in all aspects of Utah’s oil and gas industry. UPA members range from independent
producers to midstream and service providers, to major oil and natural gas companies widely
recognized as industry leaders responsible for driving technology advancement resulting in
environmental and efficiency gains. Five member companies each operate a petroleum refinery
in the NWF, and member vendors and suppliers also operate in the area. Additionally, UPA
member companies operate oil and gas production and midstream facilities within the Uintah
Basin ozone NAA, also supported by member vendors and suppliers. Thus, our member
companies have an interest in air quality and air emissions controls throughout Utah.

UMA was founded in 1915 and serves as the voice of Utah’s mine operators and service
companies which support the mining industry. The member companies operate hardrock,
industrial mineral, and coal mines throughout the State of Utah. UMA has an interest in air quality
in support of the communities in which our member companies operate and air emissions controls
in Utah.

The Associations support the proposed changes to the Moderate ozone SIP for the NWF. While
EPA’s ozone implementation regulations for the 2105 ozone NAAQS at 40 CFR §51.1310 suggest
that the initial 15% VOC reduction must be met through a prior ozone SIP, the Clean Air Act
(CAA) does not make this distinction for subsequent ozone NAAQS after the original 1-hour ozone
NAAQS that was in place with the CAA Amendments of 1990.5 In the preamble for the
implementation rule for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS - the first 8-hour ozone NAAQS and where
EPA first interpreted various parts of the CAA relevant to the 1-hour ozone NAAQS in a manner
to apply to an 8-hour NAAQS - EPA assumed that the initial 15% VOC reduction must come from
an ozone SIP.6 EPA made a reasonable assumption for that time, for the 1997 ozone NAAQS
which was the first ozone NAAQS after the CAA Amendments of 1990, but no longer reasonable
today. On the other hand, the PM10 NAAQS pre-dated the 1990 CAA Amendments and the D.C.
Circuit Court decision requiring PM2.5 NAAQS to follow the SIP requirements of PM10 NAAQS
occurred in 2013, several years after the implementation rule for the 1997 ozone NAAQS.7 Now,
after EPA finalized two additional 8-hour ozone NAAQS (2008 and 2015) and corresponding
implementation rules similar to that for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, and with the PM2.5 NAAQS
implementation rule requiring reductions of PM2.5 precursors including VOC and NOx – both also
precursors of ozone – UDAQ provides a new and different interpretation for the initial 15% VOC
reduction, allowing reliance on VOC reductions in the EPA-approved Moderate PM2.5 SIP.

We concur that UDAQ made a reasonable and appropriate interpretation. Prior (year-round) VOC
reductions incorporated into Utah’s EPA-approved Moderate PM2.5 SIP should suffice for the initial
required 15% VOC reduction. As UDAQ indicated, these year-round reductions of VOC in the
PM2.5 SIP to address wintertime ambient PM2.5 concentrations were also intended to reduce

5 CAA §182(b)(1)(A)(i).
6 70 FR 71612, Final Rule To Implement the 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard—
Phase 2; Final Rule To Implement Certain Aspects of the 1990 Amendments Relating to New Source
Review and Prevention of Significant Deterioration as They Apply in Carbon Monoxide, Particulate Matter
and Ozone NAAQS; Final Rule for Reformulated Gasoline, November 29, 2005.
7 NRDC v. EPA, 706 F.3d 428 (D.C. Cir. 2013).
UPA/UMA Comments on Proposed Revision to Moderate Ozone SIP for the NWF
Page 3 of 4

summertime ambient ozone concentrations.8 Meeting the initial 15% VOC reduction through the
Moderate PM2.5 SIP allows the Moderate ozone SIP to rely on a combination of VOC and NOx
reductions to meet its 15% RFP requirement.

Furthermore, Utah should not be penalized for making early reductions in ozone precursor
emissions. Utah could have easily limited emission reductions in the PM2.5 Moderate SIP to
wintertime, with equal benefit to PM2.5 air quality but no benefit to ozone air quality. Instead, it
chose to extend the reductions year-round to benefit ozone.

We recommend a few changes to the proposed SIP revisions, to strengthen the revisions and for
completeness:

• Add a discussion referring to the lack of specificity in the CAA regarding whether the initial
15% reduction must be part of an ozone SIP. In the era post the Supreme Court decision
in the Loper Bright case, agencies will now need to defend their interpretations as the best
interpretation, not just a reasonable interpretation.9 Adding this CAA discussion will help
towards showing that the interpretation to rely on PM2.5 SIP reductions of VOC is the best
interpretation.

• Include mention that Utah should not be penalized for attempting to benefit ozone air
quality as part of the PM2.5 SIP, prior to being required to submit an ozone SIP.

• In section 7.5.1 Past SIP Emission Reductions, provide a county-by-county table of VOC
reductions from the Moderate PM2.5 SIP to demonstrate that a 15% VOC reduction
occurred in the counties of the NWF. This will clarify that UDAQ is not attempting to take
credit for any reductions in Box Elder County, since the Salt Lake City PM2.5 nonattainment
area includes a portion of Box Elder County, but the NWF does not contain any portion of
Box Elder County. Considering EPA’s approach to ensuring that the initial 15% VOC
reduction occurs throughout an entire ozone nonattainment area,10 reductions in Box Elder
County would not be approvable as part of the initial 15% VOC reduction for the ozone
SIP RFP.

• Update sections 12.5.3 Public Commenting Period and 12.5.4 Public Hearing according
to this SIP revision.

• Include a copy of the Governor’s letter11 as an appendix or attachment to the SIP revision
and refer to it in an appropriate part of Chapter 7 Reasonable Further Progress.

In conclusion, we commend UDAQ for seeking EPA approval of this new and different approach
to meet the initial 15% VOC reduction for Moderate ozone RFP. As noted in the Governor’s letter,

8 Proposed Moderate ozone SIP revision, p. 121.
9 Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimond, No. 22-451 (June 28, 2024)
10 40 CFR §51.1310(a)(3).
11 Letter, Spencer J. Cox, Governor of Utah, to Michael S. Regan, Administrator, Environmental Protection
Agency, July 2, 2024.
UPA/UMA Comments on Proposed Revision to Moderate Ozone SIP for the NWF
Page 4 of 4

Utah faces an array of unique challenges in meeting its NAAQS ob ligations, especially
considering the extent of emission reductions already implemented to meet other ozone and PM2.5
NAAQS.

Sincerely,

Rikki Hrenko-Browning Brian Somers
President, Utah Petroleum Association President, Utah Mining Association

cc: Bryce Bird - [e-mail]
Becky Close – [e-mail]