Hatch offers help to states, local governments working to improve air quality

A program that allows state and local governments to pursue voluntary agreements with the Environmental Protection Agency to improve air quality would be revived under legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) on Tuesday.

The EPA established the Early Action Compact (EAC) program in 2002 to give state, local and tribal governments the ability to opt into voluntary agreements to prevent non-attainment designation under the Clean Air Act, or to achieve air quality benchmarks ahead of schedule.

Bipartisan legislation introduced by Hatch and U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) on Tuesday would give the EPA authority to implement a program similar to EAC, which was discontinued in 2007 due to legal challenges.

“I’m concerned that the EPA simply set a one-size-fits-all air quality standard for ozone that is unattainable for many western states,” Hatch said. “This bipartisan legislation directs the EPA to implement a program that gives communities a voice to design locally crafted solutions to improve air quality so that they can comply with federal standards.”

The EPA proposed revisions to National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) that would reduce primary and secondary ground ozone levels from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 65 to 70 ppb. Before the proposed changes, various regions were already at risk of nonattainment designation under NAAQS. Some communities in Utah, for instance, have a higher amount of naturally occurring ozone due to its geography.

“Under this program, our communities could actually improve air quality and altogether avoid the negative economic job-killing consequences that come with a nonattainment designation,” Hatch said.

Too many communities are facing economic penalties while struggling to comply with environmental regulations, McCaskill said, and they shouldn’t be punished by standards that “are often impossible to meet.”

“That’s why this common sense, bipartisan plan is a win-win: helping alleviate that burden on localities and the businesses that call them home in a way that continues to safeguard the health and livelihood of our communities,” she added.