Kevin Cromar Raises Technical Concerns

Director of Health, Environment and Policy, Kevin Cromar, drafted public comments opposing the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed repeal of its 2024 determination that Utah’s Northern Wasatch Front failed to attain the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The EPA’s proposal relies on a Clean Air Act section 179B(b) demonstration to conclude that the area would have attained the ozone standard by the "Moderate" attainment date if it weren’t for international emissions transported into the area, allowing the region to avoid reclassification to "Serious" nonattainment. Cromar’s comments argued that the EPA’s action represents an exceptional and inadequately supported use of section 179B and emphasized that the decision could have implications well beyond Utah by creating a precedent for weakening ozone protections in nonattainment areas across the country. He also stressed the public health consequences of leaving communities exposed to ozone levels above the health-based standard without the additional protections required for areas that fail to attain, particularly for children, people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other residents at heightened risk from ozone exposure.