The Environmental Protection Agency is considering new air quality standards that, if adopted, would leave many Wyoming communities out of compliance.
The regulations would cut acceptable levels of ozone, a pollutant which can cause health problems.
Keith Guille is a spokesperson with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. He says the state would cooperate with the EPA if standards changed and any Wyoming community was found to have too much ozone, or be in “nonattainment.”
“Let’s say a community like Cheyenne is in non-attainment. You have to look at the potential sources, and what needs to occur to reduce precursor emissions. They look at industrial, they look at population. And then put together a plan.”
Guielle says the EPA has multiple plans for dealing with too much ozone in urban areas, but it can’t offer much guidance for rural areas.
The EPA should propose a draft of the new regulations in December, and issue a final rural by October of next year.