Colorado Officials to Ramp Up Ozone Controls on Natural Gas, Oil Industry
Colorado officials have agreed to enact more stringent regulations on ozone emissions from sectors including oil and natural gas at the instruction of Gov. Jared Polis.
The commitment follows a review of air quality data from 2018-2020 which showed that despite a downward trend in ozone concentrations, the Denver Metropolitan/North Front Range (DMNFR) area remains a trouble spot for ground-level ozone, the main component of smog.
The area is likely to receive a status downgrade under the ground-level ozone standards outlined in the Clean Air Act (CAA), Polis said in a Dec. 15 letter to the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC).
For Immediate Release, December 22, 2020 Contact:
Robert Ukeiley, (720) 496-8568, rukeiley@biologicaldiversity.org
Colorado Officials Admit State’s Smog-reduction Plan Already Failed to Protect Colorado From Deadly Pollution, Then Approve It Anyway
DENVER The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission has approved a plan that was supposed to reduce smog in the North Front Range by this past summer, even though state officials knew the plan had already failed to deliver the required pollution reductions.
Levels of ground-level ozone pollution, commonly referred to as “smog,” continued to violate air-quality standards in the area because Colorado’s plan failed to rein in pollution from fracked oil and methane gas.
Colorado regulators reverse course, allow 3 coal plants to operate past 2028 utilitydive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from utilitydive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Colorado air regulators backtrack on closing 3 coal plants
By: Associated Press
and last updated 2020-12-20 15:35:00-05
DENVER (AP) â Colorado air regulators have backtracked on a plan to close three coal plants by 2029, a move that has left environmental groups disappointed.
The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission made its unanimous decision Wednesday to reverse plans after lobbying from utility companies. Commissioner Jana Milford said the agencyâs November decision had been made based on incomplete information.
The three plants that were to be closed by 2029 were the Craig Unit 3, the Platte River Power Authorityâs Rawhide plant and the Ray D. Nixon Plant, the Colorado Sun reported. Many utility companies have pledged to close coal-powered plants by 2030, but that promise is not bound by law.
Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission said issues around closing plants a year early were too complex
The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission, at the urging of utility companies, did a regulatory two-step on Wednesday, rescinding the order for early closure of three coal-fired power plants that it issued last month.
The November decision, made as part of the state’s plan to reduce regional haze at national parks, was based on incomplete information, Commissioner Jana Milford said.
“It didn’t fit in[ the] regional haze [plan] as it might have,” Commissioner Elise Jones said.
The pollutants creating regional haze are nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and soot. The commission had sought to lock-in reductions of carbon dioxide, a colorless gas that is the main contributor to climate change.