Utah's Air Quality Board endorses EPA's clean-car plan as a smog solution

By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune

Published: June 12, 2013 5:08 pm
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The state's policy-setting Air Quality Board gave its endorsement Wednesday to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to clean up vehicles and the gasoline they use.

In a telephonic meeting, the panel voted 5-0 to send a letter to EPA voicing strong support for the new standards, which would be phased in beginning in 2017.

Utah's air-pollution hot spots stand to benefit more than anywhere else in the nation from a federal clean-car proposal. And the board noted that the so-called Tier 3 standards will help deal with both summer and winter pollution by improving vehicle technology and removing sulfur from gasoline.

Board member Karma M. Thompson of the Salt Lake City Tesoro refinery had previously expressed some reservations about the letter in light of the added costs to the five Salt Lake area refineries, but she voted to support the final letter on Wednesday.

The EPA's comment deadline is July 1.

fahys@sltrib.com

Twitter: @judyfutah

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