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Environmental advocates are hailing a legal settlement with Utah regulators as a victory for clean air because it will lead to a federal layer of regulatory oversight of the five oil refineries operating on the Wasatch Front.
In a suit filed last year, groups complained the Division of Air Quality was falling down on the job by failing to require the Tesoro refinery in Woods Cross to secure a permit under Title V of the federal Clean Air Act.
Congress enacted these provisions in 1990 with an eye toward consolidating the terms and conditions of polluters' various permits under a single cover in plain language, rather than the impenetrable technical jargon and bureaucratic-speak found in most permits.
The refinery has held state permits that predated Title V, according to the Utah of Environmental Quality.
"Tesoro has been, and will continue to be, subject to all applicable laws and requirements that protect Utah's air and the health of our citizens," said Alan Matheson, executive director of DEQ. "That will always be our priority."
But until now, the state did not insist any of Utah's major refinery obtain a Title V permit, which spells out monitoring, reporting, record keeping obligations and certification that the facility is operating in compliance, according to Joro Walker, Western Resource Advocates' Utah director and the lead attorney on the settlement.
"These permits can help reduce emissions by making permits easier to understand and giving the public larger role in decision making and giving EPA final approval and give public a chance to bring concerns to EPA," she said. "It was another level of agency review. They need to be easy understand or is it impossible to determine whether the source is in compliance."
According to regulators, Utah's refiners have gotten a Title V pass all these years because the state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have yet to agree on a plan for reducing emissions of large particulate matter, or PM10. The Wasatch Front violates federal standards for ambient levels of this pollution, to which the refineries contribute. An agreement on a PM10 "state implementation plan," or SIP, is expected next year.
"Once the board approves the new SIP we will request updated permit applications from the other refineries," said DEQ spokeswoman Donna Spangler.
Under the agreement signed Tuesday, DEQ is committed to a timetable for processing Tesoro's Title V application concurrent with its efforts to reach a consensus with the feds on its PM10 plan. The agency has 21 days to request additional information needed to complete the permit and the refiner will have 180 days to respond. Then a draft Title V permit will be subject to a 45-day public comment period.
Walker's firm filed the suit targeting Tesoro, which has operated Utah's largest refinery since 2001, in state court on behalf of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and Friends of the Great Salt Lake.
The refinery at 474 W. 900 North, which processes up to 58,000 barrels of oil a day, was built in 1908. Onetime owner Amoco Oil Co., first submitted an application for a Title V permit in 1995, then resubmitted it in 1998.
"We're glad to see this operation's permitting process finally brought up to date," said Tim Wagner, executive director of Utah Physicians. "Air pollution from Utah's five refineries is a serious proven threat to public health, especially where we have some of the worst air pollution in the nation at times. Utahns need to know that DAQ is doing all it can to protect public health, and this settlement gives us such reassurance."