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Upper Green River Basin
Ozone Attainment Redesignation
The final pathway for recognizing the collaborative success of reaching ozone attainment for the UGRB
A collaborative effort to redesignate UGRB into attainment
A Story Of Success
In July 2012, the U.S. EPA designated all of Sublette County and portions of Lincoln and Sweetwater Counties as an ozone nonattainment area, collectively known as the Upper Green River Basin Ozone Nonattainment Designation Area (UGRB).
Through the collaborative and persistent work of industry operators and communities, ozone levels in the UGRB hit the target levels by July 2015. The achievement was formally recognized on April 11, 2016, when the EPA promulgated a final determination of attainment for the UGRB.
This meant that the EPA had determined that the UGRB had attained the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 75 ppb averaged over three consecutive years in the time since being designated as a non-attainment area.
Despite this success, the UGRB remains classified as a nonattainment area with the EPA. This collaborative effort is the final pathway for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to submit a request to the EPA to formally redesignate the UGRB back to attainment as required by the 2008 Ozone NAAQS.
In The News
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To be clear, air quality monitoring data collected since 2012 indicates that the UGRB has met, and continues to meet, attainment requirements largely due to successful partnership efforts on the ground (read more about that here). The EPA has also issued a formal Determination of Attainment for the UGRB recognizing that the area attained the 2008 Ozone NAAQS over three consecutive years. However, a final EPA regulatory step is required to formally redesignate the area back to attainment status.
There are four steps to making this happen, and the two steps have already been achieved - enforceable reductions, which were finalized in 2015 and attainment was recognized by the EPA, in 2016
The Process
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Why Redesignate?
Reclassifying the UGRB into an "attainment" status with the EPA is the cumulative step that acknowledges the work and focus on improving air quality in the area over the 15 years. The redesignation process is extensive and involves compiling information, ambient monitoring data, and emissions inventories, as well as demonstrating that air quality improvements have occurred due to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions. Eventually, once the Request for Redesignation is compiled and a Maintenance Plan is developed, the State of Wyoming will submit the package to the EPA for final approval.
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CAMPAIGN NAME
EXPERIENCED RESULTS
DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
2035