DENVER — A state-created task force released a draft of its Ozone State Implementation Plan to bring Colorado into compliance with air quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Regional Air Quality Council is an independent, nonprofit organization tasked with improving quality in a nine-county area from Douglas County to the Wyoming border that is a designated "nonattainment area" by the EPA due to high ozone levels.
The EPA recently announced it will be redesignating the area from "serious" to "severe" nonattainment.
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Citing a failure to achieve federal ozone standards EPA suggested downgrading Colorado's Front Range status from "serious" to "severe" in April. The update could mean new environmental permits for businesses and modified, more expensive gasoline.
The State Implementation Plan aims to bring the Front Range into full compliance of 2008 standards by the 2027 deadline mandated by the EPA. It also works to bring the area closer to more stringent standards form 2015.
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