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A coalition of environmental groups is suing federal air quality regulators to spur action on air pollution generated by Utah's older coal-fired power plants.
In a lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Denver, HEAL Utah, the Sierra Club and the National Parks Conservation Association charge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with failing to require the state to meet federal rules and deadlines for cutting coal-fired power plant emissions.
At issue are the Hunter and Huntington power plants in Emery County, which are owned and operated by Rocky Mountain Power and sit less than 100 miles from Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks.
EPA rejected Utah's first plan to cut nitrogen oxide emissions at the 1970s-era plants in 2012.
After two years, state air quality managers released an updated plan last October. But rather than requiring pollution-reducing retrofits at the two plants, environmentalists said, Utah's regulators sided with the utility, which argued any updates to the plants would be too expensive.
Under the Clean Air Act, EPA has the power to mandate reduced emissions if a state has not adopted a plan. The groups allege Utah regulators have blown through their deadline and now it's time for the federal government to step in.
"We're sympathetic to the complicated processes that both the state of Utah and the EPA have to go through," said HEAL Utah Director Matt Pacenza. "But we also want to make sure they realize we need to get this done as soon as possible."
Pacenza said the goal of the lawsuit is to establish a deadline for either a state-developed or EPA-developed emmissions plan to be put in place.
He said thousands of pounds of emissions are produced each day, and pollution controls are necessary to protect both the scenic vistas of Utah's national parks and the health of visitors and residents.
"They're not just bad for our views," he said. "They're bad for our communities and families."
Cory MacNulty, a program manager for the southwest region of the National Parks Conservation Association, said similar lawsuits have been filed in other states to prompt action by the EPA.
The lawsuit, MacNulty said, does not prescribe the details of an emissions-reduction program, but is intended to establish an enforceable deadline for improvements.
"Every year that is delayed is another year where visitors are being exposed to unhealthy air in the parks," she said.
Bryce Bird, director of the Utah Division of Air Quality, said environmentalists' concerns likely will be resolved in the coming months, with or without a lawsuit.
He said the bulk of Utah's plan to cut emmissions at the plants has been approved by EPA, and a new proposal for nitrogen oxides reductions is expected to be presented as early as June.
"We're still working through this process," Bird said, "and in the next planning cycle, we will continue the progress we've made."