Daines Slams EPA Designation for Yellowstone County

Press Release

Congressman Steve Daines today slammed the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to assign a portion of Yellowstone County with a "non-attainment" designation for the EPA's new sulfur dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS).

"Once again, the EPA has demonstrated how out-of-touch Washington is with the needs of Montanans," Daines stated. "The EPA's decision to assign a portion of Yellowstone County with a non-attainment designation could force needless compliance costs upon our state, Yellowstone County and businesses in the Billings region--which threatens to hurt Yellowstone County's economy, as well as the thousands of families that live and work in the Billings region. I am deeply disappointed in this decision and strongly urge the EPA to reconsider this unnecessary designation."

In April, Daines wrote a letter to Howard Cantor, the EPA Acting Administrator for Region VIII, calling for the EPA to assign an "unclassifiable" designation for the new NAAQS in Yellowstone County until a full set of representative and reliable data could be compiled and reviewed.

In his letter, Daines noted the negative economic consequences and threat to local jobs that a non-attainment designation would bring to the Billings region.

"As you know, Yellowstone County is home to two power plants, three oil refineries, a sugar beet plant and a sulfur-recovery plant," Daines wrote."These industries employ thousands of Montanans who depend on a healthy local economy and regulatory certainty."

Daines noted that in 2010, the EPA promulgated a new, stricter short-term NAAQS for SO2. Between 2009 and 2011, Yellowstone County ambient air monitory sites recorded data on sulfur dioxide levels, and in all buy one location, the data clearly met the new SO2 NAAQS.

The location with problematic results was the Coburn Road monitor, located just over two miles east of downtown Billings atop Sacrifice Cliff. Daines expressed concern that this monitoring site provided non-representative data, based on several factors occurring during 2010, and should be reevaluated and reconsidered.

Source