CHEYENNE — Today, June 13, 2014, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality – Air Quality Division (AQD) announced proposed rulemaking for the Upper Green River Basin (UGRB) ozone nonattainment area. The proposed rule will establish requirements for existing oil and gas production facilities located in the UGRB ozone nonattainment area.

The UGRB area was designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “Marginal” nonattainment for the 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 0.075 ppm on July 20, 2012.

On March 11, 2013, the AQD released the first UGRB Ozone Strategy which provided information about AQD’s overall ozone reduction plan and included recommendations provided by the UGRB Air Quality Citizen’s Advisory Task Force (Task Force). One of the ten incorporated Task Force recommendations was to develop and implement rules, regulations, and/or policy to reduce emissions from existing oil and gas stationary sources throughout the nonattainment area.

In the latest release of the AQD’s UGRB Ozone Strategy (April 22, 2014), the AQD identified a Phase I control strategy and regulatory option that will address emissions from existing oil and gas sources in the ozone nonattainment area. Based on all available information, the AQD concluded that the best approach to reduce emissions from existing oil and gas sources would be to implement a technology-based rule in Phase I. The technology-based rule will address a wide range of oil and gas production equipment in the UGRB.

The public is invited to attend the Wyoming Air Quality Advisory Board meeting on July 14, 2014 at 9:00 AM, at Western Wyoming Community College, RSC 1302 Lecture Hall, 2500 College Drive, Rock Springs, Wyoming. All interested parties may provide comment on all matters before the Board. Additional Board meeting information and electronic copies of the proposed rule are available at https://deq.state.wy.us/aqd/index.asp.