EPA's new air pollution limits could mean more no-burn days across Phoenix

New and stricter federal air quality rules to limit soot pollution will likely require more no-burn days in metro Phoenix, local environmental officials say, and it could complicate economic development efforts.

The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced that it had finalized a major clampdown on fine particle pollution, also known as PM 2.5, or particulate matter that is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. These tiny specks of pollution — generated by fire, vehicular travel and industry — lodge in human airways and are especially harmful to people experiencing or susceptible to heart and lung conditions.

The new maximum for compliance by local communities will be 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from 12. It’s a standard that Arizona’s largest county, Maricopa, currently can’t meet but will have time to try.

It will likely mean more winter days in coming years when the Maricopa County Air Quality Department bans burning in residential fireplaces or backyard burn pits, with the potential for tickets that start at $50 and escalate with each infraction. Wood burning is the biggest contributor to bad PM 2.5 days in the Phoenix area, said Ari Halpert, the department’s communications director.

“This is going to have to be a public, community effort,” she said. “We’re all in this together.”

When air readings call for it, the county enforces no-burn days through both patrols and investigations of neighborhood smoke reports, Halpert said. Ideally, she said, officials rely more on education and public support for health considerations.

New standards could affect highway projects, development

The county reports average readings from seven monitoring stations to the EPA, and compliance — “attainment” in federal lingo — is judged every three years. The averages of the last two years have met the old standard, but not the new one, Halpert said.

If 2024 readings don’t pull the average into attainment in a given county, the state will have to develop a plan for reducing pollution. Such a plan could involve more burn bans, higher fines, troubles getting highway projects approved and funded, or imposition of new industrial pollution controls, Halpert said. The latter could influence cost-benefit analyses of companies looking to open shop in Arizona.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality would not make a state official available for an interview on Wednesday and did not answer an email about what challenges the new standard might create. A department spokeswoman emailed a statement saying that PM 2.5 levels are trending downward in Arizona and that the new standard “triggers requirements for Arizona to determine whether there are any areas in the state that are not meeting this new standard, attainment of which must be demonstrated by 2032.”

EPA’s announcement included a list of counties both in and out of compliance with the new standard of 9 micrograms per cubic meter, based on 2020-2022 data. In Arizona, only Pinal (12.4 micrograms), Maricopa (10.5) and Santa Cruz (10.2) were out of compliance.

The federal agency said tightening the restriction is expected to prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost work days, with $46 billion in net health benefits in 2032. Every dollar spent to meet the standard could bring as much as $77 in health benefits by then, the EPA said.

“This final air quality standard will save lives and make all people healthier, especially within America’s most vulnerable and overburdened communities,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a written statement.

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In Maricopa County, some of the worst air quality readings are in poorer areas of southern and western Phoenix, Halpert said.

Although fires and fireworks contribute to pollution in the Phoenix area, as they did around New Year’s Day this year, on rare occasions such spikes are considered “exceptional events” and don’t count in the county’s average readings, Halpert said. Natural events such as weather-induced dust storms also get stripped out. However, if extended periods of burning or fireworks elevate pollution they are included in the annual averages.

The new standards will save lives but won’t do enough to account for daily spikes in pollution, said Sandy Bahr, the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter director. Fossil fuel-powered electric plants should get more scrutiny for their role in harming Arizonans’ health, she said.

“Soot pollution causes harmful impacts to our health, whether generated by diesel engines or burning coal or gas, and is especially harmful to those most vulnerable — young children, the elderly, and those with other underlying health issues,” Bahr said in an emailed statement. “EPA’s updated National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter are a long-overdue step that will protect communities, including mine, by curbing the most dangerous and deadly effects of toxic soot pollution like cancer, asthma, and heart disease.”

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, by contrast, has issued a report saying that the new standard will put nearly 30% of U.S. counties in “permitting gridlock,” in large part because of smoke from wildfires. Its analysis of last year’s pollution nationwide suggested that 43% of PM 2.5 pollution came from wildfires. The wildfires on their own would have tipped half of all counties into noncompliance, according to the Chamber.

For online information about Maricopa County's air quality program and rules, or to report a violation on a designated no-burn day, visit Maricopa.gov/aq.

Brandon Loomis covers environmental and climate issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach him at brandon.loomis@arizonarepublic.com.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Sign up for AZ Climate, our weekly environment newsletter, and follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The Biden administration is imposing stricter limits on soot pollution