Cache Valley Health Standard:

What does nonattainment mean?
The Clean Air Act (CAA)identifies six common air pollutants that are found all over the United States and can injure health, harm the environment or cause property damage. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each of these pollutants. If the air quality in a geographic area meets the NAAQS, it is called an attainment area; areas that do not meet the NAAQS are called nonattainment areas and must develop comprehensive state plans to reduce pollutant concentrations to a safe level.
What does designation mean?
When EPA establishes a new standard, such as PM_2.5, the states adopt that standard as their state standard, the states then submit recommendations as to whether or not an area is attaining that standard based on air quality data collected from monitors at locations in urban and rural settings. After working with the states, and considering the information from air quality monitors, EPA will then "designate" an area as attainment or nonattainment for the PM_2.5 standard.
PM_2.5Designation Recommendation: Utah submitted its recommendations to EPA on December 18, 2007 in a document titled "Utah’s Area Designation Recommendation for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS"(1,901 kb). It proposes that there are three areas within the state that should be designated as nonattainment for PM_2.₅. These areas are as follows:
- A Northern Wasatch Front nonattainment area
- A Utah Valley nonattainment area
- A Cache Valley nonattainment area
- Click here to see the map of nonattainment areas within Utah.
- Click here (76 kb) to view the governors letter
- Click here (1,901 kb) to view "Utah Area Designation Recommendation for the 2006 PM2.5
What information does EPA use to determine whether an area should be a "nonattainment area?"
The CAA defines a nonattainment area as the area that is violating the NAAQS or a nearby area that is contributing to a violation of the standard. On September 21, 2006, EPA issued revisions to the NAAQS for particle pollution. EPA recently strengthened the 24-hour PM_2.₅ standard from the 1997 level of 65 μg/m³ to 35 μg/m³, and retained the current annual fine particle standard at 15 μg/m³. The new PM_2.₅ standard went into effect on December 18, 2006. Both the annual and 24-hour standards are based on the most recent 3-year average so that one high or low year doesn't unduly influence the attainment status.
Is the Cache Valley in attainment for PM_2.5?
The 24-hour values used to determine attainment for Logan based on the three year average are as follows:
2005 = 61.7
2006 = 29.4
2007= 35.2*
2005-2007 3-year average = 42.1*
* 2007 is preliminary data and has not been quality assurred.

Using this data, the Cache Valley is in attainment of the 1997 PM_2.5 standard (65 μg/m³). However, the area would have violated the new 24-hour standard of 35 μg/m³, which was issued on September 21, 2006 and went into effect on December 18, 2006. Click here to view the schedule and more information about the new standards.

What happens if an area is designated nonattainment?
If an area is designated as nonattainment, the State is required to develop a plan showing how it will come into attainment of the standard. The plan must be submitted to EPA within three years of designation, and must show that the area will attain the standard within five years of the designation. The plan (called a State Implementation Plan or SIP) must contain all the strategies and rules that will be implemented to reduce the amount of PM_2.5 in the area.
More information about PM_2.5 policy at EPA

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Cache Valley Health Standard: