RAQC 2024 End of Ozone Season Media Release

2024 “Ozone Season” Data Highlights the Need For Additional Control Strategies and Immediate Action to Meet Compliance Deadlines and Improve Public Health

Media Contact:

David Sabados

Communications, Programs, and Government Affairs Director, Regional Air Quality Council

DSabados@raqc.org (preferred)

303-588-6922 (cell)

Ground-level ozone continues to be the Colorado Front Range’s most pressing air quality issue. While ozone levels are monitored year-round, the unofficial ozone “season,” when levels are highest, runs from late May – early September. In 2024, the region experienced more days above federal ozone standards than in eight of the past ten years, highlighting the need for more immediate action.

2024 Ozone Season:

• A total of 40 days recorded ozone levels in excess of concentrations allowed by federal standards (either the 70 or 75 parts per billion (ppb) standard) at one or more monitoring sites in the 9-county ozone nonattainment area
  • 18 of those days recorded levels from 71-75ppb
  • 22 of those days recorded levels greater than 75ppb
• Increase in the number of exceedances at monitors outside the Nonattainment area.

Additional data from the 2024 season and previous years’ data can be found on the RAQC website here: https://raqc.org/8-hour-ozone-summary-reports.

What is ground-level ozone, what are the standards, and what role does the RAQC play?

Human-caused emissions, largely from oil and gas operations, diesel and gas-powered vehicles, gas-powered lawn and garden equipment, other uses of fossil fuels, and other sources like consumer products, create the ozone precursors Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) which chemically interact with heat and sunshine to produce ground-level ozone. While natural ozone is needed in the upper atmosphere (the ozone layer) to protect the earth from the harmful rays of the sun, ground-level ozone is dangerous for humans, animals, and plants, causing breathing difficulties and other health problems, including long-term chronic health issues, plus crop and ecosystem damage.

Unsafe ozone levels are set by EPA. A 2008 standard of 75ppb was updated in 2015 to 70ppb and the RAQC works on plans to reduce measured ozone for both standards, required by the EPA under authority from the federal Clean Air Act.

The Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) is designated as the lead air quality planning agency for Colorado’s Denver Metro and North Front Range (DMNFR) and operates largely in a nine-county region designated as a nonattainment area that is out of compliance with federal standards. In coordination with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the RAQC develops State Implementation Plans (SIPs), which are plans for how the front range can reduce summertime ozone and meet attainment.

Has there been any progress?

The increase in exceedances compared to recent years is not an indication that current control strategies are not working, but that compounding factors the state is facing means that they cannot keep up. A few positive, recent efforts by the State of Colorado include:

• Adoption of rules to continue to reduce emissions caused by new cars and trucks by requiring increased sales of electric vehicles beginning 2026-27.
• Tighter emission limits on stationary sources in the 9-county region.
• Continuing implementation of rules adopted over the past 5-7 years to further reduce oil and gas drilling and production emissions contributing to ozone formation and climate change.
• CDPHE’s ongoing outreach to request voluntary action days from the O&G industry, where they are asked to delay certain activities that are linked to increased air pollution based on CDPHE forecasting of potential for high ozone levels.
• The state’s EV adoption rate is progressing and on track to meet future goals.
• Reg 29, which creates the first restrictions on gas-powered lawn and garden / parks maintenance equipment used by state and local governments, is now in effect, which is also driving additional conversations about electrification in this sector.
• The Federally required reformulated gasoline (RFG) implementation went smoothly and is now in use across the front range without any meaningful correlated increase in gas prices.
• Temporary transit efforts such as “Zero Fare for Better Air” that help change public perceptions of transit and provide no cost options to switch away from car usage.
• Incentive programs like the new 30% point of sale discount on electric lawn and garden equipment.
• Reductions of VOC emissions from “consumer products” and Architectural and Industrial Maintenance (AIM) coatings. Consumer products and AIMs are items that are purchased at the store and found around our homes and businesses, such as cleaning supplies, personal care products, and paints and stains.
• Numerous measures adopted by the State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have significant co-benefits for urban air quality.
• Statewide vehicle electrification incentive programs.

The Challenges Ahead

Despite the positive efforts, a number of factors are stymieing progress, including Colorado’s growing population (the overwhelming majority of growth will be on the front range), increased oil and gas production, urban sprawl, climate change causing hotter summers and increasing ozone formation, struggling public transit systems as well as incomplete sidewalks and bike infrastructure that make avoiding car usage challenging, and the constant import of pollution from other areas. In order to rapidly improve public health and to meet the 2027 attainment deadlines set by the EPA, substantial emissions reductions in anthropogenic NOx and VOCs must occur throughout the region.

While wildfire smoke likely drove up ozone levels higher than they otherwise would have been on some days, it appears that the anthropogenic sources of ozone precursors are not decreasing quickly enough and wildfire smoke cannot be a scapegoat explanation.

The quantity of recorded exceedances of the federal standards highlights the need for additional, immediate action to reduce Colorado’s ozone levels, which are considered dangerously high. The EPA evaluates states in multiyear cycles, and Colorado must show attainment by 2027 or face additional downgrades in our classification, which would also result in additional requirements from the federal government. The next few years represent a window to create local solutions with fewer federal mandates and, most importantly, to improve public health.

The RAQC is working on additional strategies for further consideration by the board at upcoming meetings with the hope of implementation by regulatory and legislative bodies.

• Increased requirements for oil and gas operations to recapture pollutants during wellsite “blowdown” events instead of venting into the atmosphere.
• Increased requirement for oil and gas operations to recapture gas in wellsite and gathering pipeline transit instead of continuing to use antiquated pneumatic releases that vent into the atmosphere.
• Creation of “Indirect Source” emission reduction programs. Indirect sources are those that indirectly cause increased pollution by nature of their operations, such as warehouses, residential developments, recreational venues, and others that cause increased vehicle traffic and similar pollutants. Indirect Source Rule development was originally called for in the 1970s via the Clean Air Act. EPA later removed it as a requirement under the Clean Air Act, but left it as a possible avenue for pollution reduction.
• Additional vehicle-related efforts, including repairs or possible removal of high-polluting vehicles, increased emissions testing, and similar efforts.
• Explore emissions budgets for each class of motor vehicles in the nonattainment area in future years, based on current projections and transportation planning efforts, to codify their reductions in their contribution to ozone pollution over time.
• Encourage funding for zero cost, or low cost, public transit options, especially during the summer months.
• Increased anti-idling efforts that reduce needless vehicle emissions.
• Increased push for zero-emissions off-road vehicles, such as forklifts.
• Additional reductions of VOC emissions from consumer products.
• Additional lawn and garden/parks regulations that move the largely unregulated industry towards electrification.
• Additional voluntary, incentive-based programs for electrification and emissions reductions, such as the RAQC’s Mow Down Pollution and Engines Off! Programs.
• Increased public awareness and engagement campaigns, such as RAQC’s Simple Steps. Better Air. campaign to help the public better understand this nuanced, challenging air quality issue so they can make informed decisions in their lives.

In order to meet the 2027 deadline, the RAQC believes it is crucial to address ozone-precursor pollution from all sectors and is taking an “all of the above” approach to new efforts. Roughly half of ozone precursors come from industrial sources and half from the collective actions of individuals, especially vehicle-use, which is why increased efforts target all major sources.

RAQC staff are available for interviews and further comments.