Under supermajority Republican control, the Utah Legislature has spent millions of taxpayer dollars setting up frivolous legal challenges to federal laws that protect the health and wellbeing of Utahns while staking nonsensical positions that highlight the need for expertise in the policymaking process. During Wednesday’s Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee, Republicans alleged, against sound scientific evidence, that the region’s air quality is no longer hazardous to our health; that our proximity to a saline body of water will prolong life expectancies as evidenced by Hawai’i’s nation-leading lifespans; and that environmental justice initiatives are akin to reparations.
“I’m disturbed by the spread of misinformation on Capitol Hill and by repeated attempts to undermine or ignore federal directives that safeguard public health and the state’s economy and natural resources,” said Sen. Nate Blouin (D-Millcreek).
On Wednesday, Sen. Blouin filed comments [attached] in an EPA docket regarding Utah’s State Implementation Plan (SIP) to meet the Clean Air Act’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards and Regional Haze Rules. Recent legislation, including SB 161 (2024 GS) and subsequently HB 3004 (2024 3rd SS), put the state’s SIP in question by promoting continued operability of the Intermountain Power Plant under state control. In the docket, the EPA questioned the impact of the legislative actions on implementation of the state’s air quality standards.
“Compromised politicians have been attempting to cut out experts from the regulatory process for decades. When Republicans said that overturning Chevron would reclaim authority to set policy to elected leaders, what they meant was that they could reward their donors with laws that empower them to pollute and take advantage of their supermajority status in Utah. My comments to the EPA highlight the need for air quality standards focused on the health of our state, not the pockets of politicians.”
