The Associated Press
Article Launched: 03/22/2008 02:04:31 PM MDT

FARMINGTON, N.M.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is touting its new smog standard as the most stringent ever, but when the new limit takes affect three years from now San Juan County will likely not be able to meet the standard.

New Mexico Environment Department Air Quality Division Bureau Chief Mary Uhl said state air experts have been modeling the new standard and projections don't look good for the county.

"We will classify the county as non-attainment, which will limit development there," she said.

The new limit will lower the allowable concentration of ozone in the air to no more than 75 parts per billion, compared with the old standard of 80. The EPA announced the new standard earlier this month, saying the air in hundreds of U.S. counties is too dirty to breathe.

The state Environment Department has three years to write and submit a plan detailing how New Mexico's counties will come into compliance with the tighter standard, Uhl said.

"I don't know the specifics, but there will be a federal plan that will mandate emissions reductions in many different areas," Uhl said.

Bringing San Juan County into compliance will involve prohibiting new "sources of emissions." That means large industries would be kept from operating here until existing companies take steps to offset emissions to compensate for the new sources.

"We have some time to come up with an attainment plan, but the time will go quickly," Uhl said.

Public Service Company of New Mexico, which operates the coal-burning San Juan Generating Station in Waterflow, and Arizona Public Service, operator of the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant in Upper Fruitland, will likely be affected by the lower ozone limit.

However, PNM spokeswoman Susan Sponar said the utility won't know how the new standards will affect the San Juan power plant that until monitoring data from 2006 through 2008 is gathered, assessed by the state and submitted to the EPA.

"We are in the middle of environmental upgrades that, when complete, will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 35 percent below current permit levels," she said.

The compound is a precursor of ozone.

Sponar said the plant is installing low-NOx burners and overfire air on all four units to control the fuel and air mix. The changes will reduce peak flame temperatures in the boilers, which she said will result in less nitrogen oxide formation.

Other changes, when complete, will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide by 65 percent below current permit levels, lower particulate emissions by 70 percent below currently permitted levels and drop mercury emissions by about 75 percent.

Arizona Public Service spokesman Damon Gross said the company will track the new standard as it moves forward. He added that the Upper Fruitland plant's emissions have lessened during recent years.

Gross also pointed to the complexity of the ozone issue.

"Ozone comes from an interaction between the sun and emissions from a number of areas: automobiles, industrial facilities, chemical solvents, power plants and even natural resources," he said.

"It isn't easy, but we remain committed to doing our part to protect the area's air quality," he said.

BHP Billiton, which mines coal for the two power plants, indicated it doesn't expect any direct effects from the lower ozone standards when implemented.

Should the state's modeling prove correct, non-attainment with the new standards could open up the possibility that automobile emission standards might be implemented in San Juan County as well as limits on non-automobile combustion engines, boiler facilities and painting and coating operations.

"We have an idea of who contributes what pollution to the air," Uhl said.

Whether the tighter standard would affect EPA permitting for the proposed Desert Rock Energy Project being developed by the Navajo Nation and Houston-based Sithe Global comes down to timing, she said.

"Until there is a declaration of non-attainment, new permits won't be affected," she said. "We have one more year of data to collect."

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Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.daily-times.com