The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has agreed with the state of Iowa to reduce the area around Muscatine to be designated as in "non-attainment" for sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions and subject to increased efforts to lower the SO2 pollution levels.
The EPA last February designated all of Muscatine County as in non-attainment for SO2, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) in April submitted additional air modeling to support its recommendation the non-attainment area be reduced to include only the city of Muscatine and the immediate surrounding area.
Once under the non-attainment designation, existing SO2 pollution sources in the area could be required to further reduce their emissions, and new sources that emit sulfur dioxide above certain levels would be required to be built with the best available technology to control such emissions.
Muscatine's SO2 pollution levels have caused numerous exceedances of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in the past three years. In 2012, 35 of 39 NAAQS exceedances in Muscatine County were from high SO2 levels, and as of March 12 the Muscatine air monitors had recorded eight exceedances.
The IDNR and the governor tried unsuccessfully in 2011 to avoid any non-attainment designation, suggesting to the EPA the county be designated as "unclassifiable."
After the EPA announced its intention to designation the county in non-attainment this spring, the IDNR conducted additional air monitoring to support the smaller non-attainment area it put forward at community meetings in Muscatine March 28.
CLICK HERE to download the EPA's final non-attainment area designation.
