The Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will consider changes to air quality rules that have penalized Arizona cities and towns. The agency will hold a public hearing next month.
In 2007 the EPA established the Exceptional Events Rule to deal with violations of air quality standards caused by events such as wildfires, dust storms and other events.
Local officials said Maricopa County and other local governments were being penalized for violating standards during events they had no control over. They pointed to summer dust storms which could fill the air with dust and pollutants.
Now the EPA says it will hold a hearing Dec. 8 at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to hear from the public about proposed revisions to the Exceptional Events rule.
