Flake applauds EPA announcement to revise Clean Air Act Exceptional Events Rule

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) recently voiced his appreciation for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to revise the Clean Air Act’s Exceptional Events Rule, which allows for uncontrollable natural events in states’ air-quality measurements.

The rule was created in 2005 to ensure that states like Arizona, which suffer from events like dust storms and wildfires, were not unduly punished by federal penalties or costly improvement efforts due to their resulting air quality. The rule was promulgated in 2007 but in its current version it has made it difficult for states to prove that exceptional events are negatively impacting air-quality.

“After years of living under the threat of unfair penalties due to uncontrollable, naturally occurring events such as dust storms and wildfires, I’m pleased Arizona stakeholders will have their say in devising what I hope will be a commonsense Exceptional Events Rule that takes into account the natural climate and terrain of our state,” Flake said.

The EPA has proposed streamlining the Exceptional Events Rule. The agency will receive feedback from Arizona stakeholders on December  8 at a public hearing on the subject, which will take place in Phoenix at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.