Utah physician: air quality could ‘harm thousands of children’ after EPA regulations thrown out by Supreme Court

SALT LAKE CITY — The Environmental Protection Agency is no longer allowed to regulate some of Utah’s major industrial contributors to air pollution, according to two recent Supreme Court rulings.

Last week, the Supreme Court threw out the Chevron Deference Doctrine, which authorized EPA regulation of pollutants from industry sources and stalled a plan it had to regulate air pollution between states.

Many Utah lawmakers spoke in support of the Supreme Court’s rulings. One of them, Senator Todd Weiler, said the EPA was “on steroids” with its control.

Meanwhile, advocates claim the decision will cause air pollution to become so bad, it could harm children.

“It’s going to harm the long-term health of hundreds of thousands of children,” Dr. Brian Moench said. “The cost is enormous.”

Moench said the rulings that overturn federal regulation of major state contributors to air pollution favor industry over livelihood.

“I’m worried for my own health, for my family’s health, and for my patient’s health,” he said.

Moench claimed the people in most favor of the ruling overturned are those who run the largest polluting industries in Utah. “They have the most to gain from this,” he said. “And on the other side, who has the most to lose from it? Public health advocates.”

Some state and federal lawmakers have said it’s a win, claiming the former policies were unconstitutional.

“The EPA was kind of this federal agency on steroids and coming into Utah like they’re the new sheriff in town and giving us all ‘thou shalt, thou shalt,” Weiler said.

He said that environmental regulations are back where they should be, under state control.

“We don’t need a bunch of bureaucrats in Washington, DC making those decisions for us,” Weiler said.

When asked if it’s a top priority for lawmakers to get air pollutants regulated, Senator Weiler responded, “We’re going to have to chart that out, but we don’t want our citizens choking on dirty air. So we’re going to figure that out and hopefully, we’ll find a Utah solution to that problem.”

Moench, however, said he’s skeptical of the state’s ability to ensure the air is clean.

“We disagree with that completely,” Moench said. “In fact, I would characterize this as not federal overreach that they’ve overturned, but they’ve instituted Supreme Court overreach. I don’t think this is anything that anybody, including our lawmakers, should be celebrating.”

Weiler said the air quality in Utah has been consistently improving since 1991.

National air quality and regulation standards show different areas of the state are either below average or in poor-quality conditions, which can worsen depending on the time of year.