Governor signs outdoor cooking bill into law

Governor signs outdoor cooking bill into law

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SALT LAKE CITY — Much to the dismay of clean-air advocates and contrary to the desire of the State Air Quality Board, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill into law allowing outdoor cooking, commercial or otherwise, on bad air days.

HB65 by Rep. Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, put into law existing regulations, but was seen as an impediment for regulators to take future action to curtail emissions from that particular source.

"It’s baffling that Gov. Herbert ignored the advice of the diverse panel of air quality experts he appointed,” said Ashley Soltysiak, HEAL Utah’s policy director. Herbert signed the bill late Friday.

The nonprofit activist organization accused the governor of succumbing to pressure from outdoor grill manufacturers instead of leaving open the option of new regulations to help clean up Utah's air.

But Paul Edwards, Herbert's deputy chief of staff, said Schultz has agreed to address potential concerns.

"HB65 does not alter current practice and the sponsor has agreed to make technical fixes for the elements in the legislation that were potentially overbroad," Edwards said.

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Advocates insist that the law fosters dangerous wood smoke emissions at a time when the state should be looking to crack down on the practice of solid fuel burning.

Members of the Utah Air Quality Board unanimously asked Herbert to veto the bill in a letter delivered to him the final week of the session.

In the letter, the board said the outdoor cooking bill, if signed into law, would adversely impact the state's ability to meet federal clean-air requirements.

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality has to come up with a new plan to meet the federal threshold for PM2.5, or fine particulate matter, that is trapped in the valleys during temperature inversions in the winter.

Removing the option of regulating wood smoke makes it that much tougher to come up with effective reductions, the board argued.

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Amy Joi O'Donoghue

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