Utah
Sen. Curtis tells EPA nominees why Utah has unique air quality needs
Sen. John Curtis wants the federal government to recognize that they need to be more flexible on regulations on Utah’s air quality.
“Utah’s unique geography and natural phenomenon require a nuanced approach,” said Curtis.
“Approximately 80% of our ozone comes from ozone emitting from the Earth’s surfaces or from outside of the region. And as Utahns, that means we only control 20% of the ozone in the area,” he noted during the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee confirmation hearings. The committee was considering the nominations of David Fotouhi to be deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and Aaron Szabo to be assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation.
Utah’s elected officials and leaders have committed to improving air quality, and the state is seeing positive results, said Curtis. He added that the “great investments in new technology to improve our air” have also served the state well, as have the Trump administration’s commitment to bringing relief.
“Utah’s Uinta Basin faces similar challenges. Oil and gas production in the region, where we provide affordable, reliable, and clean energy, are burdened by EPA standards, and don’t account for this unique geography that we have in Utah,” he said.
As the Deseret News previously reported, a 2015 revision to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, established by the EPA under the Clean Air Act, lowered the federal threshold for ozone concentrations from 75 parts per billion to 70 ppb, designating areas above that level as “nonattainment” areas. Utah did not meet these standards.
Curtis receives commitments from EPA nominees to address Utah air quality challenges
Despite the progress, Curtis expressed frustration with the Biden White House EPA’s decision to reverse course.
On Dec. 9, 2024, the EPA designated the Northern Wasatch Front and the Uinta Basin as nonattainment areas that did not meet the federal air quality standards.
This type of designation requires state and local governments to develop and implement plans to comply with federal law. It means stricter regulations on industries, vehicle emissions and energy efficiency.
This had a significant economic impact on Utah, Curtis said.
He indicated his concerns about small energy producers in the Uinta Basin struggling to comply with methane regulations due to financial constraints and advocated for a more outcome-based approach to EPA regulation.
He asked Fotouhi and Szabo for a commitment: “Can we count on this flexibility and working with regional administrators to follow their lead in dealing with these tough issues?”
Both the nominees promised to work with the Beehive State to resolve these issues.
Curtis also noted small energy producers in Utah “really struggle to meet the methane regulations.”
“Not out of will, but just simply out of resources,” he said. “And, we find that EPA sometimes has been overly restrictive in how they fix the problem, rather than kind of defining what they want fixed and letting people get there through using different types of technologies.”
The nominees, offered their commitment again to work with regional administrators and avoid prescriptive regulation.
Utah
Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Utah
Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
Utah
Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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