The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reclassifying southeast Wisconsin as a “serious nonattainment” zone, a move some local business leaders say will hinder future development – and harm current business – in the state. Nonattainment areas do not follow national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and have more restrictive permitting requirement. There are five levels
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reclassifying southeast Wisconsin as a “serious nonattainment” zone, a move some local business leaders say will hinder future development – and harm current business – in the state.
Nonattainment areas do not follow national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and have more restrictive permitting requirement. There are five levels of nonattainment: marginal, moderate, serious, severe and extreme.
The EPA initially designated nonattainment areas in Wisconsin in April 2018. Those areas were revised and expanded by the EPA in June 2021.
[caption id="attachment_578365" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dale Kooyenga. Photo credit: Valerie Hill[/caption]
Southeast Wisconsin is being reclassified by the EPA because the region did not reach NAAQS by Aug. 3, 2024. The move from moderate to serious will take place on Jan. 16, 2025.
This reclassification will affect Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha, Sheboygan, Racine and Kenosha Counties.
To meet more stringent air quality and permitting requirements required by the serious nonattainment zone classification, businesses in southeast Wisconsin will likely have to spend large amounts of money to implement technologies that further reduce emissions, said Dale Kooyenga, president of MMAC.
"We've had the largest companies in the world say we want to invest in Wisconsin, like Eli Lilly," said Kooyenga. "There's other companies of that level that we speak to. When they see that nonattainment zone, they shy away from investing here.”
For areas like Kenosha County that are experiencing an influx of investment from large corporations like Eli Lilly and Haribo, the EPA reclassification will surely impact future business, said Nicole Ryf, president of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance.
“This will absolutely play into site selection,” said Ryf. “It's something I haven't really seen as an issue since I've been here, but I think being recategorized in this way, it will certainly have an impact.”
In a statement provided to BizTimes, Eli Lilly and Company said the reclassification should not impact the company’s planned $3 billion expansion project in Pleasant Prairie.
“Lilly is monitoring the situation and will adhere to all regulations,” according to the statement. “We are dedicated to continually reducing our environmental footprint, and we will maintain this commitment throughout the Kenosha County expansion. We are confident that our expansion plans will proceed as scheduled.”
Kooyenga believes the reclassification will not only affect future business in southeast Wisconsin, but also impact companies already operating here.
"When you put these costs on manufacturers, you're ironically, pushing them to places that don't have our environmental standards, like China," said Kooyenga.
MMAC, along with several partnering organizations, are planning to fight the EPA classification in Washington, D.C. There is a chance the incoming Trump administration could reverse the guidelines set forth by the EPA, according to Kooyenga.
“I think this is just right up their alley,” he said.
New requirements
Several factors play into Wisconsin’s elevated ozone levels, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Geography, meteorology, and emissions transported from out of state make Wisconsin susceptible to high ozone levels, especially along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
“Lake Michigan provides the chemical and meteorological conditions ideal for ozone formation in summer,” said the DNR in a statement. “Ozone-causing pollutants (volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides) emitted by upwind states are transported over the lake, where they react and form ozone, which is then carried onshore via lake breezes.”
Nitrogen oxides are emitted from sources of combustion including fossil-fueled power plants and industrial boilers at facilities like mills and foundries. Volatile organic compounds are typically emitted from facilities that have painting, coating or spraying operations or that utilize solvents.
Following the EPA reclassification, the emission threshold for a source to be considered “major” for permitting purposes will be lowered from 100 tons per year to 50 tons per year of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. This will mean more businesses will be subject to nonattainment permitting requirements.
There will also be more stringent requirements for major new sources or major modifications of existing ozone sources in southeast Wisconsin.
These more stringent requirements are particularly unjust because most emissions measured in southeast Wisconsin come from outside the state, said Kooyenga.
The EPA estimates Wisconsin contributes only 10% to the ozone measured in the state’s nonattainment areas, while emissions from Illinois contribute 22% and those from Indiana contribute 13%.
"To hold our businesses and therefore our employment opportunities accountable for (air pollution from other states, which) we just don't control is just not fair," Kooyenga said. "We're being punished for something that we did not do."
The DNR says several of its engineers are already reaching out to businesses with reported emissions that indicate they will need to pursue different permitting options because of the reclassification.
BizTimes Media reporter Sonia Spitz contributed to this report.
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