SALT LAKE CITY -- The Environmental Protection Agency is sticking by a proposal to lump Box Elder and Tooele counties in with some of Utah's most polluted areas.
Portions of those two counties -- along with Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Cache and Weber counties -- will be deemed in violation of new stricter federal standards for tiny bits of harmful air pollution.
The decision announced Thursday also means the areas will have three years to come up with a plan to reduce the amount of pollution known as PM2.5, flecks smaller than the width of a human hair that come from car exhaust, power plants, burning wood and industrial activities.
Utah officials, including members of the congressional delegation, had opposed the inclusion of Box Elder and Tooele counties in the "non-attainment" area.
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