Utah regulators called Monday for stricter controls on industrial emissions to reduce sooty pollution that typically settles in the heavily populated Wasatch Front for weeks in bowl-shaped valleys that trap smog.

Regulators opened a month-long public comment period Monday on three sets of comprehensive clean-air plans for northern Utah.

“We’ll be seeing huge reductions in emissions over the next five to seven years that really impact us during our winter inversion periods,” Utah Division of Air Quality Director Bryce Bird said. “These plans will work.”

The effort is expected to reduce emissions by nearly a third over the wider Salt Lake City metropolitan area, from 366 tons to 243 tons a day, he said.

Utah must provide plans to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Dec. 15. The Utah Air Quality Board intends to act before that to make the plans into laws that will take effect immediately with a series of deadlines for action, Bird said.

via Utah taking public comment on clean-air plans – Businessweek.