After more than 10 years on the EPAâs watchlist, Cache Valley is meeting federal PM2.5 air pollution standards.
While the âattainmentâ designation wonât be official until a few more steps, including public comment periods, Cache Valley is the first nonattainment area in Utah to clear that bar.
âIt doesnât mean that all our problems are solved and that we donât have work still to do,â said Jeff Gilbert, transportation planner for the Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization. âBut itâs kind of a good sign, I think, something to celebrate, that weâve met the standard.â
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After Cache Valleyâs nonattainment designation is lifted, it is expected to enter a âmaintenanceâ regulatory phase. The EPA will still be watching PM2.5 levels in Cache and Franklin counties, Gilbert said, but bad air days wonât mean that local officials have to go all the way back to the drawing board.
Four locals have thrown their names in the hat to fill the open seat of Cache County executive.
The vacancy opened when Craig Buttars resigned to serve as Utahâs interim-Commissioner of Agriculture and Food after Gov. Spencer Cox appointed him in December.
Per county bylaws, the Cache County Republican Party will host its third special election in as many years to see who will be the next executive among applicants Dave Erickson, David Zook, Ladd Kennington and Marc Ensign.
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Love of Cache, people
Erickson, who has been a member of the Cache County Council for six years and was re-elected in November, is a fourth-generation farmer on the northern end of the valley.