The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) founded in 1973, is a Wyoming state agency to protect, conserve and enhance the environment of Wyoming "through a combination of monitoring, permitting, inspection, enforcement and restoration/remediation activities". It consists of 6 divisions and since 1992, the Environmental Quality Council (EQC), a separate operating agency of 7 governor-appointed members.
Pressing issues have included since 2002 effects of Wyoming's rapidly expanding mineral and energy industries, such as natural gas production, fracking, oil refining, coal mining and uranium mining, including coalbed methane water management.
History The Wyoming Legislature founded the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in 1973 in passing the Environmental Quality Act.
In 2000, the Wyoming legislature enacted the "Voluntary Remediation of Contaminated Sites" law establishing a voluntary remediation program . Two memoranda of agreement from March 14, 2002 define how the DEQ and EPA Region 8 interact regarding contaminated sites: The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Memorandum of Agreement and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Memorandum of Agreement.
Responsibilities DEQ enforces state and federal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Superfund Amendments and Title III Reauthorization Act (SARA), Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 and the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act. Enforcement covers more than 17.5 million acres of public lands and 40.7 million acres of federal mineral estate, administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Organization , the DEQ's Director has been Todd Parfitt, appointed by Matt Mead, incumbent Republican Governor of Wyoming; from 2003 until 2012 the Director had been John Corra. In 1992, Wyoming reorganized all state agencies that deal with natural resources, and the legislature declared the EQC to be a separate operating agency. There are also two Governor-appointed, Wyoming Senate-confirmed independent entities: the Environmental Quality Council (EQC) and the Industrial Siting Council.
Apart from its administration with an Office of Outreach and Environmental Assistance the DEQ has six divisions: abandoned mine land, air quality, industrial siting which includes wind turbines, land quality for permitting/licensing of surface and underground mines, solid waste and hazardous waste, and water quality. The public can input through four advisory boards: a state land & investment board, an advisory board for air quality, one for water and waste, and one for land quality.
, DEQ had 267 employees located in Sheridan, Lander, Casper, Rock Springs, Pinedale, and headquarters in Cheyenne, with a state budget cut at that time between 5 and 10 percent. The Wyoming state budget appropriations for the biennium from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2016 foresaw only 264 employees. , 74 employees conducted nearly 2,900 inspections. The DEQ has requested more inspectors since 2003, and requests were defeated "with the obvious desire not to know what's going on" per former Democratic Wyoming House Representative Pete Jorgensen.
Environmental Quality Council (EQC) The EQC has 7 members, and per statutes not more than four members can be of the same political party. In 2014 the EQC had a Republican majority. As of April 2016, the members have been:Advisory Boards DEQ, n.d., Accessed 18 April 2016 Name Residence Party affiliation Term expires Rich Fairservis, Secretary Natrona County, Wyoming Republican March 2015, extended to March 2021 Meghan O'Toole Lally Savery in Carbon County Democrat March 2017 David Bagley, Chairman Albany County Democrat March 2016, extended to March 2020 Megan Degenfelder Campbell County, Wyoming Republican March 1, 2020Tim Flitner Greybull in Big Horn County Republican March 2015 extended to March 1, 2019Nick Agopian Laramie in Albany County (U)March 1, 2019Aaron ClarkWheatland, Wyoming in Platte County IndependentMarch 1, 2017 , Rich Fairservis has been the CEO of Granite Peak Development, Wyomings largest developer, which built a crude-to-rail facility in 2014.Dale Bohren Rich Fairservis Casper Star Tribune, 26 April 2014Benjamin Storrow Granite Peak Development unveils new $60 million crude-to-rail facility Casper Star Tribune, 21 October 2014
, Nick Agopian has been employed by Devon Energy as a government and regulatory specialist.Kyle Roerink Energy company eyes $75k consulting fee for Wyoming school program Casper Star Tribune, 17 January 2013
, David Bagley headed the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department at the University of Wyoming.Bob Beck David Bagley. UW's Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department draws influx of students] Wyoming Public Media Nov 12, 2012
, Meghan O'Toole Lally was a 5th generation sheep and cattle rancher.Meghan O'Toole Lally Testimony Before the House Natural Resources Committee Oversight Field Hearing on “State and Local Efforts to Protect Species, Jobs, Property, and Multiple Use Amidst a New War on the West.” U.S. House of Representatives, 4 September 2013, 5 pages.
, Megan Degenfelder has been a spokeswoman for the coal producer Cloud Peak Energy.Cloud Peak Spokeswoman Gives Coal Industry Report Coal News, 16 October 2015
, Tim Flitner is a 5th generation cattle rancher at Diamond Tail ranch.Diamond Tail ranches of Wyoming Cowboy Showcase, n.d., Accessed 18 April 2016
, Aaron Clark was an environmental consultant for oil and gas development and filed natural resource permits for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)Jennifer Womack Wyoming Livestock Roundup, n.d., Accessed 18 April 2016 and as of 2015 was former Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner.Leslie Stratmoen Governor Announces Fish, Wildlife Task Force Members 13 April 2015, Sheridan Media
Former members Thomas Coverdale, Republican from Daniel until March 2016 and former chairman F. David Searle, Republican from Sheridan until March 2015. When his membership was extended and he became Chairmanin 2016 Fairservis moved from Casper to Natrona count.
Industrial Siting Council It inputs into the Industrial Siting Division. it has the following members, which like EQC has 7 members, and per statutes not more than four members can be of the same political party: Name Residence Party affiliation Term expires Peter Brandjord Green River in Sweetwater County Democrat March 2017 John Corra Cheyenne in Laramie countyRepublican March 2019James Miller Sundance in Crook county Republican March 2019 Richard O'Gara Cheyenne in Laramie county Democrat March 2017Shawn Warner, Chair Jackson in Park County Republican March 2021Ken LanttaCasper in Natrona countyRepublicanMarch 2021Sandy ShuptrineTeton CountyDemocratMarch 2021
Corra has been an executive in the mineral and chemical industries, as of 2015 consulting for FMC Corporation per the Wyoming University.
Miller has been Special Assistant, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Laramie County Community College.
O'Gara retired from teaching economics at Laramie college and owns a business offering business siting and impact analyses (Wyoming Center for Business & Economic Analysis).
, Sandy Shuptrine chaired the Teton County Conservation District.Melodie Edwards Turbulent Waters At The DEQ Water Quality Public Meeting In Casper Wyoming Public Media, 17 September 2015, retrieved 18 April 2016 and was the lone dissenter in approving an ammonia production plant in Rock Springs by Simplot, because it was only 30% designed and contained only a single sentence about potential environmental releases.Angus M. Thuermer Jr. Board splits in approving $350M Simplot ammonia plant Wyoming File, 10 June 2014, retrieved 18 April 2016
Peter Brandjord said in 2014 "that Simplot's proposal was one of the best applications he had seen". he was Chairman of the Wyoming Retirement System Board.MINUTES Management Audit Committee 16 October 2000, Wyoming Legislature, retrieved 18 April 2016
Kenneth Lantta owns KDL Consulting, and has worked for the oil and gas industry (Precision Drilling Company, L.P. Wyoming oil & gas industry safety alliance).Kenneth Lantta KDL Consulting, retrieved 18 April 2016
Former members As of 2002, former member Greg Bierei was employed with the Thunder Basin Coal Company, L.L.C., operating the Black Thunder Mine as engineering/environmental manager per an accident investigation. A much earlier member of the Council under Governor Stan Hathaway was Jackson Hole architect Vince Lee who served for three terms in the late 70s.
Division of air quality Wyoming is divided into four air quality regions. the most strictly regulated area is Sublette County, which contain the two natural gas fields of Jonah Field and Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA). In 2013, 80 percent of the oil drilling permits issued by the Wyoming Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission were in Sublette County and four other counties (Campbell County, Converse County, Johnson County and Laramie County).
In the Upper Green River Basin with parts of Sublette, Lincoln County and Sweetwater County companies with multiple-well developments must place pollution controls from the beginning of operations, while single-well developments only need to install them if they emit more than four tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) annually.
In the 'Concentrated Development Area', comprising all of Carbon County, Fremont County, Natrona County and Uinta County and parts of Lincoln County, Wyoming and Sweetwater County, multi-well developments need pollution controls from the beginning, but single-well facilities may emit up to eight tons of VOC's per year.
In the so-called 'state region' of all remaining counties, there is a VOC limit of 10 tons annually for all types of well developments, lowered from 20 tons per year only in 2007.
In December 2013, the DEQ issued the city of Medicine Bow a permit for construction of a coal gasification plant. In 2011, the Sierra Club challenged the permit, and lost before the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Non attainment Between 2008 and 2011, Pinedale had such high ozone levels, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared it a nonattainment area. For attainment, "the area must have three years where the fourth-highest ozone level falls below the national standard". The American Lung Association gave the area a failing grade for ozone levels.
A Wyoming Department of Health's public health investigation from 2008 to 2011 found associations between short-term changes in ground-level ozone and acute respiratory problems among residents seeking healthcare within Sublette County. The Northern Arapahos and Eastern Shoshone tribes sought "state status" in order to administer air quality monitoring. In 2013 the EPA ruled on the request and determined the land actually belongs to the Wind River Indian Reservation and has for more than a century, despite a 1905 law opening it to non-tribal members.
Division of land quality The DLQ has a permitting and licensing site for coal, and one for noncoal, including uranium. In 2013, a DEQ feasibility study estimated that it would cost Wyoming at least $4.5 million and 1o new staff to take over regulation of uranium and thorium mining. The mining industry has pushed the state to take over, saying the Nuclear Regulatory Commission charges too much and moves too slowly.
Mine reclamation