Council approves amendments to Lincoln–Lancaster air pollution regulations to align with state and federal rules

The Lincoln City Council approved amendments to the Lincoln–Lancaster air pollution control regulations and standards intended to align local rules with state and federal requirements and to clarify the program’s fee schedules.

Gary Bergstrom of the Lincoln Lancaster County Health Department told the council the changes are primarily technical and intended to maintain consistency with the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and the Federal Clean Air Act. "One way we do that is to make sure that our regulations are consistent with the Nebraska Environmental Protection Act, the NDE, Nebraska Department of Environment Energy's air quality regulations, as well as the Federal Clean Air Act," Bergstrom said.

Bergstrom described the exercise as periodic regulatory housekeeping: removing duplicative language and replacing it with references to state or federal standards where appropriate, and reorganizing fee tables that staff said had become confusing after prior updates. When asked whether the updated fees had been charged since last September, Bergstrom said the department had been charging fees updated as of Sept. 1 and that the present amendment seeks to make fee changes clearer and easier to present with the biennial budget.

Bergstrom also noted the proposed changes had been reviewed by the Air Pollution Control Advisory Board, the Board of Health and the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners as part of the broader interjurisdictional process.

The council voted 7-0 to adopt the revisions during the meeting.