The North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization (NFRMPO) is jointly hosting a 2-day conference with Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments (PPACG) on ozone science and attainment challenges specific to the Intermountain West states.
Planning is currently underway – please check in here for updates as we confirm venues, dates, program schedule, registration cost, and sponsorship opportunities.
Why do we need this exchange?
Ozone levels in the intermountain west are no longer responding to state initiatives reducing human-made pollutant emissions that contribute to ozone production.
Ozone is not directly emitted into the atmosphere, it is chemically created by combining nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. NOx and VOC are called ozone precursors. In areas where the ozone monitors show exceedance of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone, local air agencies must reduce ozone levels by reducing these ozone precursors. However, in IMW nonattainment areas contributions from high background levels, natural sources, wildfires and related mitigation activities, international sources, and more appear to unduly influence whether areas can attain or come into attainment of the NAAQS. These sources of ozone precursors and ozone are not within any one state’s authority to control.
The last time a regional ozone conference was held was in 2016 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Given the pressing need for understanding the ozone attainment challenges in the IMW states, this conference provides a regional venue in which to broadly share research findings and collectively discuss solutions.
IMW ozone nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS (70 ppb)
- Denver Metro/North Front Range, Colorado (map)
- Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona (map)
- Las Vegas in Clark County, Nevada (map)
- Northern Wasatch Front and Uinta Basin, Utah (map)
What are the goals for this exchange?
- Sharing information among IMW air quality agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, academic researchers, industry, local governments, community groups, and members of the public
- Education on the EPA’s State Implementation Plan process and Clean Air Act requirements and provisions
- Recognition and prioritization of unique regional challenges and considerations faced in the IMW states
- Discussing near-term and longer-term solutions and communication planning
This conference is not intended to debate the health impacts of ozone or the current ozone federal health standard.
Exchange details
Date: 2-3 day conference, week of October 12, 2026
Location: Mckee Building at The Ranch 5280 Arena Circle Loveland, CO 80538
Hosts: NFRMPO and PPACG
Hotel options: Coming Soon
Registration cost: Coming Soon
Travel scholarship availability: Coming Soon
Call for abstracts
Abstract themes:
- Background ozone and long-range transport
- Wildfires and mitigation activities (influence on background ozone, exceedance magnitude and frequency, impact to chemical regimes (NOx vs VOC limited), feedback effects from aerosols)
- Biogenic sources of precursors and other natural contributions to ozone
- Changes in ozone chemical regimes (spatial, seasonal, diurnal)
- Impacts from local geography, meteorology, and “climate penalty”
- Air quality planning, management, and policy (emission source control authority, control strategies, Clean Air Act provisions, emission inventories, photochemical grid modeling refinements, cooperative federalism, international and interstate collaboration)
- Public communications (existing efforts and potential improvements, tensions between public health and ability to reduce ozone, communication before and during bad air pollution days)
- Emerging air quality issues (artificial intelligence, multipollutant interactions and management, consumer products, behavioral changes, population dynamics)
Spread the word
Help us spread the word of the 2026 Intermountain West Ozone Exchange with the following documents and social media posts:
Contact information
Contact information will be available soon