DENVER — The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it had reclassified Denver and Colorado’s northern Front Range as “severe” violators of federal air quality standards, meaning residents are likely to pay higher gas prices and the number of businesses required to apply for air pollution permits will more than double.
The severe label requires motorists in summer months to use a special blend of gasoline that reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and drivers in the nine-county northern Front Range will begin using it in the summer of 2024 unless the state convinces the EPA to grant an exception.
AAA estimates gas prices will increase 20 cents to 30 cents per gallon once drivers start using it.
