FRONT RANGE — An independent board tasked with improving Colorado’s air quality believes the state will fall short of meeting an Environmental Protection Agency requirement to lower toxic air pollution by 2024, but will be able to reach an older, more lax emissions-reduction target three years later.

Critics argue that Colorado’s plan to reach those goals falls short, continuing a pattern that led the EPA earlier this year to announce plans to downgrade the northern Front Range’s air quality rating.

And every time the state misses its goals to reduce air pollution, it jeopardizes the health of Colorado residents who live along the Front Range — and it becomes more expensive to fix because more regulations are placed on industries such as oil and gas, trucking and manufacturing.

“If we fail to act, it costs us time. It costs us additional requirements,” said Danny Katz, executive director of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group. “This is a really pivotal moment. We can’t wait another few years to act.”

The Regional Air Quality Council, an independent board appointed by the governor, is set to approve a plan for reducing harmful ground-level ozone emissions at an Aug. 5 meeting. The proposal, known as a State Implementation Plan, also must be approved by the state’s Air Quality Control Commission, which is expected to consider it in September, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Read more at DenverPost.com.