The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) has published its 2025 State of the Environment Report, the agency’s annual benchmark of environmental conditions and program performance across its four core areas of responsibility: air, land, waste, and water. The report, finalized in February 2026 and covering Fiscal Year 2025, is available on the WDEQ State of the Environment page.
Air Permitting and Compliance Highlights
The Air Quality Division (AQD), DEQ’s largest division, processed 871 permit actions in FY2025, including 863 New Source Review (NSR) actions and 8 Title V actions, with an average issuance time of just 66 days for NSR permits and authorization letters.
On the compliance side, AQD conducted 170 inspections, 58 Title V inspections, and 909 site visits, reporting a 98.3% compliance rate among Title V facilities. The division’s Environmental Audit Program also continues to gain traction: 13 companies audited 202 facilities in FY2025, with completed audits costing companies an average of roughly $43,000. Over the past decade, the program has driven reductions of nearly 16,000 tons of combined NOX and VOC emissions, demonstrating that voluntary self-disclosure remains a viable compliance management tool in Wyoming.
Notably, the Upper Green River Basin (UGRB) Ozone Nonattainment Area is currently meeting both the 2008 and the more stringent 2015 ozone NAAQS based on 2023-2025 monitoring data. Since 2008, NSR permitting requirements in the basin have produced cumulative reductions of approximately 2,042 tons of NOX and 7,698 tons of VOCs. Continued attainment-level monitoring is a positive signal for oil and gas operators in the basin, though existing nonattainment permitting requirements remain in effect until a redesignation occurs.
Regulatory Changes Across Divisions
AQD updated the Wyoming Air Quality Standards and Regulations to maintain state primacy and alignment with federal requirements, and it continues to review existing rules for streamlining opportunities. The division also met all federal SIP submittal deadlines and commented on 15 proposed federal rules, standards, and guidance documents.
The Land Quality Division finalized rules for the new Source Material Program (Chapters 1-9) to secure federal approval, with NRC approval anticipated in 2026, revised Uranium Recovery Program Chapter 4 to extend license terms from ten to twenty years, and initiated rulemaking to streamline bond adjustments for coal operations.
The Water Quality Division conducted outreach on revisions to Chapter 4 (Releases of Oil and Hazardous Substances) and Chapter 28 (Commercial Oilfield Waste Disposal Facilities), and the Environmental Quality Council adopted revised Chapter 1 Surface Water Quality Standards in June 2025. WQD also continues to build out its Class VI carbon capture program: nine Class VI well permits have been issued, with four wells authorized to inject CO2 for permanent storage. WQD is also expanding PFAS testing, monitoring, and strategy development.
The Solid & Hazardous Waste Division initiated revisions to Chapter 7 of the Solid Waste Rules addressing financial assurance requirements in response to 2025 legislation, while the Industrial Siting Division issued six permits spanning solar, wind, trona, and the Kemmerer Unit 1 nuclear project under its 165-day decision framework.
What It Means for Your Facility
DEQ is issuing permits faster but hasn’t eased up on inspections, so keep your permit conditions, records, and emissions inventories in order. Active rulemaking across air, land, water, and waste programs means compliance obligations are shifting, while Class VI sequestration, PFAS, and energy project siting are creating new obligations and opportunities alike.
For assistance evaluating these developments or supporting your next permitting project in Wyoming, contact Trinity’s Cheyenne office at 307.209.2301.
