Arizona Clean Fuels, based in Phoenix, has been granted approval for air permits concerning what could be the first refinery plant to be built in the U.S. since the 1970s. The planned $2.5 billion facility would be built on desert land about 40 miles east of Yuma, Ariz. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality drafted the air permit that set emission limits and pollution control requirements for the company. EPA Region 9 then had 45 days to review the documents. The EPA had no objections to the conditions.

The application for this permit was initially submitted in 1999. The permit, however, is just one of many regulatory hurdles Clean Fuels must complete before beginning construction of the refinery. The state currently gets its fuel via pipeline from California.