Board Considers Recommendation to Improve Air Quality in Northeast Ohio

Ever see a haze hovering around the tall buildings of downtown Cleveland and other parts of Northeast Ohio? That’s probably not fog produced by cold air and a warm Lake Erie; more likely it’s air pollution caused in part by fine particles in the air.

At its December 14 meeting, the Governing Board of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) will hear and consider recommended strategies for inclusion in the Fine Particle (PM2.5) State Implementation Plan (SIP) to help bring Northeast Ohio and the state of Ohio into attainment with federal air quality standards. Currently, seven counties in Northeast Ohio are not in compliance, which could result not only in public health risks but also in serious economic sanctions.

“If the region does not attain federal air pollution standards by 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency could impose sanctions, including restrictions on businesses planning to locate or expand and the loss of federal highway funds for capacity-adding projects,” says Howard R. Maier, NOACA executive director. “That could bring serious hardships for Northeast Ohio.”

The recommendations being presented to the NOACA Governing Board are the result of a one-year effort by the NOACA Air Quality Public Advisory Task Force, the Environmental Advisory Committee Air Quality Subcommittee, the Transportation Advisory Committee, and the Planning Advisory Committee, as well as many NOACA members and partners. If approved by the NOACA Governing Board, they will be submitted to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for use in achieving the goals of the SIP that is due to the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2008.

In other action, the Board will also consider adding 11 new projects to the long-range transportation plan. Details about these projects are posted on the NOACA Web site for public comment and have undergone comprehensive staff, committee, and intergovernmental review. The Board will also consider adding these 11 projects to the State Fiscal Years 2008 – 2011 Transportation Improvement Program, the comprehensive, four-year listing of federal-aid highway, transit and bikeway projects scheduled for implementation in NOACA’s five counties (Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina).

The Governing Board meeting will be held on Friday, December 14, at 10:30 a.m. at NOACA’s offices, 1299 Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland. (Please note the later start time of 10:30 a.m.)

For more information, call Gayle L. Godek, Communications Specialist, at 216-241-2414, ext. 283; or Steve Jones, Associate Director of Divisional Services, at ext. 352.