NOACA Board Approves Annual Report of Studies, Policies, Maps and Publications

Today the NOACA Governing Board approved the agency’s State Fiscal Year 2006 Overall Work Program (OWP) completion report. The report highlights the projects, studies and other products completed by NOACA staff during the past fiscal year, from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006. These products are also available on NOACA’s Web site, www.noaca.org.or on compact disk (Transportation Division products only).

In other business, NOACA staff updated Board members about the Regional Pavement Management System (RPMS). The RPMS will help public officials monitor pavement conditions on the region’s roadways and prioritize federally funded road improvements. With the help of a consultant, NOACA is developing a Web site with a dual purpose: to provide communities and the public with basic pavement and road condition data, and to give system users access to mapping and report-building capabilities.

Staff also updated the Board about the following regional air quality issues:

• The 2006 Ozone Action Day (OAD) program: The 2006 OAD program concluded on September 30, and staff distributed an end-of-season report summarizing the activities of this year’s program. In a year of cool, wet weather, the region had a total of seven announced Ozone Action Days.
• USEPA establishes new fine particulate matter clean air standard:
  
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has tightened the federal daily fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality standard, meaning the region is now not meeting the annual clean air standard for fine particles, and must attain it by the year 2010. Fine particulate matter includes soot, dust and other particles that are too small to see but which can aggravate respiratory illnesses and impair breathing. NOACA’s Air Quality Public Advisory Task Force will meet on October 26 to begin discussing ways to reduce fine particle pollution.