Environmental Progress - Winter 1996

Bureau of Air Continues to Work on Ozone and Other Emissions Problems

The Illinois EPA's Bureau of Air continued to attack the causes of ground-level ozone (the primary cause of smog) on a variety of fronts during 1996.

It was the second year for Partners for Clean Air and the Ozone Action Days program. Both the coalition of business, government and environmental and health organizations and the program made significant advances.

A survey conducted by the Illinois EPA indicated that the number of Chicagoland citizens who listened to the Ozone Action Days messages and took actions to reduce smog has dramatically increased.

The Agency conducted a survey of 500 people on Aug. 7 and 8, days which immediately followed a string of three Ozone Action Days (Aug. 5, 6, 7). Those surveyed lived in the city of Chicago, in Cook County and in surrounding counties. The Agency conducted a similar survey of 500 Chicago-area residents in March 1996.

Of those surveyed, 74 percent said they were aware of Ozone Action Days, up from 31 percent in a March survey. Of those who were aware of Ozone Action Days, 67 percent said they took air pollution reduction actions, including limiting driving (38 percent), deferring lawn mowing (21 percent), refueling in the evening (15 percent) and car pooling (12 percent).

Chicagoland television weather forecasters participated extensively in the program. A new color-coded air quality program was developed for their uses and forecasters were briefed by Illinois EPA representatives about Ozone Action Days and ozone forecasting. As a result, ozone activity was much more frequently and accurately reported on Chicago-area television weather reports. The survey showed 63 percent of those who heard about Ozone Action Days received the information from television. Others got the message from radio, newspapers and the Illinois Department of Transportation's electronic highway signs or through their workplace.

Radio and Public Relations Campaign

Illinois EPA, the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, AAA-Chicago Motor Club and the Chicago Area Transportation Study sponsored a summer-long ozone awareness and education program to complement the goals of Partners for Clean Air and Ozone Action Days.

Humorous radio spots ran from June 3 through Aug. 11 on many popular Chicagoland radio stations. An estimated 2.7 million Chicagoland adults heard the ads more than 15 times each. In addition, the agency tracked 192 media stories over the summer about Ozone Action Days, reaching a total estimated audience of 27.5 million during the summer.

Additional Partners

Since the close of last ozone season, an additional 58 Chicago-area businesses and organizations have joined Partners for Clean Air. Mailings were sent out this spring and summer to several different groups of businesses, and the responses have brought the total Partners number to 268 in Illinois and 65 in Indiana.

Partners representatives made presentations to many different area groups, including high school students, meteorologists, professional municipal organizations and local health professionals.

Also, the Chicago Area Transportation Study Council of Mayors produced an educational video and printed materials that were sent to libraries, schools, and more than 250 municipalities.

The Partners coalition is planning to expand its efforts in 1997 by increasing membership and pursuing more comprehensive media coverage.

Emissions Reduction Market System Proposed

In October 1996, the Bureau of Air submitted a proposal to the Pollution Control Board for an Emissions Reduction Management System for volatile organic materials for the Chicago ozone nonattainment area. The program would be the first of its kind in the nation.

The program is intended to help the state achieve sufficient VOM emission reductions to meet the Clean Air Act's requirement of a 9 percent reduction rate of progress through 1999.

Individual sources would have flexibility in determining the best way to meet their emissions reduction targets. An area-wide emissions cap for the participating VOM sources will be set by the Illinois EPA and allotment trading units will be created and issued to each source. The individual source can then determine if it is more cost-effective for them to reduce emissions at their own facilities or to buy trading units from other sources who have achieved reductions beyond their target.

Representatives from major industrial firms, business associations, and consultants worked with Illinois EPA staff to develop the proposed trading regulations.

The agency hopes to accept applications by early 1998 for reductions starting in 1999.

Vehicle Emissions Test Program Celebrates 10th Anniversary

The test program has grown from 10 stations to a network of 22 stations, with approximately 2.1 million tests per year.

Gas cap pressure testing is in the first stage of implementation now, and will be fully implemented in 1997 throughout the test network. The Agency is working to start enhanced testing in 1998.

Ozone Transport Assessment Group

The Illinois EPA also continued to take a prominent leadership role in the Ozone Transport Assessment Group (OTAG) during 1996. Illinois EPA Director Mary Gade has chaired the OTAG Policy Group since it began in May 1995, and Bharat Mathur, chief of the Bureau of Air, chairs the Advisory Panel. Other Bureau of Air staff and Environmental Policy Director Roger Kanerva have also played key roles in OTAG's continuing work process.

OTAG is a voluntary effort spanning the 37 states and District of Columbia east of the Rocky Mountains, to evaluate the regional nature of the pollutants that cause ground-level ozone. Formed by top state environmental officials, OTAG will provide input and recommendations to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the ozone issue during 1997. OTAG has gathered together top scientific experts to evaluate how the pollutants that cause ozone are transported across regions and how they are affected by weather conditions. OTAG is also evaluating the impact of various potential control strategies in helping solve the problem.

It has used an open, consensus process in which a variety of stakeholders, including representatives of the utility, auto manufacturing, motor fuels, and other industries, as well as health and environmental advocates, have participated.