ASHEVILLE-- Gov. Jim Hunt today committed his Administration to improving air quality across North Carolina with the announcement of a seven-point plan to fight ozone pollution and protect public health, jobs and the environment.

Hunt revealed the air-quality package at the first Summit on Mountain Air Quality in Asheville. The conference brought together more than 250 participants from more than a dozen states to seek solutions to air pollution in the multi-state mountain region.

"We must find the solution to the air pollution that is obscuring our great vistas, harming our environment, threatening our health and hurting our tourism industry," said Hunt. "Our plan is focused on vehicle emissions, because they are our biggest problem. But it also includes industrial emissions, because all elements of the problem need to be addressed."

The Hunt Administration package would target reductions in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from vehicles and industry and would move the state ahead of federal timetables for ozone reduction. Ozone pollution is the most serious and widespread air-quality problem in the state. The pollutant, a lung irritant that also harms plants and crops, is formed when NOx is heated in the atmosphere during summer months and reacts with hydrocarbons. The package will be funded through a long-term plan that will include federal funding and the necessary state funds to make it a success.

The Hunt Administration plan emphasizes vehicle emissions because of their ill effects on air quality in North Carolina. State monitoring indicates that half of the ozone produced in the state -- and as much as 90 percent in urban areas -- results from vehicles.

"When our climate heats up and ozone is created, our public’s health is put at risk," Hunt said. "We’re not just talking about the elderly and children and people with respiratory problems, but healthy exercising adults and people who work outdoors."

The plan includes:

• Vehicle emissions inspections. Current emissions testing would be expanded to more counties and would include NOx monitoring.
• Requiring that only low-sulfur gas be sold in the state. Low-sulfur gas burns cleaner resulting in reduces auto emissions and improves the performance of pollution-control equipment on cars.
• Tax incentives for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) that use electricity, natural gas and other clean fuels. The state already has purchased more than 300 AFVs for its motor fleet.
• Funding increases for mass transit and rail projects. Hunt proposed more than $56 million in state spending over the next two years for improvements on existing rail routes, local and regional transit planning and support and environmental-impact studies on high-speed rail.
• Further expansion of the state Air Awareness/Ozone Action program. The program educates and informs the public about air pollution, its causes and effects and steps businesses and individuals can take to reduce it. Last week, the program expanded to include the more than 20 mountain counties of Western North Carolina.
• Rule changes requiring the state’s five largest power plants to reduce emissions by two-thirds in the next four years. Targeted plants include Duke Power facilities in Stokes, Catawba and Gaston counties and two Carolina Power & Light facilities in Person County.
• An incentives program to encourage companies to reduce pollutants ahead of schedule -- cleaning the air faster. The program may allow companies to "bank" emissions credits and sell them to new or expanding businesses.

In addition to the Summit on Mountain Air Quality, North Carolina has assumed the leading role in the Southern Appalachians Mountains Initiative (SAMI), a regional study of the causes and solutions to air quality problems. Bill Holman, DENRs assistant secretary for environmental protection, serves as chairman of this eight-state group.

North Carolina is leading the nation in air quality control by being one of the few states to develop a long-term statewide plan for meeting the new stricter federal standards for ground level ozone and fine particles. In addition, North Carolina recently headed off efforts to weaken its air toxics rules, which are designed to protect public health and are more stringent than other states.

Contact: Tom Mather (919) 715-7408
Date Posted: 04/08

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