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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

October 2001

New Ozone Plan Will Help Clear the Air

Ozone plan depicted as winged hand erasing a dark cloudGo ahead, take a deep breath -- air quality is improving. And the Revised Bay Area 2001 Ozone Attainment Plan released last month by MTC, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) promises to make it even better. The question is whether it will be good enough. The stakes are huge. Work on more than 100 highway and transit projects worth over $1 billion could grind to a halt in January if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not approve the region's 2001 Ozone Attainment Plan. MTC, the Air District and ABAG revised the plan after the EPA recommended changes to an earlier version.

Although the region's air has been getting steadily cleaner, ozone readings have exceeded the federal standard on a few hot summer and fall afternoons, particularly in the Livermore Valley and other inland locations. The revised plan proposes to remedy the situation by reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds by 121 tons per day by 2006, and nitrogen oxides by 124 tons a day. The two substances react to form ozone.

Stringent controls on engines and fuels enacted by the California Air Resources Board will go a long way toward reaching those targets. To take the region the rest of the distance, the revised plan includes stronger controls on stationary sources such as oil refineries plus five new transportation control measures. These include a $40 million investment in regional express buses; $15 million to expand bicycle and pedestrian facilities; $27 million for programs that promote transit- and pedestrian-oriented development; enhanced transit access to Bay Area airports; and expansion of the Freeway Service Patrol tow-truck service.

"We're just as committed to protecting the environment as we are to improving mobility," noted MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger. "This plan shows we can do both."

Critics of the original plan charged that the public had insufficient opportunity to contribute. So MTC, ABAG and the Air District held six community meetings to solicit input on the revised plan. The public will get another chance to weigh in on October 24.

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