Knoxville and Great Smoky Mountains AreasContact Air Pollution Control
Barry R. Stephens, Director
9th Floor, L & C Annex
401 Church Street
Nashville, TN 37243-1531
(615) 532-0554
E-mail your questions/comments to the Division of Air Pollution Control
Helpful Links
The Division of Air Pollution Control is directed to maintain the purity of the air resources of the State of Tennessee consistent with the protection of normal health, general welfare, and physical property of the people while preserving maximum employment and enhancing the industrial development of the State.
The Division directly serves 91 counties within the state and oversees and assists in the actions of Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, and Shelby counties, which have their own local air pollution control programs. If you have a question, concern or complaint about air pollution in Davidson, Hamilton, Knox or Shelby counties, please contact the appropriate local air program.
The Division establishes emission standards and procedure requirements to monitor industries in the State through the issuance of construction and operating permits. Established to carry out control and abatement of air pollution, the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board adopts regulations, holds hearings, and initiates court actions to enforce regulations. Division staff function as the administrative agency of the Board. Other duties include conducting source visits and compliance inspections, developing enforcement cases on violations of the regulations, maintaining surveillance of the state's ambient air sampling stations, performing and observing stack tests, certifying persons as Visible Emissions Readers, and collecting and disseminating information relative to the control of air pollution. For more information regarding the permits issued by the Division of Air pollution, check out the Environmental Permitting Handbook.
