Because much of our air pollution comes from local
sources, county and municipal governments must take a leadership
role in addressing our air quality challenges.
Significant portions of the state's population are
exposed to unhealthy air quality at least part of the time. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designates an area as nonattainment
if it has violated or has contributed to violations of the national
ambient air quality health standards (NAAQS)
for one of six criteria
air pollutants. The designation process plays an important role
in letting the public know whether air quality in a given area is
healthy. Once designations take effect, they also become an important
component of state and local governments' efforts to control air
pollution.
Impacts of nonattainment
Nonattainment designation has a variety of impacts
on a region, including-
- Air quality that is unhealthy at least part of
the time
- A negative image for the community and a discouraging
impact on tourism
- Barriers to economic development
- Local economic impacts, including lost jobs,
increased business operating costs, reduced worker compensation,
decreased industrial output and increased municipal expenditures
for road cleaning and air quality monitoring
- More stringent air quality permits to limit the
amount of pollutants emitted into the air
- Offsets
for new or expanding facilities
- Transportation
conformity to ensure that transportation projects do not make
air quality worse
- Restrictions on the ability to use federal transportation
funds for highway projects that create additional capacity
The Clean Air Tennessee web site is intended to
provide local leaders with information and tools to help you design
strategies to reduce local air emissions and improve air quality.
Additional resources will be added as the site grows. Please contact
us and let us know what additional information would be helpful
to you, or if you have information that you would like to share
with other local leaders.
|