Working Together for Cleaner Air

Clean air is important to everyone. Today, in the Fraser Valley, air pollution causes health problems for residents, threatens the region’s natural beauty and damages the agriculture and tourism industries. Solving the problem of air pollution and climate change is our collective responsibility. Every day, the choices we make as individuals are as important to improving air quality as are those made by governments and communities.

Through individual efforts, corporate, community and However, the region’s population continues to increase at government initiatives and innovative partnerships, a rapid rate, and demand for products and services that many measures are underway to mitigate emissions of require energy mean that efforts to improve air quality air pollution in the Lower Fraser Valley airshed. Since must continue. The more we learn about air emissions, 1985, these efforts have contributed to a 40% reduction their sources and effects, the better we can develop airshed in the total emissions of sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide, planning and management tools, including air emission particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen reduction strategies. Here are just a few of the initiatives oxides from all sources, and this is despite a nearly 50% currently underway. growth in population.

Air Quality Management Plan for the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley Area

The Greater Vancouver Regional District and the Fraser Valley Regional District, with support from the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection and Environment Canada, are working to develop a post-2000 Air Quality Management Plan for the Lower Fraser Valley. Previous air quality planning has focused on ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. In response to increasing concern about climate change, the new plan will include greenhouse gas emissions as a high priority. A recent study commissioned by these partners investigated measures that would reduce greenhouse gases and common air contaminants concurrently. It concluded that, after vehicle emission reductions, the greatest opportunities are in industrial, commercial and residential energy efficiency; municipal and regional land use planning; public transit improvements; and transportation demand management.

Vehicles and Fuel

10-Year Agenda on Cleaner Vehicles and Fuels

As part of its Plan of Action on Clean Air, the federal government invested $48.4 million to bring cleaner engines and cleaner fuels to Canadian consumers. This includes cleaner cars, light-duty trucks, Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), tractors, heavy duty diesel equipment and small engines such as snowblowers, lawnmowers and leaf blowers. The 10-year regulatory and scientific plan of action will ensure that stringent Canadian vehicle and fuel standards are harmonized with requirements in the United States. Starting in January 2004, these regulations for new-to-the-market passenger cars, light trucks and sport utility vehicles will reduce tailpipe nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 73%, particulate matter (PM) by 64%, carbon monoxide (CO) by 23% and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 14% by 2020.

Fuel Regulations

Since July 2002, gasoline produced or imported into Canada cannot exceed an average sulphur content of 150 parts per million (ppm), and the sulphur content will be further reduced to an average of 30 ppm in January 2005. Progress toward reducing sulphur in gasoline has also been made through the BC Cleaner Gasoline Regulation. Removing sulphur from gasoline is an important way to minimize emissions of sulphur oxides (SO2), CO, NOx, VOCs and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), some of which also contribute to the formation of secondary pollutants such as ground-level ozone.

Since 1998, the Sulphur in Diesel Regulations allow the federal government to limit the sulphur content of diesel fuel used in on-road vehicles to a maximum of 500 ppm. Government of Canada has also announced that it will further reduce sulphur in diesel to 15 ppm in 2006, in line with similar requirements for diesel sold in the U.S. This will help achieve a 97% reduction in sulphur content from on-road diesel vehicles.

In January 2004, the On-road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations came into effect, which will reduce emissions from new on-road vehicles--including buses, SUVs and motorcycles--by up to 95% by 2009. These regulations will align Canadian emission standards with those of the U.S. By 2005, the Off-Road Small Spark-Ignition Engine Emissions Regulations will control air pollution from sources such as snowblowers, lawnmowers and power tools, reducing emissions by 44%. These engines currently contribute about 9% of mobile air emissions in Canada.

Voluntary Vehicle Scrappage Programs

BC’s Scrap-It program removes from the road hundreds of older, high-polluting vehicles that do not meet AirCare standards. This program works by awarding owners with transit passes or incentives toward the purchase of a bicycle, or new or used vehicle. BC Scrap-It is a partnership program between the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, the BC Auto Dealers Association, TransLink and the Insurance Corporation of BC. Environment Canada is also a major sponsor of this program. This program has operated for eight years and has already achieved significant results: between 1999 and 2001, 1732 vehicles were scrapped in BC.

International Airshed Strategy

Just as we share a common border, so we also share our airshed with the United States. Since 2001, representatives from government, air quality regulatory agencies and First Nations/Tribes in British Columbia and Washington State have met to explore common priorities for the Georgia Basin/Puget Sound airshed. The purpose of this process is to develop an international airshed strategy that incorporates long-term management strategies and initiatives to improve air quality in this transboundary airshed. This work is also part of the Canada–U.S. Borders Air Quality Strategy, first announced by Government of Canada and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2003.

The partners in the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound International Airshed Strategy process are working to:

• Scientifically characterize the shared airshed by analyzing existing information and modeling future air quality scenarios;
• Prioritize the most important transboundary air qualityproblems, such as human health impacts, urban and suburban growth, and emissions from marine vessels and agriculture;
• Provide information about best air quality management practices through the Internet;
• Enhance the exchange of air quality information anddata between agencies;
• Develop common approaches for a regional clean fuelmarket, particularly ultra-low sulphur diesel;
• Collaborate in the review of new industrial sources of air emissions.

For more information visit http://www.pyr.ec.gc.ca/airshed

Air Pollution and Tourism

Environment Canada surveyed tourists about poor visibility in the Lower Mainland and found that there are significant economic impacts from increased air pollution and reduced visibility. For a single extreme visibility event, the model predicts a future loss of tourist revenue of $7.45 million in the Greater Vancouver area and $1.32 million in the Fraser Valley. These losses are due to poor visibility episodes and can seriously threaten our regional economy, which benefits greatly from tourism.