New dust regulations to be unveiled

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999 | 10:58 a.m.

Developers, construction companies and the public will have a chance to review and comment upon proposed rules to curb airborne dust in a series of workshops scheduled for September and October.

The rules are in response to the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that airborne dust, or PM10, exceeds federal limits. The agency has found that Clark County's 1997 plan to cut airborne dust, which can be a health hazard, did not do enough to control dust from "disturbed vacant land" -- such as open properties under construction.

The Clark County Commission directed the Clark County Health District to draft rules to cut the dust, and the health district and Department of Comprehensive Planning will release those proposed rules Friday, said Will Cates, principal planner. As of this morning, those proposals were still being "fine-tuned," he said.

First to see the proposed requirement of stabilizing the wind-blown dust will be the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association, Cates said.

Terri Barber, association deputy director, said the home builders couldn't comment on the new rules until they get a detailed look at the proposals.

About 17,000 "stakeholders," or owners of vacant land with construction activity, will receive notices of the upcoming workshops, Cates said. Health district and planning employees will attend the workshops to answer questions and receive feedback on the proposed regulations.

Cates said the regulations are loosely based on rules developed for Maricopa County, Ariz. Maricopa County is home to Phoenix, another rapidly growing Western city that the EPA has said has "serious nonattainment" of air-quality rules.

The EPA found Maricopa County exceeded dust rules 22 times in 1997, four times in 1998 and once so far this year, Courtney James, a county environmental spokeswoman, said. She attributed the improvement to a combination of weather, stricter enforcement and educational programs.

"We have some of the strictest rules in the country, which we are just implementing," James said.

Some of the new Maricopa County rules govern "track-out" of mud and dirt from construction sites, one of the primary targets of the proposed Clark County regulations, Cates said. The dirt, dust and mud carried out of a construction site can get kicked up on roads; it can also foul water runoff, he said.

Among the required anti-dust rules in Maricopa County are treatment of the ground with water or chemical stabilizers, wind barriers to catch airborne dust and gravel pads to brush or shake dirt from the tires of equipment and trucks leaving construction sites, James said. The Maricopa County rules also govern access to vacant land in an effort to limit dust kicked up where there is no construction.

Some of those rules, such as requiring gravel pads at exit points and spraying water on dusty areas, are already in place in Clark County. The proposed Clark County rules also could raise minimum penalties for failure to follow county guidelines for construction.

The county also could require "site-specific mitigation plans," Cates said. Builders now submit a checklist of what they will and won't do to curb dust at a construction site, he said. But construction sites often have unique characteristics that might not be covered by the current checklist.

Cates said builders and developers may have to submit a more detailed plan to control dust.

"In order to have a meaningful dust-control program at a construction site, the developer needs to integrate dust control as a part of planning for the project itself," Cates said.

He said the Comprehensive Planning Department needs the feedback from responsible developers on the proposed plans.

"Some developers are doing an excellent job of dust control. That's not true across the board," he said.

The workshops will be Sept. 11 at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway; Sept. 18 at the Spring Valley Library, 4280 S. Jones Blvd.; Sept. 25 at the Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Blvd.; and Oct. 2 at the Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive. All the meetings on dust-control regulations are from 10 a.m. to noon and are open to the public.