Air rule revision may aid valley hobbyists

Monday, Oct. 6, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.

Amateur woodworkers, welders and other home hobbyists probably haven't paid a whole lot of attention to Clark County rules requiring them to check in with local air quality management officials.

Come Tuesday, they may not have to. Clark County Air Quality Management has proposed a rule revision so that hobbyists who may use or produce relatively small amounts of regulated air pollutants no longer have to get a pass from the department.

Air Quality Assistant Director Carrie MacDougall said the rule change would affect noncommercial hobbyists such as those who make spray-painted T-shirts at home, woodworkers, and those who use small butane or natural gas water heaters and cookers.

Those people produce less than a ton of pollutants a year, less than the trigger for air quality management to regulate their activities. In the past, the department has asked people to come into their office to ensure that they were under the limit. MacDougall explained that the policy didn't match federal rules and took up staff and customer time.

The change is one of a handful on the Clark County Commission agenda Tuesday. The commission also is slated to consider local standards to match the federal regulations for very fine dust under 2.5 microns in diameter, called particulate matter 2.5 or PM 2.5, and ozone.

MacDougall said the addition to Clark County air quality standards does not mean a change in the existing rules.

"There are no changes in the existing control measures," she said.

The department already is responsible for enforcing federal rules for air pollutants across the board, she said. Clark County already has control measures for PM10, which is generally considered fine dust, and for carbon monoxide.

Southern Nevada is required under federal law to control both pollutants because the area has exceeded federal limits. However, the area has not yet violated the federal rules for ozone and PM2.5.

That could come soon, however, particularly for ozone, a potentially dangerous form of oxygen produced by the combination of humidity, heat, sunlight and smog. MacDougall said the ozone limits may have been exceeded last summer, but the numbers are still under review.

If the area exceeded federal limits, Clark County will have to draw up rules to control ozone. That could include the use of specially formulated gasoline in the summer months when ozone is a problem.

Another formulated gasoline is used in the winter to control carbon monoxide pollution.

MacDougall said any imposition of new rules would require thorough consultation with affected industries and the general public. The adoption of federal standards in the local code would be an intermediary step towards new pollution control rules here, she said.

"We don't add control measures until we reach the point that we are not in attainment of the federal standards," she said.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency would have to make the determination that Southern Nevada is not in attainment of air quality standards, MacDougall said.