Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004 | 11:06 a.m.
Clark County officials touted the federal approval Tuesday of plans to control carbon monoxide pollution as a "significant milestone" in the effort to clean up the region's air.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published its notice of approval of Clark County's plan to control carbon monoxide in the Federal Register on Tuesday, a move that was expected but still represents an important step in more than two decades of efforts to control the colorless, odorless gas.
With the federal approval, county officials say they will petition the EPA to remove the Las Vegas Valley from its list of urban areas in the United States that do not meet federal health standards for carbon monoxide, a process that could take months.
John Koswan, Clark County assistant planning manager, said the approval demonstrates success, but the control measures in place will stay in place.
"Air quality is one of the major factors in determining the quality of life in our community," he said, adding that removing the region from the federal list of "nonattainment areas" will help promote Las Vegas as a center for business and industry.
"We looked for the greatest amount of reduction at the least cost, and we've achieved that," Koswan said.
Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams approved some of the policies that officials credit with cleaning up the pollutant.
"The EPA's formal approval is a significant milestone but we're already reaping the benefits or cleaner air because the measures laid out in these plans are well under way in Clark County," Williams said. "Having the plans approved means the EPA agrees with what we've done to ensure clean air and has confidence that our efforts will continue to succeed."
The EPA designated the Las Vegas Valley, including nearly all of the urban area except Boulder City, as a serious nonattainment area for carbon monoxide in 1997. The problems with the gas, which mostly is a byproduct of automobile exhaust, go back much farther.
If the region had not demonstrated progress towards cleaning up carbon monoxide, Clark County could have faced federal sanctions including a federal takeover of local development and clean-air programs and loss of millions of dollars in federal funding.
According to Clark County records, the valley logged 48 "unhealthy" air days due to carbon monoxide in 1985, and violations of the EPA's health-based air quality standards for the gas continued into the late 1990s.
Clark County officials, however, say that the efforts to control the pollution have worked. There have been no violations of the standard since 1998.
County Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management officials credit three key programs for the cleaner air.
* The state of Nevada has required annual smog checks for vehicle exhaust since 1983.
* In 1988, the county began to require the sale of cleaner-burning gasoline from Oct. 1 through March 31 of every year.
* In 1999, the county required another formulation for gasoline sold between Nov. 1 and March 31 that further reduced carbon monoxide emissions.
Koswan said the federal approval follows a preliminary approval for another Clark County air pollution control plan in June. Clark County is in nonattainment for fine dust, which is particulate matter under 10 microns in diameter, a fraction of the width of a human hair. The dust can cause myriad health problems because it lodges deep in the lungs.
Rules are in place to control dust from construction, unpaved roads, road shoulders and vacant lots.
"That is another success story," Koswan said. "We've got effective control measures in place and we're seeing real reductions in the amount of particulate matter in our air."
The county has until Dec. 31, 2006 to come into compliance with the EPA's air-quality rules for dust, he said.
However, not all the news on the air-quality front has been good for the county. On Monday, the EPA formally put Clark County in the nonattainment category for ozone, a primary component of smog.
The county now has to develop and win approval of a plan to control the pollutant.
"We're right at the beginning there," Koswan said. "We're taking the first steps to address the problem and we're confident that we will repeat the successes we've seen with PM 10 and carbon monoxide."
EPA spokeswoman Lisa Fasano said the approval for carbon monoxide is an action that indicates the air is getting cleaner.
"This knocks one more pollutant off the plate," she said. "The EPA and Clark County have been working closely together on this for some time, and we're please to get this action finalized.
"The goal is to continue to work for clean air in Clark County."
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