Section 2:
Related Air Quality Efforts

New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers

The activities of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers (NEG/ECP) continue to provide an important regional coordinating mechanism for addressing air quality issues, including transboundary air pollution. Recent efforts have focused on the following:

• Continuation of the Air Quality Forecasting and Advisory program.
• Additional measurements and analysis of ground-level ozone, PM2.5, and PM speciation measurements.
• Aircraft-based measurements of mass transport of air pollutants during smog episodes.
• Vertically resolved measurement of tropospheric ozone.
• Local airshed application of the Air Quality Valuation model to better understand the health costs of air pollution in the region.
• Development of an integrated emission inventory database to support air quality model applications for eastern North America.

Following a survey of New England states and eastern Canadian provinces in late 2002, and with the assistance of the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), NEG/ECP released a status report entitled Clean Mobile Source Diesel Initiatives in the Northeast States and Eastern Canadian Provinces at the annual meeting of the governors and premiers in September 2003. This report led to the adoption of a resolution to address diesel emissions, and a Diesel Emissions Work Group has since been established to develop measures to control diesel emissions in the region. In addition, NEG/ECP released a brochure entitled Acid Rain Partnership-Progress Report 2003 at the September 2003 meeting. This publication is intended to raise awareness of efforts underway to address the regional impact of acid rain.

An NEG/ECP environmental Web site is under development to provide easy access to reports and products for public education and outreach purposes.

U.S.-Canada Border Air Quality Strategy Pilot Projects

In January 2003, Minister David Anderson of Canada and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman announced the Border Air Quality Strategy (BAQS)-a commitment to build on the transborder air quality improvements of the last decade through future cooperative projects. Both governments were charged with identifying appropriate pilot projects in consultation with states, provinces, and local governments. In June 2003, three pilot projects of interest to Canada and the United States were announced, as described below.

U.S.-Canada Emissions Trading Feasibility Study

This national-level project will assess the feasibility of a cross-border cap and trade program for stationary sources of SO2 and NOx emissions. This trading feasibility study, conducted jointly by the United States and Canada, will undertake foundation analyses on emission cap and trade programs in the United States, including reviewing current arrangements in both countries regarding legal design, emissions measurement, monitoring, reporting and tracking, compliance and enforcement, and public availability of information. The study will identify where differences and gaps exist.

In early 2004, information sessions were held in eastern and western Canada to inform governments, industry, and stakeholders about the study and discuss experiences under the U.S. cap and trade programs. A U.S. stakeholder meeting on the project was also held in Washington, DC, in May 2004. A final joint report is expected to be completed in summer 2005.

Georgia Basin-Puget Sound International Airshed Strategy

This initiative, led by Environment Canada-Pacific and Yukon Region and EPA Region 10, will address regional transboundary air quality issues. Other partners include representatives of state, provincial, and regional governments, as well as the tribes and first nations and the non-government organization community.

Activities in 2003 included:

• Developing a methodology to quantify human health impacts from degraded air quality in the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound.
• Analyzing assessment and notification procedures for significant new air emission sources (e.g., power plants).
• Moving forward with the scientific airshed characterization (completed in June 2004).
• Launching a Web site featuring the best air quality management practices in the region (www.pyr.ec.gc.ca/airshed/).
• Completing a study on potential air quality management models in the transboundary airshed.
• Reaching agreement among all partner agencies on the format, approach, and development timeline for the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound International Airshed Strategy.

All of this work advances the goals of coordinating technical assessments, maintaining good air quality in the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound airshed, protecting ecosystems and human health, meeting the continuous improvement goals of the Canada-wide Standard, and improving visibility.

Great Lakes Basin Airshed Management Framework

This pilot project allows for a joint investigation of local and sub-regional airshed management in a contiguous urban area that crosses the border. It is envisioned that air quality in the Great Lakes Basin will be improved through cooperative regional management of the airshed, with the involvement of all levels of government, the public, the private sector, aboriginals, and academia, with a view to improved population and ecosystem health. The project will focus on the ground-level ozone and fine PM pollution problems that impact the cities of Detroit and Windsor and surrounding areas.

A multi-stakeholder Great Lakes Basin Steering Committee has been established to investigate local transboundary air issues. The goal of this network is to exchange information on environmental management systems; identify opportunities, challenges, and obstacles in establishing a joint international airshed management approach; and develop a template for a coordinated airshed management approach. Four working groups have been formed to explore airshed characterization (emission inventory, modeling, monitoring), policy, voluntary/early actions, and communications/outreach.