Air Quality and Climate Protection in Fort Collins

Transcription

1 Air Quality and Climate Protection in Fort Collins April 29, 2010 Lucinda Smith Natural Resources Department City of Fort Collins

2 How Would YOU Rate Outdoor Air Quality in Fort Collins? Not Sure Very Good Poor Good Fair

3 2007 Fort Collins Air Quality Survey Results Poor 3% Not Sure 1% Very Good 14% Household Member has a Respiratory Ailment? Yes 29% Fair 24% Good 58% No 71%

4 Ground Level Ozone Secondary pollutant Formed when nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons react in the presence of sunlight (NOx + HC ---- O3) Causes breathing problems, asthma, and may speed up aging of lung tissue Can damage crops and trees Contributes to visibility reduction

5 Ozone Levels in Fort Collins Percent of national standard 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Fort Collins 8-Hour Ozone (4th max) 100%= New health standard* Downtown Monitor FC West Monitor '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 Year * PPM 8-Hour Ozone standard, set in 2008

6 Ozone Non-attainment

7 Ozone What s being done Lower gasoline volatility Regulate emissions from natural gas wells Tighten controls on other sources Motor vehicle emissions testing returns to NRF by Nov 2010

8 Ozone What s being done Motor vehicle emissions testing returns to NFR by Nov Includes roadside remote sensing to clean screen out of in-shop test

9 Ozone City Lawn Mower Rebate Program Going on NOW until May 2! 2009 Results $25 rebates 89 push mowers 83 electric mowers 6 clean lawn mowing service 45 also recycled old gas mowers

10 Ozone Individual Actions Individual Actions Stop at the Click Mow when the sun is low Check your tire pressure Use low VOC paints Reduce idling

11 Ozone Action Alerts The-Air Ozoneaware.org Coloradoan Weather page Cable Ch 14

12 Wood Smoke Nuisance Hotline

13 Radon the second leading cause of lung cancer 70% of homes in Fort Collins have high radon levels. Testing is easy and inexpensive. High radon can be fixed! Radon mitigation is now required in new homes.

14 Air Quality Zero Interest Loans $30,000 funding pool available each year To upgrade or remove wood stoves ($3,000 cap) To install radon mitigation system ($1,500 cap)

15 Air Quality Monitoring National Air Quality Standards Carbon Monoxide Ozone PM 10 PM 2.5 Visibility Optical properties

16 Visibility On average 1 in 4 days NOT in compliance in Fort Collins

17 New Fine Particle Monitor Fort Collins Fine Particle Monitor September 1, 2009 ug/m Hourly Rolling 24 hr average Hour

18 Fcgov.com/airquality Sign up for EnviroFlash and pager notification system that provides subscribers with instant air quality information Link to hourly air pollution measurements in Fort Collins Link to State Health Department smoke and other AQ advisories Learn about local air quality programs

19 Fort Collins Air Quality Plan Continually improve air quality as the city grows. Reduce total motor vehicle emissions (tailpipe and from amt of driving) Focus on priority pollutants Ozone Fine particles Mobiles source HAPS Greenhouse gases

20 Numerous Other City Plans and Polices Support Air Quality Improvement Energy Policy Transportation Programs Advanced Traffic Management System Building Energy Codes

21 Climate Change - Regional Impacts Less Snow More Droughts Less Water More Fires

22 Fort Collins Climate Policy (2008) 20% reduction below 2005 levels, by % reduction below 2005 levels, by 2050 NOW

23 2008 Fort Collins Climate Action Plan Fcgov.com/climateprotection

24 Fort Collins Community Carbon Footprint (2008) Waste 2% Air Travel 3% Ground Travel 22% Recyclable Materials 11% Electricity 45% Nat. Gas 17%

25 Climate Action Plan Strategies Community Involvement INCREASE RECYCLING SAVE ENERGY CLEAN ENERGY INCREASE TRANSPORTATION EFFICIENCY

26 Congratulations Fort Collins -- Percent change from 2005 Emissions Are Leveling Off! 6.00% 5.00% 4.00% 3.00% 2.00% 1.00% 0.00% -1.00% -2.00% Population Emissions Status report at Fcgov.com/climateprotection

27 Major GHG Reduction Programs Recycling is responsible for ~ 50% of GHG reductions Climate Wise program established in 2000 and has grown to over 200 partners Fort Collins Energy Policy -Energy efficiency & carbon goals - Many efficiency programs - Now >6% electricity from Green Power.

28 Any questions?? For more info see: Fcgov.com/airquality Fcgov.com/climateprotection Fcgov.com/ClimateWise