10/11/2007
Media Contact:
Angie Nussmeyer, (317) 327-5235 |
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City reaches clean air milestone
Marion County meets federal health-based standard for ozone INDIANAPOLIS – The city of Indianapolis met another clean air milestone today when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved its request for the county to be classified as reaching attainment status for ground-level ozone.
For Marion County, this new classification will simplify the air permit rules for new and expanding businesses, remove the stigma of our community being in ozone ‘nonattainment’ and lessen other Clean Air Act requirements.
“For many years, Indianapolis residents and businesses have worked diligently to reach this milestone and is an achievement of which we can all be proud,” said Mayor Bart Peterson. “The city is committed to improving local air quality through comprehensive, proactive initiatives like Indy GreenPrint, which ultimately enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors.”
Available ground-level ozone monitoring data from 2004 to 2006 demonstrated that the nine county region met the current ground-level ozone health-based standard. In the fall of 2006, the city petitioned the state of Indiana to move forward with a request to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to redesignate the central Indiana region as reaching attainment status for ozone.
The city’s ongoing commitment to clean air includes enforcing existing city, state and federal requirements and implementing innovative outreach programs. Under the Indy GreenPrint initiative, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works promotes clean air strategies to residents and businesses through Knozone and the Central Indiana Clean Air Partnership. The city will also continue to retrofit pollution controls on municipally-owned diesel vehicles.
Earlier this year, Indianapolis was recognized by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management as being a CLEAN community. This three-year designation allows the city to receive increased priority and reduced match requirements for state grants and ten percent loan forgiveness.
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