Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
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  • Using 1 gas mower for 1 hour is equivalent to driving 1 car 140 miles.
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CLEAN AIR NEWSLINE

March 2006 Edition

In this issue:

 

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Please take a minute or two to let us know what you like about this newsletter, what topics you want to read more about and your suggestions for improvement.

Our survey is short (we promise!) and your input is much appreciated!
www.pscleanair.org/survey/newsline

 

Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor graduates to cleaner buses

Peninsula School District students will be breathing cleaner air next year thanks to an $800,000 investment in new, cleaner-burning diesel-powered school buses. A $300,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant coupled with $100,000 from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and $400,000 in matching funds from the School District will help protect students from breathing noxious bus exhaust beginning next year.

The EPA grant is part of the "Clean School Bus USA" program and will allow the Peninsula School District to replace eight of their 1981-1991 model year school buses with 2007 model year buses meeting the latest EPA diesel-emission standards. With the new buses, the District expects a 98-percent reduction in particulate matter, a 97-percent reduction in nitrogen oxides and an 89-percent reduction in non-methane hydrocarbons.

In addition to the $100,000 contribution to augment the EPA grant, the Clean Air Agency has already been working with Peninsula School District to retrofit 16 of its school buses as part of the Washington State Clean School Bus Program funded by the 2003 Washington legislature. However, several highly-polluting buses were too old and dirty for retrofit devices to effectively reduce the soot and smoke coming out of their tailpipes.

“These buses raise a health concern for children, bus drivers and the community. Without this grant and additional funds awarded from our agency, eight buses would have remained in use and on the roads of Gig Harbor for years to come,” says Dennis McLerran, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “Now these ‘smokers’ will be headed for the scrap yard.”

In 1995, Peninsula School District had the oldest school bus fleet in the state. Since then, the District has been working to systematically replace four to six buses per year. The District is also already ahead of the game because its buses operate on ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD). Cleaner ULSD will be the required on-road diesel fuel beginning October 15, 2006.

To see what clean school bus or other diesel retrofit projects are happening in your community, click to http://www.pscleanair.org/programs/dieselsolutions/ds_project_status.pdf .

 

Air-friendly mowers cut grass and air pollution

Ah, Spring.  Daffodils in bloom.  Grass calling out to be mowed.  You roll your old lawn mower out of the garage, fuel it up, pull the cord, sputter-sputter.  Silence.  That’s the sound of opportunity!

Most people don’t associate air pollution with mowing the lawn. Yet emissions from lawn mowers, chain saws, leaf blowers and similar outdoor power equipment are a significant source of pollution.  Today’s gas-powered lawnmower emits as much pollution in one hour as driving a newer car 140 miles.  An older mower may belch four times as much pollution.  But there are air-friendly alternatives.

Get reel:  This usually means you have a smaller lawn, unless you are really ready for a physical workout.

Go electric:  Electrically-powered, including cordless, lawn and garden tools produce essentially no pollution from exhaust emissions or through fuel evaporation.  And they are easy to start!

Keep it tuned:  If you’re sticking with gas, keep it well maintained.  Change the oil and replace air filters regularly.  Be careful not to spill gas when you refill.

Reduce your lawn:  Less mowing time means less fumes emitted from your mower.  And if your lawn is small, maybe a reel mower can be just right for you!

When you replace your gas mower, dispose of it properly:  Many local waste disposal sites will take mowers as a recyclable if the fluids have been drained. The city of Tacoma will be having a special mower recycling event the end of April.  And look for electric and reel mower discounts next month during Northwest Natural Yard Days www.yarddays.com .  We’ll tell you more about this next month.

 

Join us at the Pierce County Livable Communities Fair

What do gardening guru Ciscoe Morris, Reptile Man and your Puget Sound Clean Air Agency have in common?  We’ll all be the Pierce County Livable Communities Fair on April 8 – and you’re invited, too!

Similar to a garden or home show, and very family-friendly, you’ll find interactive booths, displays and workshops. You can get information and learn more about residential energy efficiency, carpooling, recycled building materials, block watch, emergency preparedness, traffic calming, transportation, recreation and culture, clubs and services, affordable housing, low-impact development, public safety and clean environment.

“In every sense, it is an excellent opportunity for citizens to find out how they can make their homes, neighborhoods and communities more livable,” says Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg.

The fair is Saturday, April 8 at the Puyallup Fairgrounds.  Hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., admission and parking are free.  Attendees are encouraged to donate canned goods to the Tacoma Rescue Mission, which will have a truck parked near the Gold Gate.

For directions or more information, visit www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/services/assist/livablepc/faqs.htm .

 

If spring cleaning includes taking out your old, uncertified wood stove –
scrap it! (It’s the law)

Perhaps you’ve decided it’s time to replace your old wood stove with a cleaner heating, more fuel-efficient device.  Good for you! 

So what should you do with your old, uncertified stove?   Do NOT sell it at your next garage sale or through an online classified ad.  NOR should you set it out at the curb or give it away.

Why not?  A couple reasons.  First, it is against state law (that’s right, illegal) to give away or re-install an uncertified wood stove or insert in Washington.  Since 1992, only wood stoves or fireplace inserts that are EPA-certified can be sold and installed in Washington state (WAC 173-433-100).  So that means once an uncertified wood stove has been removed, it can’t be re-installed.

Re-installing an uncertified stove elsewhere defeats the clean-air purpose.  Uncertified stoves release twice as much air pollution, compared to certified stoves.  Certified devices have combustion technology that essentially burns much of the smoke away instead of releasing it into the air and out into your neighborhood where it can impact the health of your neighbors.

The good news is that many metal recycling companies will accept your old wood stove for little cost or for FREE.  Before you haul it, call the scrap yard to confirm that they will accept it (look in the phone directory under Scrap Metal).  If you are upgrading to a cleaner-burning, more-efficient heating device, ask your hearth specialty retailer if they will dispose of it for you.

For more information about wood stove and fireplaces, as well as suggestions for cleaner heating choices, visit http://www.pscleanair.org/actions/woodstoves/default.aspx .

 

 

Meet our Board of Directors

2006 brings a few new members to our agency’s board of directors.  Our Board is made up of representatives from each of the four counties in our jurisdiction (King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish), a representative from the largest city in each county (Seattle, Bremerton, Tacoma and Everett), and one member representing the public-at-large.  Meeting the fourth Thursday of every month at the agency’s offices, board members represent the community in major policy- and decision-making for the agency. Your board representatives are:

*  Tacoma City Councilman Bill Evans, our current Board chairman, one of Tacoma city council’s at-large members
*  Kitsap County District 2 Commissioner Jan Angel, represented by Board vice-chair Gretchen Olsen of Kitsap County Public Works
*  Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman, represented by Pat Coxen of Bremerton’s Public Works and Utilities
*  Public-At-Large member Marina Cofer-Wildsmith, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Lung Association of Washington
*  Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, represented by his Chief of Staff Lyle Quasim
*  Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, represented by Steve Nicholas of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment
*  King County Executive Ron Sims, represented by Don Theiler of King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks
*  Snohomish County Councilman Dave Somers, southeast Snohomish County District 5
*  Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, represented by Paul Roberts, Position 1 City Councilman

For meeting dates and agendas, visit http://www.pscleanair.org/announce/hearings/boardmeetings.aspx .

 

Monthly air quality data summary: January*

And it rained, and rained, and...  This was one of the wettest January's on record – more than 11-½ inches of rain for the month. 

And the month was nearly as warm as it was wet.  Temperatures averaged nearly six degrees above normal with the coldest temperature recorded being only 37 degrees.

One benefit from the steady flow of storms was good air mixing.  Twenty-six days were in the "Good" category for air quality and only five days in the month were "Moderate."

For data summaries of air quality monitored throughout our four-county jurisdiction, click
http://www.pscleanair.org/airq/reports.aspx .

* Because of the time it takes to review data for quality assurance and process data for reports, our summary discussions in each “Newsline” edition will be two month previous. Thus, our report for this edition is for January 2006.

 

About the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency

The mission of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is to ensure that people in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties have clean, healthy air to breathe. Our job is to provide air quality management services on behalf of cities and counties for their citizens. We do this by adopting and enforcing air quality regulations, sponsoring voluntary initiatives to improve air quality, and educating people and businesses about clean-air choices. To learn more about our work, visit us at www.pscleanair.org .

 

About the Clean Air Newsline

Clean Air Newsline is a monthly electronic newsletter to provide air quality information to the residents of King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Subscribers receive the latest on air quality news, trends and projects that affect our local communities and the air we breathe. Feel free to pass the information along to others.

We also use the Newsline as needed to send timely and important messages about burn bans, Smog Watches and early calls to action when air quality deteriorates.

If you would like to subscribe, you can do so at http://www.pscleanair.org/news/agencynews.aspx . Be sure to select Clean Air Newsline to be added to the e-mailing list.