Title
Alberta Capital Airshed Membership
Proposed Motion
That Council approve the Alberta Capital Airshed request to become members in 2017 at an annual cost of $3,750 to be funded from the 2017 Community Sustainability Department Budget.
Body
Administration Recommendation
Administration recommends that Council give favourable consideration to the request from the Alberta Capital Airshed to become members.
Purpose
The Alberta Capital Airshed have come before Council to explain the benefits to becoming members of the Capital Airshed and the role the County can play in monitoring and promoting awareness of air quality issues in the region.
Summary
The Alberta Capital Airshed is a multi-stakeholder organization comprised of government, industry, and non-governmental agencies and institutions. The three key roles of the organization are to: Monitor and share air quality data; Provide education and outreach; and to develop air quality management plans for the region. ACA is supporting Alberta Environment & Parks in the development and implementation of the Capital Region Fine Particulate Matter Response Plan, along with municipalities and industry. The goal is to reduce and maintain ambient fine PM below the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards at all monitoring stations within the Capital Region. This will be done by managing emissions that contribute to the formation of fine particulate matter. The response plan includes actions for both government and stakeholders.
The Alberta Capital Airshed have identified a shortfall in air monitoring collection data from the west half of the region. Many of the air monitoring stations are presently located either within Edmonton or east of Edmonton. The air monitoring equipment measure polluants know to affect health, such as ozone, sulphur dioxide, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. The monitoring is done in real-time and displayed to the public in the form of an Air Quality Health Index (AQHI). This inform...
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