Puget Sound Air Meeting Epa Standards Tests Show Area In Compliance For Ozone, Carbon Monoxide Levels

The federal Environmental Protection Agency on Monday certified that the Puget Sound area is meeting air quality standards for carbon monoxide. That means the region is in compliance with nearly all federal air standards.

At a news conference, Mary Nichols, the EPA’s top administrator for air quality, praised Puget Sound residents, businesses and government officials for developing ways to hold down air pollution.

“Without that level of cooperation, this achievement certainly wouldn’t be possible,” she said.

The EPA recently declared the TacomaSeattle-Everett area was meeting federal standards for ozone, or smog. EPA spokeswoman Misha Vakoc said that except for some scattered areas that exceed particulate emissions, mostly from wood smoke, the region is in compliance with all federal air standards.

Carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas, results from the incomplete burning of fuels. Smog occurs when emissions from cars, industry, paint, solvents and gasoline fuels reacts with sunlight on hot summer days.

In June, the state Ecology Department proposed that drivers in the region no longer be required to use oxygenated fuel in their cars to help control carbon monoxide emissions. By redesignating the area as having attained the standard, the fuel program will be discontinued.

Doug Sutherland, Pierce County executive and member of the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency board, said that not requiring oxygenated gas will save the region’s motorists millions of dollars in higher fuel costs, and will mean their cars will perform better.

“Most motorists will say, ‘Thank goodness my engine’s not pinging and when I step on the gas, it goes,”’ he said.

Sutherland and Joe Williams, air quality program manager for the Ecology Department, said that by adopting their own tactics to combat air pollution, the region and state avoided having the federal government impose more onerous restrictions.

Under regulations the state adopted to meet requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act, businesses are required to install anti-pollution gear and motorists in the Puget Sound region must have their vehicles inspected for emissions. State and local governments also have encouraged residents to drive less, limit outdoor burning and not use lawnmowers and other gas-powered tools on days when smog levels are high.

Although the region meets most standards, residents can still expect summer smog watches and winter burning bans to keep the air from degrading.