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Georgia Basin / Puget
Sound
International Airshed Strategy
and Inventory of
Air Quality Practices
Urban smog
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Background
 background - Canadian air quality
background - U.S.A. air quality
background - transboundary air quality
background - GB/PS International Airshed Strategy
background - Canadian air quality
In Canada, one of the earliest regional-scale air pollution problems was the
acidification of Eastern Canadian lakes in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s the cause was
more clearly identified as
acid rain, which forms from increased atmospheric sulphur and nitrogen released
primarily by industrial processes such as coal-fired electrical generating facilities.
Specific results included declining Atlantic Salmon
populations in Nova Scotia, which were directly associated with the acidification of local rivers.
In response to worsening air pollution, acid rain, and the associated effects,
the
Eastern Canadian SO2 (sulphur dioxide) Control Program
was established in 1985 by
Environment Canada and the seven eastern provinces.
The purpose of this program was to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide,
the major contributor to acid rain, in the eastern provinces by 50% by 1994.
The result of this program and other efforts, including those by the U.S.A., is that
since 1984, sulphur dioxide emissions in eastern Canada have been reduced by more than half.
In response, sulphur levels in the rain have fallen, which means less sulphate is being deposited
into the ecosystem.
However, despite this, the fight against acid rain is not over.
Acid deposition exceeds critical loads across large portions of eastern Canada,
including most of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where acidification of spawning waters
has caused a loss to the salmon fishery of 9,000 to 14,000 fish per year.
Unless additional actions in Canada and the United States are implemented,
acidification of this area will continue, the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems will remain
under threat, and more damage to forest health and productivity will occur
unless further in Canada and the United States are implemented.
A maple leaf with damage from air pollution
Air quality issues in Western Canada have traditionally been less serious due to
a smaller regional population, a less industrialized economy, and the relatively clean air
that blows from the Pacific Ocean.
Nonetheless, air pollution has been a serious problem in British Columbia,
particularly in the Lower Fraser Valley and confined interior valley communities.
In the 1930s and 40s, for example, there were almost no controls on industrial emissions,
and the waterfronts of False Creek and along the Fraser River were lined with industrial stacks
and beehive burners. Air pollution in the area was so severe that even direct sunlight could
be obscured. In time, increasing pressure for residential development eventually pushed the heavy
industry out of this area, which resulted in improved local air quality.
False Creek, Vancouver, in 1939 (noon) and today
Following this period, the rapid expansion of automobile use and associated rise in leaded gasoline
caused air pollution to increase significantly for several decades. Until the 1970s and 1980s when
breakthroughs in automobile emission control technology were realized.
Bans on leaded gasoline and requirement for lower sulphur content in diesel fuel
further improved air quality despite ever increasing numbers of automobiles.
Emission control technology has continued to improve with technologies
such as fuel injection systems, evaporative emission controls, catalytic converters,
and on-board computers. The result is that today's cars release about 95 percent fewer
emissions than the cars of 30 years ago.
In the Greater Vancouver area these and similar efforts have reduced emissions of sulphur oxides,
carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides
from all sources by 40% since 1985, despite a nearly 50% growth in population over the same period.
More recent air quality efforts in this region include the provincial government's
1995 Action Plan for Clean Air. The focus of this plan is the
Clean Vehicles and Fuels Program, which led to new provincial policies for
motor vehicles and standards for motor vehicle emissions and motor fuels.
This work introduced cleaner vehicles to B.C. earlier than in other parts of Canada.
The
1996 Waste Management Act was subsequently passed,
which is the primary environmental control legislation in the province. It controls
the introduction of business waste into the environment, including
air emissions from commercial, industrial, municipal and provincial facilities,
motor vehicles, engines and solid fuel burning domestic appliances.
The
Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection now administers this Act.
Through the provincial Waste Management Act, the
Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) is responsible
for air quality management within its jurisdiction, which includes 21 cities and
municipalities in the Greater Vancouver Area.
The GVRD's Air Pollution Control Bylaw No. 603
sets emission criteria for residential garbage incinerators, fireplaces and wood stoves, and
Air Quality Management Bylaw No. 937 defines how the air quality components of the
Waste Management Act will be implemented in this area.
Emissions from industrial facilities are generally controlled through a fee-based permitting system.
The GVRD is introducing regulations to control emissions on a sector basis,
such as in the case of small boilers and heaters, ready-mix concrete plants and gasoline bulk terminals,
for which site-specific permits are not well-suited.
In 1994, the GVRD Board approved a regional
Air Quality Management Plan that aims to reduce emissions
through wise land use and transportation planning.
In 1999, the Greater Vancouver Regional District introduced the
Air 2000 Program that is designed to reduce emissions that affect both regional
air quality and climate change. In July 2001, the GVRD Board directed their staff
to update the 1994 Air Quality Management Plan and the
1995 Livable Region Strategic Plan as part of a new sustainability initiative for the region.
Residential sprawl and reduced visibility in the Georgia Basin
In the eastern sector of the Lower Mainland, the province has delegated air quality planning authority to the
Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD).
Both the FVRD and GVRD are working with the province to develop
a common
Air Quality Management Plan for the Lower Fraser Valley airshed.
Regulatory responsibility for control of air emissions in the FVRD currently remains
with the province, although the FVRD has indicated that it will be requesting
the same statutory authority for air emission control as the GVRD is granted under the
Waste Management Act.
On a national scale, Environment Canada released the
2001 Clean Air Action Plan that aims to protect the health of Canadians.
The 10-year strategy contains steps to reduce transboundary pollution,
ensure cleaner vehicles and fuels, reduce industrial pollutant emissions,
initiate further clean air science, improve the national network of pollutant monitoring stations
thereby expanding the public reporting by industry on pollutant releases,
and help Canadians and communities who want to take their own clean air actions.
Future planned federal actions on air quality include:
- publication of emissions guidelines for new coal, oil or natural gas fired power plants;
- proposing new emissions regulations for off-road engines; and,
- the expansion the
National Air Pollution Surveillance Network (NAPS).
Other available backgrounds include
U.S.A.,
transboundary, and the
GB/PS International Airshed Strategy
Une liste est disponible de l'Association
de la stratégie internationale pour le bassin atmosphérique du Georgia Basin et Puget Sound.
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