Air quality committee preparing for possible stricter emissions standards

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Members of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission's air quality committee are preparing for the possibility of stricter federal emissions standards, expected to be announced next month.

The group, which includes local government officials and industry leaders, fears a lower ozone standard by the Environmental Protection Agency will result in some Southeast Missouri counties being designated "nonattainment" zones, where new or expanding businesses will face emissions restrictions.

"This can be a real issue for private-sector job creation," said David Grimes of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission at the air quality committee's meeting Friday in Perryville.

Last fall, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources recommended Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties to the EPA for ozone nonattainment designations. Air quality monitors in both counties posted readings higher than the current maximum standard of 75 parts per billion.

There is no EPA monitor in any other Southeast Missouri county.

Group members are lobbying federal legislators to encourage the EPA to keep its ozone standards at current levels.

"We need to start hammering these guys to send letters to the EPA," said Albert Fults, chairman of the air quality committee and presiding commissioner in Ste. Genevieve County.

Terry Miner, general manager for environmental health and safety at Sabreliner, suggested contacting Senate candidates Roy Blunt and Robin Carnahan.

"We need to talk to both candidates about this issue. Whoever wins will have to deal with the aftermath when they get in there," he said.

The EPA is scheduled to announce its new ozone guidelines by Oct. 31.

Missouri Sens. Claire McCaskill and Kit Bond, along with senators from Indiana and Louisiana, recently sent a letter to the EPA urging them to reconsider the proposed changes in ozone standards.

Miner said air permits needed for the recently announced expansion of Sabreliner's painting facility have already been obtained but that he's concerned about how a nonattainment designation may affect the company in the future. The $6.7 million expansion will create about 400 jobs at Sabreliner's facility at the Perryville Municipal Airport.

A Clean Air Action Plan created by the air quality committee suggesting voluntary steps residents can take to improve local air quality received an 2010 Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations last month. The committee has applied for a $80,000 grant from the EPA to implement the plan in a seven-county area, Grimes said.

"The whole notion of the Clean Air Action Plan is to demonstrate that we are being proactive," Grimes said.

The committee hopes the EPA will take the plan into consideration when considering what restrictions to place on local nonattainment areas.

mmiller@semissourian.com

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