Ozone Season Begins April 1
written by AACOG Natural Resources DepartmentApril marks the beginning of another "Ozone Season" for our region. Ozone Season runs from April to October and involves a variety of activities and events to highlight the issue of Ozone pollution and air quality within the AACOG region. In 2007, the Ozone Season was very important as this was the last chance for the region to comply with federal air quality standards. In 2005 AACOG regional partners had entered into an Early Action Compact agreement to take voluntary measures to comply with Ozone standards. The voluntary measures and increased awareness of the Ozone problem helped the region meet the federal requirements. In early 2008, the region was designated as "attainment" under the federal Ozone standards.
However, on March 12, 2008, the United States Environmental Protection Agency revised the Ozone standards, lowering the limits and thereby increasing the need for further action by regional partners. One way to help mitigate the ozone problem in the region is to have increased public awareness and participation in clean air programs.
The most accessible and immediately effective method the general public can employ is participation in AACOG's River Cities Rideshare program. The River Cities Rideshare program is an online carpool-matching system, which enables the public to locate potential matches in their neighborhoods. The website allows the user to collect information about potential carpool matches before making the decision to begin carpooling, and without providing confidential information. The River Cities Rideshare website can be accessed by visiting www.rivercitiesrideshare.com.
During this Ozone season and beyond, begin to do your part for clean air in our region by participating in the River Cities Rideshare program.