Clearing the Air (Metropolitan Report, 2007)
Let’s Clear the Air: Clean Air Partners Marks 10th Anniversary
In July of 1997, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments formally embarked on a ground-breaking cooperative venture to improve the environment. In a joint Board meeting at historic Belair Mansion in Bowie, the two organizations signed a charter creating a public-private partnership to encourage voluntary actions to reduce air pollution in the Baltimore-Washington region.
Both Baltimore and Washington had been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as nonattainment areas for ground-level ozone. Ground-level ozone is a summertime pollutant that can irritate the lungs and damage crops and vegetation. Ozone, an unstable molecule composed of three oxygen atoms, forms when volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides from vehicle emissions, industrial sources and petroleum-based products cook in the hot sun.
“This partnership made sense on a number of levels because we’re all in this together,” said Harvey S. Bloom, BMC’s Director of Transportation Planning. “Air quality doesn’t know government boundaries, so what happens in Washington affects Baltimore and vice versa. We also hoped to involve employers and private citizens, as well as government agencies,” Bloom added, “because air pollution is a consequence of everyday life activities.”
The signing of the charter by BMC and COG in 1997 was the culmination of nearly 3 years of hard work by their respective staffs, in cooperation with transportation and environmental agencies from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, along with a number of private sector partners.
In 1995, Max Bair of the Carroll County Commissioner’s staff represented BMC in the creation of the bi-regional partnership. He logged many meeting hours as the committee considered the results of a Gallup public awareness survey, and strategic and creative recommendations from an advertising agency. That work resulted in a partnership for public education known as ENDZONE—Partners to End Ground-Level Ozone.
“Getting started was definitely challenging,” Bair recalls. “Getting all the partners to come together and agree took a lot of time and effort. But we all knew that the general public needed something that would give them an overview of how their actions affect air quality.”
During the first years of the clean air public education campaign, BMC, the American Lung Association of Maryland (ALAM) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) worked closely with local media in the Baltimore area. MDE developed color coding for air quality forecasts, while ALAM developed an animated map for TV weather forecasters showing the formation and transport of ozone during the day.
Building on the work in Baltimore, EPA began a national ozone mapping effort in 1997, and in 1998 adopted color-coded messaging as part of the federal Air Quality Index. Air pollution maps are now available at www.airnow.gov . Real-time data about air quality in Baltimore and Washington is available at www.air-watch.net.
In 1996, MDE recommended that ENDZONE incorporate outreach to large employers in its program, which became Ozone Action Days. Participating organizations received a fax when high levels of ozone were predicted for the next day. In turn, they notified their employees, customers and members of the forecast, and reminded them to reduce emissions by taking transit or carpooling, and deferring the use of gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment and petroleum-based products.
In 2000, the organization’s name was changed to Clean Air Partners to reflect a growing emphasis on pollutants other than ozone. In 2004, Ozone Action Days evolved into Air Quality Action Days to incorporate messages about fine particulate matter, a year-round pollutant.
After the clean air program was chartered, BMC and COG hired a facilitator to help determine how an organization to provide public outreach should be structured, administered and funded. The resulting by-laws call for a Board representing the private and public sectors and both the Baltimore and Washington regions. The partnership is administered by a contractual managing director with staff support from COG. Funding is provided by Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia in addition to annual dues from members. Members also provide financial support for seasonal media buys.
BMC continues to work with MDE to administer the Air Quality Action Days program in the Baltimore region, and supports air quality outreach by coordinating Clean Commute Month and Bike to Work Day in May of each year. In 2005 BMC and MDE began offering Clean Car Clinics, free inspections by certified mechanics to identify problem areas that could adversely affect a vehicle’s performance – and add to pollution.
“There can’t be a more important cause than making sure the air we breathe is clean,” said Howard County’s Bev Wilhide, who chaired ENDZONE Partners in 1999. “I’m delighted we were able to start something that’s still going on, and that can make a positive difference in all our lives.”
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