FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 13, 2016
FLORIDA RECEIVES APPROVAL OF REGIONAL HAZE PROGRESS REPORT
~ DEP has made
significant progress to reduce air emissions, going beyond
EPA’s requirements~
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) approved Florida’s Regional Haze Progress Report,
finding that the Department of Environmental Protection has made
significant progress in decreasing air emissions to improve visibility in
Everglades National Park, Chassahowitzka National Wilderness Area and St. Marks
National Wilderness Area.
In 1999, under authority granted in the federal
Clean Air Act, EPA created the Regional Haze Rule, which calls for state and
federal agencies to work together to improve visibility in national parks and
wilderness areas. Haze is caused when sunlight encounters tiny particles of
pollution in the air. Two pollutants, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides,
scatter light and can reduce visibility, especially during humid conditions. EPA’s
rule requires that states submit periodic reports detailing the progress made
in reducing air emissions to achieve a specified level of visibility by 2064.
“Since 2000, Florida’s efforts to improve
the state’s air quality have resulted in sulfur dioxide emissions declining by
80 percent and nitrogen oxides emissions by 70 percent from industrial sources,”
said Justin Green, director of DEP’s Division of Air Resource Management.
“DEP’s effective strategy to reduce air emissions will continue to ensure that
Florida’s air is among the cleanest in the nation.”
DEP has
made significant strides in reducing air emissions and has gone beyond the
required measures established in EPA’s Regional Haze Rule. In fact, Florida’s
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emission levels are already well below the
projected 2018 levels set forth in the state’s Progress Report.
Florida’s
air is among the nation’s cleanest, with emissions
of key industrial pollutants continuing to decline – a 63-percent reduction overall
since 1985. Over
the past several years, DEP and its local programs have invested more than $3 million to modernize Florida’s air monitoring network, making it one of
the most robust networks in the country. This network provides the department
with the valuable data needed to ensure that Florida's air quality is in
compliance with federal standards.
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