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E-M:/ 36 Cities Do Not Meet Air Quality Standards

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Enviro-Mich message from GreenPlanet <riccawu@MNSi.Net>
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Does anyone know which cities are on this list, is Detroit one of them?

>>**********************************************************************
>>   E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE    E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE     E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
>>**********************************************************************
>>
>>TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRANSPORTATION EDITORS:
>>
>>        Despite Improvements in Air Quality Nationwide
>>       36 More Cities Will Not Meet New Air Quality Standards
>>
>>      WASHINGTON, June 18 -/E-Wire/-- Although air quality in the United
>>States has 
>>improved significantly, 36 cities nationwide that meet existing air quality
>>standards will not 
>>meet the proposed new air quality standards if the Environmental Protection
>>Agency (EPA) 
>>goes ahead with its proposal, states a new air quality report released
>>today by a nonprofit 
>>transportation research group.
>>
>>     The Road Information Program (TRIP)(R) report, "Clean Air and Improved
>>Mobility: 
>>Meeting the Challenge," points out that urban areas that do not meet air
>>quality standards 
>>may be required to implement stricter pollution control measures.
>>
>>     "The measures these areas would have to enact will vary from region to
>>region," said 
>>William M. Wilkins, TRIP's executive director.  "Some areas might even be
>>required to 
>>enforce restrictions on when and where motorists can drive."
>>
>>     Other possible pollution-control measures include the use of
>>reformulated fuel for cars 
>>and trucks, tougher mandatory vehicle inspections, limits on manufacturers,
>>restrictions on 
>>business expansion and restraints on highway capacity expansion.
>>
>>     The TRIP report points out that the number of poor air quality days in
>>the nation's largest 
>>urban areas declined by 61 percent from 1993 to 1995 compared to 1986-1988.
>>
>>     The TRIP report also concludes that significant air quality
>>improvements over the past 25 
>>years have been the result of technological advances and that technology
>>should continue to 
>>drive air quality progress in the years ahead.
>>
>>     "The research data overwhelmingly shows that air quality improvements
>>we have made 
>>as a nation have resulted from improved technology," said Wilkins. "We will
>>all breathe a 
>>little easier in the years ahead if we continue to put the emphasis on
>>technology."
>>
>>     The TRIP report points out that significant air quality progress has
>>taken place over the 
>>past 10 years even though highway travel has increased by 32 percent during
>>that same time.
>>
>>     "What this really means is that improved air quality can be compatible
>>with increased 
>>travel by motorists," Wilkins said.  "It also means we should keep pushing
>>ahead with 
>>technology in all areas affecting air quality."
>>
>>     The TRIP report states that technological advances such as the
>>catalytic converter, 
>>reformulated gasoline, and inspection/maintenance programs and tighter
>>tailpipe emission 
>>standards have been most effective in reducing emissions from vehicles.
>>
>>     The report also points out that strategies designed to reduce travel
>>by motorists are 
>>difficult to implement and have not been very effective in improving air
>>quality.
>>
>>     A joint 1993 EPA-USDOT report found that behavioral strategies aimed
>>at reducing 
>>highway travel will only yield a 1 to 2 percent reduction in highway
>>vehicle emissions, the 
>>TRIP report states.
>>
>>     The TRIP study also points out that the public is continuing to choose
>>highway travel as 
>>its preferred mode of transportation in spite of efforts to get them to use
>>other forms of 
>>transportation.  Since approval of the Intermodal Surface Transportation
>>Efficiency Act 
>>(ISTEA) in l991, person miles of travel on mass transit declined by 2.2
>>percent by l995, at 
>>the same time that transit spending increased by 12 percent.
>>
>>     Highlights of the TRIP report include:
>>
>>      *    The EPA expects continued improvement in smog-forming emissions
>>             through at least 2005.
>>
>>     *    The U.S. Department of Transportation and private researchers
>>project
>>           emission reductions will continue through at least 2015.
>>
>>     *    During the 1986-95 time frame, overall highway emissions of Volatile
>>           Organic Compounds (VOCs), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide
>>           were reduced by 31.2, 2.5 and 15.6 percent respectively.
>>
>>     *    Projects funded by the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Improvement
>>           Program (CMAQ) established in 1991 by the Intermodal Surface
>>          Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) have had a "relatively small"
>>           impact on air quality improvements.
>>
>>     *    Transportation policies should increasingly focus on technological
>>           improvements rather than on trying to carry out policies
>>designed to
>>           reduce travel by motorists.
>>
>>      (The Road Information Program is a nonprofit transportation research
>>group that has 
>>been researching, evaluating and distributing data on highway
>>transportation issues since 
>>1971.)  
>>
>>     SOURCE  The Road Information Program
>>
>>     -0-     6/18/97
>>
>>     /CONTACT:  Frank Moretti, Jim Fahey or Bill Outlaw of The Road
>>Information 
>>Program, 202-466-6706/  CO:  The Road Information Program; Environmental
>>Protection 
>>Agency;  U.S. Department of Transportation  
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>>
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