Mobile Source Air Toxics Reduction

Countywide Campaign to Reduce Mobile Source Air Toxics

Background

Since 56% of the emission of air toxics in the Rochester region are from mobile emission, the Rochester CARE program completed the following:

Community based mobile air toxics education and reduction projects through a small-grants program; and
Improved the community's knowledge of the sources and effects of mobile air toxics through additional targeted research, and through advancement of new programs and policies that address the needs revealed in the results of this additional research.

Update

Margit Brazda Poirier was hired to spearhead the Countywide Campaign to Reduce Mobile Source Air Toxics. As of 2006 the following progress has been made:

The first round of funding has gone out for the small grants program to three community-based organizations committed to reducing mobile source air toxics in their neighborhoods.

Genesee Region Clean Communities proposed to conduct a one-day workshop this spring to encourage the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, and natural gas, among businesses and municipalities that own vehicles. Follow up work will be conducted to build partnerships between fuel suppliers and users.

Cleaning the Air with Alternative Fuels: A Practical Workshop on Getting Started

Thursday, June 14, 2007 from 8am-4pm at the RIT Inn and Conference Center

Sponsored by Genesee Region Clean Communities, with a CARE Small Grant from the Rochester CARE Mobile Air Toxics Program this was a timely, innovative workshop focusing on practical details about making alternative fuels work well for company fleets, and helping fleets and fuel providers find the right match and start working with each other. Workshop agenda available here. For more information and photos click on the Alternative Fules page.

The South East Area Coalition, a Neighborhood Preservation Company that services 55,000 households and over 800 businesses in southeast Rochester, will make the air cleaner through education and neighborhood programs. In the coming year, the group will purchase electric lawn mowers and landscaping equipment to use as part of a free neighborhood tool-lending library. Bicycling, as an alternative to driving, will be encouraged through a neighborhood bike-repair station and free bike repair workshops. Residents will also be able to exchange their old gas cans, which are known to slowly emit toxics into the air, for the new U.S. EPA government-approved gas cans.

Rochester’s South West Area Neighborhood Association (SWAN) has plans to install bike racks and provide helmets and bike locks to residents to encourage more cycling. Youth from SWAN’s after-school program will help educate their neighbors about mobile air toxics and provide information on ways everyone can help reduce air pollution.

A research program geared towards further improving Rochester's understanding of the most significant and under-attended mobile air toxics issues has been completed.

In March 2007, the Air Toxics Research Group released the report entitled "Inventory and Literature Review of Mobile Source Air Toxics in the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area" (Appendix). The purpose of this report is to present information about the sources and relative contribution of major mobile source air toxics emissions in the Rochester MSA. The report also includes information about programs and policies that address mobile source air toxics, identifies gaps in mobile source emissions data, provides an overview of health-related data, and contains recommendations for toxics reduction measures for the Rochester region. A clear understanding of these mobile air toxics findings will help community organizations and our legislators to make well-informed, strategically targeted decisions to improve our air quality.

Fore more information on the Countywide Campaign to Reduce Mobile Source Air Toxics, please contact:

Center for Environmental Information
55 St. Paul St., Rochester NY 14604
Tel. 585- 262-2870
Email: cei@ ceinfo.org