MADISON – As winter finally gives way to warmer temperatures in Wisconsin, sunny May skies signal that Clean Air Month has arrived.
"It All Adds Up To Cleaner Air" is the theme for the annual spring event in Wisconsin. A new Clean Air Month page on the Department of Natural Resources website lists tips for reducing air emissions, a place for the public to sign up for air quality notices and a poetry contest hosted by the department for third, fourth and fifth graders.
"With May as Clean Air Month and 2013 The Year of Well Being throughout our state, there's no better time to learn about how important clean air is to our health and quality of life," said DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp. "At your DNR, we'll continue to work hard so Wisconsin citizens can enjoy some of the cleanest air in the nation.'
Stepp noted that the agency's recent Wisconsin Air Quality Trends Report 2013 [PDF] revealed a positive trend toward cleaner air since 2002. Overall, trends show improved air quality since the 1980s.
Other successes from the past year include:
- Wisconsin has its lowest number of counties in "non-attainment" since the enactment of that Clean Air Act amendments of 1990;
- the southeast region of the state is meeting the current 2008 federal air quality standards for ground level ozone pollution;
- EPA re-designated much of the southeast region of WI from ozone non-attainment into the "ozone attainment" classification for the 1997 standard; and
- fine particle pollution re-designation is currently under review at EPA. The department is hopeful to receive re-designation into attainment for the counties currently listed as non-attainment.
