Southwest Clean Air Agency

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EPA School Monitoring to Begin Soon in Longview

The Southwest Clean Air Agency will be participating in EPA Schools Monitoring Initiative this summer. Short-term monitoring will take place at St. Helen’s Elementary School in Longview, WA. Ten samples will be taken, one every six days, over the summer and into early fall. EPA and SWCAA are working to begin this effort as soon as possible. This monitoring project is part of a national school monitoring program that EPA is leading. St. Helens will be one of 62 schools in 22 states that will be part of this project. The study may be extended based on initial results. For more information about this project and see results as they become available, visit www.epa.gov/schoolair.

Clark County	Restricted
Cowlitz County	Restricted
Lewis County	Restricted
Skamania County	Prohibited
Wahkiakum County	Allowed

Fire Safety Burn Ban Status

Fire season is here so stay tuned for upcoming Fire Safety Burn Bans. Clark County and Cowlitz County have Fire Safety Burn Bans that are expected to begin on July 15, though that may change at any point due to fire danger. Skamania County's Fire Safety Burn Ban will be in effect July 1 through September 30. Lewis County's Fire Safety Burn Ban is set to begin July 7. These dates may be expanded depending on fire danger. For more details about your county, click on the county link at the right or call the Southwest Clean Air Agency at 360-574-3058. Read more.

Attention Auto Body Shops:
EPA's Auto Body Collision Repair Campaign

The Collision Repair Campaign (CRC) is an effort to address health threats through a two-year campaign to drastically reduce auto body emissions at the national level. The program will invite and encourage early compliance with the Auto Body Refinishing (Surface Coating) Area Source NESHAP Rule. Training on ways to reduce emissions and risks from current operations is available here.

Information and resources for:

Auto Body Shops
Distributors/Suppliers
Technical Schools
Regulators

Bright Idea
If every American household replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs use about 75% less energy, last up to 10 times longer and produce 90% less heat than standard incandescent bulbs. Using a compact fluorescent light bulb can save more than $30 in energy costs over the lifetime of the bulb.

For more information, visit EnergyStar.gov.

Update: Cleaner School Buses
Since the Washington State School Bus Retrofit Program was funded in 2004 by the Washington state legislature, more than 500 school buses in southwest Washington have received diesel oxidation catalysts. Thanks to this program, retrofitted buses now emit 30 percent less air pollution in the form of fine-particles coming out of the exhaust pipe.

The next step for this program will be to install Closed Crankcase Ventilation Systems (CCVS) on school buses. This equipment will reduce the amount of diesel fumes that build up inside the buses and will further protect the lungs of our school children.