Southwest Clean Air Agency Joins
Innovative Approach to Cleaner Air

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2003

VANCOUVER, Wash. - The Southwest Clean Air Agency (SWCAA) has joined a leadership team as part of the Northwest Collaborative Air Priorities Project (NW CAPP). The project brings together individuals and organizations from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Canada to establish regional air quality priorities.

The NW CAPP Leadership Team, a group of 19 people representing diverse interests in the Pacific Northwest, will host a Northwest Air Summit June 3-5 in Seattle. The summit will bring together diverse citizen, tribal, business, public interest and government leaders from across the Pacific Northwest. Summit participants will help identify priorities and create action plans to address the collective needs of the people in the region over the next five to 10 years.

Founded in 1968, the mission of the Southwest Clean Air Agency is to preserve and enhance the air quality in southwest Washington. Serving the counties of Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Skamania and Wahkiakum, SWCAA is responsible for protecting the public's health through the enforcement of federal, state and local air quality standards and regulations.

For more information about NW CAPP, please call Bob Elliott, Executive Director of the Southwest Clean Air Agency, at 360-574-3058, ext. 12, or visit the NW CAPP website at www.epa.gov/region10/nwcapp.

For more information contact:

Robert Elliott - Executive Director
(360) 574-3058, ext. 12