County could fall under air quality controls

By Doug Smith

Starting in April of this year the Environmental Protection Agency began looking at including Ste. Genevieve and Perry counties in the St. Louis Nonattainment Area regarding air pollution. Now it appears as if the federal agency is trying to draw St. Francois and Cape Girardeau counties into the same group of tight restrictions.

Word of the inclusion of St. Francois County in the metropolitan Nonattainment Area has surfaced following a position paper being sent by the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Considering DNR’s response, the city of Farmington is working an effort to notify residents and business and industry leaders about what the inclusion in the “area” could mean locally.

“We really don’t know at this point,” City Administrator Greg Beavers said when asked what some of the restrictions imposed on the county could be.

In other areas of the state which have been deemed a “Nonattainment Area” by the EPA restrictions have included updated gas station pumps, regular stringent vehicle exhaust emissions testing, and requiring new industry to install costly and more technologically advanced emissions control equipment. While they serve a purpose, all such restrictions can also be viewed as deterrents to individuals, businesses and industry when looking to relocate to an area.

Apparently air quality testing in Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties has shown those two counties fail to meet new, more strict EPA guidelines for clean air. In the letter to the DNR, the regional planning commission accepts that inclusion of those two counties into the Nonattainment Area “is necessary given EPA guidance”.

However, the commission balked on the inclusion of Cape Girardeau and St. Francois counties into the St. Louis Nonattainment Area. “It is not at all clear that the case for designating Cape Girardeau County is made convincingly. Cape Girardeau County is included because it has been described as an ‘MSA’ that borders a county with a noncompliant monitor and the MSA is by definition a presumptive boundary ...,” the letter states.

As for St. Francois County, the letter reads, “No monitor measuring nonattainment is located in St. Francois County. The Bonne Terre monitor cited in staff reports is located in Ste. Genevieve County. While a monitor is near to St. Francois County, the assertion made that St. Francois County is identified as a Nonattainment Area based on a monitor located within the county is simply incorrect.”

The position paper also stated “The conclusion drawn by DNR staff that St. Francois County ‘contributes’ to ozone in the St. Louis Nonattainment Area is, at best, arguable, if not outright incorrect. The inventory of emissions sources clearly shows relatively small amounts being produced in St. Francois County.”

In answering the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission’s letter, James L. Kavanaugh, director of DNR’s Air Pollution Control Program, replied, “Based on our interpretation of EPA’s criteria for boundary recommendations, we did not find adequate support for a different alternative. Consequently, the recommendation we are posting for public comment remains unchanged from what was initially contained in the draft recommendations.”

The “draft recommendations” were to include St. Francois and Cape Girardeau counties in with Ste. Genevieve and Perry counties in making them a part of the St. Louis Nonattainment Area — and imposing whatever restrictions come with that designation.

Kavanaugh went on to reply that “the public meeting for this matter will be Dec. 4 in Jefferson City at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Missouri Air Conservation Commission so we wanted to get the information posted 30 days in advance of the hearing.”

The plan is to submit the recommendation adding the counties to the St. Louis Nonattainment Area to the EPA by the March 12, 2009 deadline. The EPA will take public comment and make the final decision by March 12, 2010. At that time EPA’s decision is final.

The city of Farmington has prepared a resolution to be considered for adoption by the city council when it meets this evening. The resolution notes there was “no scientific basis for designating either Cape Girardeau County or St. Francois County as Nonattainment Areas.”

Beavers said it’s likely other communities in the two counties will consider adopting similar resolutions in coming weeks and months taking a position on this topic. Again, at this time the possible restrictions the counties could face has not been disclosed. The only example to consider is air quality measures currently imposed on the St. Louis Nonattainment Area.

Archives Web Site Marketplace Obits Babies Jobs