2010 Progress Report - International Joint Commission

Progress Report 2010
improve air quality in the Lower Fraser Valley airshed.
The AQMP aims to minimize the risk to human health
from air pollution, improve visibility, and reduce Metro
Vancouver’s contribution to global climate change.
The CWS for PM 2.5
(particulate matter less than or
equal to 2.5 microns) is being met throughout the
Lower Fraser Valley and the eastern part of the Valley
is just below the CWS for ozone after having met or
exceeded the standard during the past fi ve years.
The AQMP therefore supports the CI/KCAC provisions
of the CWS. Also, visibility degradation in the Lower
Fraser Valley occurs at concentration levels of PM 2.5
well below the CWS. The AQMP’s emission reduction
actions aim to reduce direct emissions of PM and
ozone, as well as PM precursors.
The province of British Columbia continues to make
progress toward establishing a visibility management
framework, through the efforts of the British Columbia
Visibility Coordinating Committee (BCVCC), an
interagency committee consisting of representatives
from different levels of government involved in air
quality management in the province. Although the
BCVCC has been in existence since 2007, it was
formalized in 2009 with the development of offi cial
terms of reference.
The BCVCC has established science, visibility index,
business case, reporting and pilot project working
groups to carry out projects related to visibility
management. Science studies include visibility
monitoring, the analysis of visibility trends, and
understanding the linkage between air pollutant
emissions and visibility impairment. Communications
efforts have been directed toward developing a
communications strategy on visibility and the creation
of a website (www.airhealthbc.ca/ca/default.htm) as
a means to promote visibility and educate the public
on this issue. Policy work involves the establishment
of a visibility goal for B.C. and the Lower Fraser Valley,
as well as the development of a metric to determine
progress toward meeting the goal. These products
will be evaluated and tested through a pilot project in
the Lower Fraser Valley to determine if they are viable
components of a visibility management framework.
Furthermore, a workshop was held in April 2010 to
provide direction on bringing a visibility framework
to reality in B.C.
In addition to the visibility protection work underway
in B.C., work is underway in other parts of Canada.
In 2010–2011, a visibility monitoring pilot site will be
established in the Rocky Mountains. The site meets
the U.S. Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual
Environments (IMPROVE) network’s siting requirements,
and an agreement is being reached with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to
have an IMPROVE speciation monitor on-site and to
carry out laboratory speciation data analysis. This allows
for the integration of data from this new site into the
IMPROVE database and the extension of the IMPROVE
visual range map into Canada. Other locations being
considered for future visibility monitoring are on the
Atlantic coast of Canada. Ongoing work involves the
inter-comparison of IMPROVE data with the CAPMoN
speciation samplers at Egbert, Ontario, to ensure
data comparability.
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