Comprehensive Regional Plan - Northwestern Indiana Regional ...

2040 CRP Summary / Environment and Green Infrastructure
AIR QUALITY
IMPROVE OUR AIR
Clean air is vital to the productivity of people, land and
businesses in Northwest Indiana. Poor air quality can
cause a myriad of health problems such as heart disease
and asthma. Our region has struggled with maintaining
healthy air standards because of our industrial legacy
and abundance of vehicular traffic. Over the years, our air
quality has improved dramatically because of significant
investments by local industries and vehicle manufacturers
to reduce pollution to comply with federal and state
regulations.
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Continued progress is necessary, however, over a
broad spectrum of source contributors. Specifically as
the bigger manufacturers reduce their emissions, the
importance of the impacts caused by individuals becomes
greater.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards
The federal government established the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) as the primary tool to
measure the amount of six critical air pollutants that are
detrimental to human health. Northwest Indiana has
achieved “attainment,” or success in each of these six
areas, with the latest involving fine particulate matter
(2009) and ozone (2010). While this is a cause for
celebration for our region, it is important that we maintain
and continue to strive for improvement in air quality.
Air Toxics
Toxics are monitored and regulated differently than NAAQS
pollutants. These are divided into two major groups –
carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic. Both of these are
measured at five air toxic monitoring sites throughout the
region operated by the Indiana Department of Environmental
Management (IDEM). Predictably, these toxics are most
prevalent in urbanized areas.