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6 <br />I. Introduction <br />Background <br />The City of Durham has joined the North Carolina Air Awareness Program sponsored by the <br />North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Division of Air <br />Quality. The purpose of the Air Awareness Program is to provide an outreach effort that will <br />inform the public, businesses, and industry about air pollution and its prevention. <br />The Air Awareness Program was initiated in response to new air quality standards established by <br />the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Triangle region may not be able to meet these <br />new standards which will go into effect over the next several years. Failure to meet the standards <br />could result not only in health and environmental hazards, but also in the reduction of federal <br />funds and other negative impacts to the regional economy. <br />What is the problem? <br />The problem is too much ground-level ozone. Ground-level ozone is the primary pollutant in <br />smog. High ozone levels generally occur on hot sunny days with stagnant air, when pollutants <br />such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds "cook" in the atmosphere. In the <br />Triangle, vehicle emissions are the main contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone. <br />Goal of the Air Awareness Program <br />The goal of the Air Awareness Program is to prevent days exceeding the ozone standard and to <br />provide healthy air for North Carolinians. <br />City of Durham's Role in the Program <br />The City of Durham has joined the employer coalition to do its part to help the region meet the air <br />quality standards set by the federal government. The City has developed an Air Quality Action <br />Plan designed to educate and encourage City employees to reduce the number of vehicles and <br />equipment being used during potentially high ozone periods. The City's Action Plan has a <br />number of in-house programs along with operations-oriented actions that will serve to lessen City <br />vehicle and equipment use on high ozone days. THE CITY'S ACTION PLAN WILL ONLY <br />BE IMPLEMENTED FOR "ORANGE" AND "RED" OZONE ALERT DAYS (the most <br />severe and unhealthy ozone conditions with a pollutant index of 101+}. <br />