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31 <br /> 3 . 0 RECOMMENDED GOALS TO ADDRESS AIR QUALITY IN THE COUNTY <br /> In the Report of the Shaping Orange County 's Future , the Environment and Resources <br /> Protection Committee set the following goals : <br /> s) Protect the respiratory health of all people ; Orange County should achieve and surpass <br /> ambient air quality standards . <br /> t) Create a community less dependent on the private auto . <br /> - - -u) Discourage further highway construction in Orange County. <br /> v) Promote less polluting traffic patterns . <br /> w) Lobby for state inspection of heavy- duty trucks . <br /> x) Promote ownership of low emission motor vehicles . <br /> These are admirable goals that the County should address over the long term . We suggest that <br /> there are four primary goals that should be addressed in the short-term that will help meet the <br /> long-term goals , and may ultimately have significant impact air quality in the County. Those <br /> goals are the following . <br /> y) Gain a better quantitative understanding of the sources of air pollution in the County and <br /> the relationship between air quality and mobile sources within and outside the County, <br /> z) Gain a better understanding of transportation issues within the County and the region, <br /> aa) Identify and define the role of Orange County in regional transportation issues and <br /> planning, and <br /> bb) Reduce the impact of the County fleet on air quality. <br /> 4 . 0 NEEDS AND RECOMMENDED ACTIONS TO ADDRESS AIR QUALITY ISSUES <br /> IN THE COUNTY <br /> To address the goals identified by the4 CfE and Shaping Orange County ' s Future, there are <br /> a number of actions that that can be taken, including the following . <br /> a) The County should commit matching funds for a Mobile Source Emissions Reduction <br /> Grant . A grant application should be submitted to the State of North Carolina <br /> Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the next cycle (December <br /> 2000) . One potential proposal is for the County to purchase alternative fuel vehicles for <br /> use by selected County agencies or Departments . The County ' s portion of funds would <br /> , be for vehicles and refueling stations . The grant money from DENR would offset <br /> differences in costs between conventional vehicles and low-pollution alternative vehicles . <br /> Based on recent successful applications , the County should commit approximately <br /> $ 80 , 000 to $ 120 , 000 for a project to reduce mobile source emissions in the County. The <br /> scope of the project should be determined by County agencies and departments with the <br /> assistance of the County Transportation Planner and the CfE . <br /> b ) The County should commit staff support to work on issues related to air quality and <br /> transportation in the County. We recommend that at least 5 to 10 % of the time of one <br /> staff member in the Environment and Resources Conservation Department be devoted to <br /> 11 <br />