WHEREAS, under the auspices of the Conference of New England
Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers, the Government of Québec held a
Symposium on Air Pollution and Public Health that concluded that the recent
scientific research has demonstrated a strong, direct link between air
pollution exposures and public health effects; and
WHEREAS, researchers, experts, and decision-makers from the fields
of health and environment who attended the Symposium on Air Pollution and
Public Health concluded that more emphasis should be placed on research of the
causes, effects and the relationship between air pollution and human health,
adopting common health standards and a health message; and
WHEREAS, federal and state environmental and health agencies in New
England have convened a Regional Coordinating Council to address public health
effects from air pollution and have adopted a Regional Asthma Action Plan with
specific actions to reduce exposure to air pollutants; and
WHEREAS, our regional air pollution/health problems result from a
mixture of pollutants transported from sources outside the region and
pollutants from local sources; and
WHEREAS, the Conference’s Acid Rain Steering Committee, under the
direction of the Committee on the Environment, has made significant progress
with the implementation of its action plan, and needs to undertake more
actions to further reduce acid rain deposition; and
WHEREAS, the New England states and Eastern Canadian provinces,
acting through the Conference’s Mercury Task Force, have made considerable
progress towards achieving the Mercury Action Plan’s 50% regional emission
reduction target by 2003, and are committed to establishing and meeting new
targets and timelines toward achieving the Plan’s virtual elimination goal;
and
WHEREAS, despite considerable progress regionally in removing
mercury and mercury compounds from schools, there remains work to be done to
ensure that this toxin does not pose a health risk in our schools.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England
Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers direct its Committee on the
Environment to work with state and provincial health officials to address the
impacts of air pollution on public health and integrate these action items
into its work plan; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England Governors
and Eastern Canadian Premiers endorse the acid rain report and approve the
following recommendations as submitted by its Committee on the Environment:
• endorse the critical loads assessment and trends analysis of lakes and
rivers and conduct an in-depth analysis of these results;
• continue the integration of fine particulate data with the intent of
producing real-time maps, exploring opportunities for adopting common health
standards, and common health messages;
• expand the public outreach efforts as it relates to the effects of air
pollution on public health; and
• report at the next conference on state, provincial and/or federal efforts
to reduce diesel emissions from existing sources in their respective
jurisdictions, and on appropriate potential options for reducing local
diesel emissions in the future; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England Governors
and Eastern Canadian Premiers call on both federal governments to:
• increase funding of air pollution and health research, such as the Super
Sites and PM Centers in the United States and the Toxic Substance Research
Initiative in Canada;
• intensify their discussions leading to the adoption of a new annex to the
1991 Air Quality Agreement setting specific objectives concerning fine
particulate matter; and
• take all economically feasible measures to reduce emissions and transport
of air pollutants that contribute to downwind public health and
environmental effects with respect to fossil fuel burning sources; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England Governors
and Eastern Canadian Premiers endorse the mercury report and charge the
Committee on the Environment and its Mercury Task Force to:
• develop recommendations on completing mercury clean-outs of middle and
secondary schools in the region;
• complete a report on the region’s progress toward achieving the Mercury
Action Plan’s emission reduction target of 50% by 2003 and take steps to
update the regional mercury release inventory to account for new data and
sources;
• continue to support implementation of the “Statement of Draft Mercury
Education and Reduction Programs,” which was adopted by the NEG/ECP at its
July 2000 Conference;
• work with the Acid Rain Steering Committee and the Climate Change Steering
Committee to assess utility boiler emissions and begin to develop strategy
options for this sector that will promote the best economically and
technically feasible multi-pollutant emissions reductions, such as Nox, SO2
and CO2, to address acid rain, mercury, climate change and air quality
issues;
• take steps to implement the recommendations in the summary report “Mercury
Deposition in the Northeast States and Eastern Provinces: Network Assessment
and Recommendations”;
• address other sources of mercury pollution, including water discharges of
mercury, waste disposal and mercury in products, and coordinate development
of regional strategies to ensure compliance with federal requirements as
applicable; and
• exchange information on mercury programs with the United Nations
Environmental Program (UNEP).
Adopted at the 27th Annual Conference of New England Governors and Eastern
Canadian Premiers, August 25-27, 2002.
Premier Bernard Landry
Québec
Co-Chair |
Governor Lincoln Almond
Rhode Island
Co-Chair |
