27th Annual Conference of the New England Governors and the Eastern Canadian Premiers

RESOLUTION – RESOLUTION CONCERNING ENVIRONMENT

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 t

• 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 t

• 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.