Title
Approving a lease agreement with the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) for an air quality monitor, and authorizing the City Manager to execute the same.
Summary
The Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) Air Quality Program will enhance its monitoring of fine particulate matter (PM), a form of air pollution in which the region has some of the highest levels in the state for communities along the I-35 corridor, by purchasing more sophisticated equipment that measures particulates and their composition compared to just detecting their presence. The equipment will let the region monitor fine PM with the same level of scrutiny as it has been doing with ground-level ozone, increasing the regions’ ability to collect data and improve air quality planning to protect residents’ health.
As a general member of the Clean Air Coalition (CAC), Pflugerville supports the regional effort toward improvement of air quality in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area. The air sensor will help to support one of the CAC’s purposes of “Establish and monitor a regional effort toward improvement of air quality”. Having the ability for the coalition to monitor the quality of air helps to guide clean-air plans in order to achieve and maintain compliance with federal standards and provides residents with an understanding of the air quality in our area.
The EPA recently awarded CAPCOG $660,000 for two fine PM monitoring projects. The first project will place seven research-grade continuously monitoring fine PM stations strategically across the region, while the other will place one research-grade speciated fine PM monitor strategically in the region.
CAPCOG selected the City of Pflugerville to receive one of the seven research-grade continuously monitoring fine PM stations. Upon careful review of many potential sites throughout the City, an area within the park land on Becker Farms Road was determined to be the most suitable by CAPCOG and City staff...
Click here for full text