ACOG & DEQ Provides EPA a Comprehensive List of Emissions Reductions Efforts by ACOG Member Governments and Community Partners

For the last thirteen years, the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG), in partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), has submitted an ozone pollution mitigation project overview to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Ozone Advance Program.

DEQ submitted the update to the EPA in June.

The goal of the update is to provide a comprehensive list of emissions reductions efforts by ACOG member governments and community partners like Tinker Air Force Base, OG&E, and the University of Oklahoma.

This process ensures EPA and other federal partners are updated on efforts to keep the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area in attainment of EPA air quality standards.

“Central Oklahoma leaders are implementing innovative emissions reductions projects to maintain our in-attainment status for ozone pollution,” said Mark W. Sweeney, AICP, Executive Director, ACOG. “Our attainment status is an economic advantage over other regions – and a non-attainment designation could be very costly.”

ACOG is nearing completion of a Cost of NonAttainment Analysis to estimate the potential costs to the region in the event Central Oklahoma receives a NonAttainment designation.

“Clean air is essential to quality of life for all Oklahomans,” said Sweeney. “Regional cooperation and partnership between government at all levels and the private sector – pollution doesn’t stop at city limits or county lines.”