Pennsylvania and other Northeast states petitioned EPA and threatened a lawsuit against the agency in October for failing to deal with pollution coming to the Northeast from states in the Mid-West and South. Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly last year helped support the need for federal action on this issue. Gov. Ridge said action on air pollution coming from other states was also needed to protect the Chesapeake Bay because recent studies show how atmospheric deposition contributes as much as 40 percent of the excess nutrients in streams going to the Bay. Gov. Ridge held out the Chesapeake Bay Program as a model for solving the interstate pollution problem through joint state-federal action. Air monitoring during the ozone exceedances this past summer clearly showed that if other states had adopted the kinds of controls Pennsylvania now has the number of exceedances would have either been eliminated or significantly reduced.
Interstate cooperation can bring about positive results.
Pennsylvania, for example, made its first large trades of emission reduction credits in 1997 that allowed several economic development projects to move forward in Westmoreland County and other locations. Credits came from sources inside and outside Pennsylvania to allow for economic development and growth while protecting our air quality. With the help of the Citizens Advisory Council to DEP and an outside workgroup, an issue involving the reporting of significant air pollution violations to EPA was resolved that had no actual impact on enforcement or compliance decisions made by DEP in the field. To promote better understanding of air pollution issues, DEP developed its first comprehensive curriculum on Air Quality for students in junior and senior high school. The curriculum includes Pennsylvania specific information on air pollution problems and exercises designed to identify sources and solutions for those problems.