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improve compliance and compliance tracking, and reporting capabilities. Initial
implementation of the ACES system began in FY04.
e) Base Programs and National/Regional Priorities - Although the four program areas listed
above are very focused priorities, the base programs must continue to function so as to
maintain the progress we have achieved thus far both in the area of ozone reductions and
with regard to other pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM10).
Such base programs include air monitoring, state permitting and data management, among
others. Although many of the activities implementing Illinois EPA’s pollution prevention
and small business programs are carried out by Field Operations Section inspectors and
Permit Section analysts, coordination of these programs within the Bureau of Air is included
in Base Programs. At the same time, there are key national and regional initiatives that
should be included in our priorities, such as deployment of speciation monitoring network to
assess fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and regional haze. These efforts will continue in FY06
and FY07.
2. Program Linkage to Environmental Goal/Objectives - Trends in air quality gauge the
success of the air pollution control program. These trends are determined from a
combination of air quality measurements and emission estimates. The planned program
objectives and program activities of the air program contained in this agreement will
contribute in a variety of ways to the improvements reflected in those trends. For example,
the declining trend in air quality exceedances and the steadily improving air quality
conditions measured through the Air Quality Index provide an indication of the quality of the
pollution control regulations and the effectiveness of the compliance assurance program.
Emission trends illustrate the direct relationship between the control program and reductions
of the targeted pollutants in the atmosphere. A summary of our environmental goals,
environmental objectives, and the measures that demonstrate progress towards these goals
and objectives follows:
Environmental Goal
Illinois should be free of air pollutants at levels that cause significant risk of cancer or
respiratory or other health problems. The air should be cleaner (i.e., less), and the impact of
airborne pollutants on the quality of water and on plant life should be reduced.
Environmental Objectives
General Air Quality:
1. Maintenance of 90%1 "good" or
"moderate" air quality conditions in the
areas of the state outside the Lake
Michigan and Metro-East ozone non-attainment
areas.
2. Maintenance of 90% "good" or
"moderate" air quality conditions in the
Environmental Indicators
Air Quality Index levels outside the ozone non-attainment
areas.
Air Quality Index levels in the ozone non-attainment
areas.
1The Air Quality Index, which replaced the Pollutant Standards Index, includes the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5
standards. It also includes six categories of air quality: good; moderate; unhealthy for sensitive groups; unhealthy;
very unhealthy; and hazardous.
