A public awareness campaign will begin next year aimed at persuading residents to do their part to help reduce ozone levels in Southeast Missouri.

Details are outlined in a Path Forward plan reviewed Friday by the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission's Air Quality Committee.

Members discussed this summer's disappointing ground-level ozone readings on the Perry County monitor, located in Farrar. The monitor exceeded the current standard of 75 parts per billion a record 14 times.

"We can assume this was an exceptionally hot summer and the heat, the sun, the still air is a recipe for creating ozone," David Grimes, deputy director of the planning commission in Perryville. Other areas of the state and nation also experienced high ozone readings this summer.

As the ozone season draws to a close, Perry County's monitor now has a design value -- the measure used to determine compliance -- of 77 parts per billion pushing it over the current standard.

Counties that violate ozone standards can be designated "nonattainment zones" by the EPA and face restrictions on their emissions of pollutants that contribute to ozone, which could inhibit the local businesses that produce them as well as the area's ability to attract new industry.

As leaders look to try to reduce ozone levels, Grimes and several other committee members said they feel like their hands are tied because the region does not have a large single source of emissions, such as a coal-fired power plant.

"We're a rural area and we don't have huge point sources," said Perryville Mayor Debbie Gahan. "Our secondary sources are small. It makes no sense to shut down economic development just because we are unlucky enough to have a monitor here."

The only option left is a "Saturation Campaign of Awareness" that could get thousands of local people to change their individual actions in an effort to reduce emissions. This campaign is described in the Path Forward plan, which will be presented to the Environmental Protection Agency next month.

It's a requirement of an EPA program called Ozone Advance, which this region was accepted into this summer.

"It is specifically set up for those places that are not now nonattainment areas, but are in danger of becoming nonattainment areas," Grimes said. If the area can demonstrate it is making a good-faith effort to reduce emissions under the Ozone Advance program, Grimes hopes the EPA will be lenient with the restrictions it imposes if the region fails to meet the ozone limits when the standards are reviewed next year.

The Path Forward outlines involving local media outlets and using social media to educate residents about ozone and suggest voluntary steps to reduce the pollutants that escape into the atmosphere including:

* Stop at the gas pump click when fueling vehicles;

* Fueling in the evening;

* Mow in the evening;

* Plan your trip; and

* Conserve energy.

The Path Forward also suggests implementing an Ozone Alert System that would focus on tracking weather and temperature conditions. Emails would be sent to local media to alert them to share this information with the public.

A large number of television, radio and print media outlets that could potentially help with public education efforts were also outlined in the Path Forward plan.

Grimes said action would begin in February to put these plans in place by the time the 2013 ozone season starts in April. The season typically runs from April 1 though Oct. 31.

"We need to get ahead of the curve because next year revisiting the standards will kick up again and we need to make the best defense we can," Grimes said.

The EPA reviews its ground level ozone standards every five years, with the last standards set in 2008 under the Bush administration.

Grimes also updated the Air Quality Committee on projects the planning commission has underway as part of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act program through the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. These efforts were funded through the federal stimulus program in 2009 and included adding auxiliary power units on diesel trucks, replacing diesel engines on forklifts, adding diesel oxidation catalysts to reduce emissions and adding heaters on school buses so they did not have to run their motors to heat the vehicles. The cost of these projects administered by the planning commission was $445,000.

Several more efforts to reduce diesel emissions are in progress, including:

* Replacing two propulsion engines on a Mississippi River workboat at a cost of $500,000; funded by an EPA Diesel Emission Reduction Act grant;

* Replacing two propulsion engines on one Mississippi River workboat at a cost of $240,000; funded by EPA and DNR grants;

* Replacing four propulsion engines on two Mississippi River workboats at a cost of $1.45 million; funded by an EPA Diesel Emission Reduction Act grant;

* Installing diesel oxidation catalysts on publicly owned trucks. Six are completed, but the commission is seeking about 15 more vehicles that are part of city or county fleets that could benefit from the program. A total of $55,000 is available through DNR and EPA funding. Municipalities interested in participating should contact Grimes.

* Testing and engine replacement for two propulsion engines on one Mississippi River workboat. This project, funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration will include testing existing 1970s-era engines to establish baseline data, then replacing them with modern engines and conducting a second test to determine emissions on the new engines. Follow-up testing will be done during the third year of the project to see if a falloff in performance has occurred as the engines age.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

98 Grand Avenue, Perryville, Mo.