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Your B.C. Government

Air Quality

Your B.C. Government has introduced an Air Action Plan designed to address air pollution from all sources: transportation, industry and everyday activities – such as woodstove operation and vehicle idling, – to make our air cleaner for all British Columbians.

What your B.C. Government is doing for Air Quality:

  • Your B.C. government launched the Air Action Plan in June 2008, which sets out 28 actions to reduce air pollution by promoting clean transportation, clean industry, and clean communities. These actions include:
    • Promoting a province-wide, anti-idling campaign
    • Encouraging companies to use the cleanest available technologies
    • Supporting people in replacing old wood stoves with cleaner alternatives
    • Greening vehicle fleets across the province through Green Fleets BC and enhancing programs such as Scrap-It and Air Care on Road
  • Your B.C. government has closed all 80 Tier 1 beehive burners (industrial wood waste burners located close to communities, schools and hospitals), and is working on phasing out Tier 2 burners (i.e., those that are not located close to residential areas), of which only 24 remain in operation.
  • B.C. uses scientific indicators to measure air quality and has worked with the federal government to develop Canada-wide standards for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and ground-level ozone; the two air pollutants targeted in the Air Plan. B.C. has committed to meeting or beating these standards in all monitored communities by 2010.
  • Your B.C. government has passed legislation that will enable our province to adopt California vehicle emissions standards.
  • As part of the provincial Climate Action Plan, government provided $15 million in 2008 to the BC Scrap-It program. The program has helped take 12,000 older, polluting vehicles off the road, reduce greenhouse gases from vehicles by 77,000 tonnes and improve air quality in B.C.
  • To safeguard human health and protect air quality, B.C. has put in place some of the most stringent emissions standards for wood-fired agriculture boilers in North America.
  • Your B.C. government is working with municipal and regional governments to develop different ways to minimize and manage air pollution. Airshed management plans are now in place in several communities across B.C., including Prince George, Whistler, Willliams Lake and the Fraser Valley.
  • The province successfully opposed the Sumas Energy 2 Power Plant, a Washington state-based energy project that would have had a significant impact on air quality on our side of the border.
  • B.C. was the first province in Canada to pilot a new Air Quality Health Index, which provides information on local air quality and tips for reducing air pollution and its risks