Air Quality Jobs

The quality of the air we breathe can have a significant impact on our quality of life. Many communities across the nation have a “serious” air pollution problem. This designation results mainly from ground-level ozone, the main component of what is commonly referred to as “smog.”

Under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. EPA sets limits on how much of a pollutant is allowed in the air anywhere in the U.S. Although national air quality has improved over the last 20 years, many challenges remain in protecting public health and the environment.  Earth911.com 

From the EPA: "Communities like yours are essential to protecting our environment and improving public health. EPA is committed to finding ways to help build the capacity of communities to improve their quality of life. This Web site presents ideas on what communities can do to improve local air quality. Many communities have successfully engaged in these activities and made improvements to their local air quality. EPA and other government programs also support some of these activities through grants.

How do I find information on activities that might be useful to my community?

The links below list activities related to where pollutants originate. Note that reducing the emissions from one source can also have benefits in another area.

• Indoor air
• Outdoor air - industry, business and home
• Outdoor air - transportation sources

What information will I find on each community risk reduction activity?

• Specific activities that you can undertake to reduce risk
• Background information on these activities
• Health benefits and emissions reductions
• Costs to establish and maintain each activity
• Where to find more information

How can I estimate emissions reductions and the associated benefits of these activities?

Each risk reduction activity identifies calculators or other tools that can help you determine the benefits of undertaking that activity. Or, you can go to a summary page where we have listed all of the available tools and calculators.

For more information on other community-based strategies see:

• Healthy Air: A Community and Business Leaders Guide is a collection of non-regulatory, time-and-cost-saving ideas communities can use to reduce toxic air pollution.
• Community Assistance Information. EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) has many resources to assist communities and their partners. Learn about these tools on this web page.
• Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Initiative. An EPA initiative designed to establish a series of multi-media, community-based and community-driven projects to reduce local exposure to toxic pollution. Information on grants and cooperative agreements and additional resources are located here.
   
• Funding opportunities available to help community projects.
   
• 2007 EJ/AIR Workshop: proceedings from EJ & Air Workshop, co-sponsored by Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) and Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (SNEEJ), September 6-7 2007, San Francisco, CA
   
• The Collision Repair Campaign describes one of EPA's efforts to address health threats through a two-year campaign to drastically reduce auto body emissions at the national level. Each EPA regional office involved in the campaign has worked with their respective partners (e.g. community, industry, small businesses, etc.) to significantly reduce human and environmental exposure to air toxics from auto body shops. This site includes information about those regional efforts as well as helpful links to voluntary and regulatory resources.
   
• On the Community-based Air Toxics Projects web site, you will find descriptions of community-based air toxics projects designed to assess and address health and environmental issues at the local level. EPA supports air toxics projects in about 100 communities across the nation to help inform and empower citizens to make local decisions concerning the health of their communities.