The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service urge Americans to "Be Air Aware" during Air Quality Awareness Week, May 2 - 6, 2011. http://www.epa.gov/airnow/airaware/airaware.html

Upcoming State and Local Air Quality Awareness Week Activities

To be added to the 2011 Air Quality Awareness Week list of events, please contact Debra Lee at lee [dot] debra [at] epa [dot] gov.

Colorado

• Boulder - Boulder County Public Health is holding its Clean Air Challenge Contest on June 24, 2009.  The contest is launched in conjunction with Bike to Work Day. For more information visit www.bouldercountyair.org or contact Gabi Hoefler at 303-441-1147.

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Florida

• Broward County:

  May 1, 2011 – Air Awareness Month Proclamation by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners.

  May 1 – 31, 2011: Educational Exhibits: During the month of May, the County will have educational exhibits at some regional libraries and government buildings with information about local air quality issues, air quality in Broward, the Air Quality Index, EnviroFlash, climate change, and environmental stewardship. The County is also sponsoring educational presentations at many local schools during the month of May.

  May 3, 2011 - World Asthma Day: In recognition of World Asthma Day, the South Florida Asthma Consortium is asking the community to participate in an “Asthma Awareness Survey”. This survey is posted on-line at: www.southfloridaasthma.org.

  May 5, 2011 - Air Awareness Day: The Pollution Prevention Remediation and Air Quality Division is hosting an Air Awareness Day Event at the Government Center West (One N. University Drive Plantation FL 33324) for employees and customers from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This is an educational event to provide information about the air quality in Broward County and to showcase partners in air quality protection including Broward County Transit, NatureScape, WasteWise Compositing Program, Recycling, Commuter Services, Emerald Award, and many more.

  May 6, 2011 – Walk to Lunch Day: Broward County employees are encouraged to walk to a lunch destination instead of driving their cars. If all county employees walked to lunch one day a week, the county would reduce 615,079 pounds of greenhouse gases.

  For more information visit the www.broward.org/PollutionPrevention/AirQuality and select Air Awareness Month.

  Contact Information: Maribel Feliciano at mfeliciano [at] broward [dot] orgor 954-519-1424. Find us on Facebook @ Broward Environment.

• Hillsborough County: The Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County (EPC) is hosting the 10th Annual Clean Air Fair in celebration of May as Clean Air Month. This year's theme is "Global Air - Local Care" and is meant to provide information about the quality of the air in Hillsborough County and to highlight organizations that recognize the importance of the environment in their operations. The lunchtime event will include a variety of vendors and environmental exhibitors from around the County, along with health information, complimentary refreshments, prize drawings, and live music. There is no fee to attend or exhibit, but prior registration is required for any environmentally-conscious companies wishing to exhibit.

  It will be located at Poe Plaza, 200 N. Franklin Street, Tampa, FL on Thurs, May 5, 2011 from 11:30am-1:30pm. It is between Hyatt Regency and One Tampa City Center on Jackson at Franklin Street.

  Contact information: Michelle Jenkins at jenkinsm [at] epchc [dot] org or 813.627.2600 ext. 1271

Illinois

• Governor Pat Quinn has proclaimed the month of May as Air Quality Awareness Month in Illinois. To coincide with this designation, Partners for Clean Air, a local non-profit organization, along with the Illinois EPA, has launched a new campaign to educate Chicago-area residents about air quality.

  The campaign, which will run through the end of May, encourages residents to “get to know their air quality.” A large component of the campaign is the inclusion of air quality forecasts on Chicago-area television newscasts. These forecasts will run during or adjacent to the regular weather forecasts and will inform viewers when air quality is slated to be good, moderate or unhealthy for sensitive groups and when Air Pollution Action Days are expected. The campaign will also be promoted via radio stations, print media, and on CTA buses and trains. Residents will be directed to Partners for Clean Air’s new website (www.cleantheair.org), which serves as a resource for all things air quality in Chicagoland.

  Partners for Clean Air is also encouraging residents to sign up for EnviroFlash during Air Quality Awareness month. On Thursday, May 5th, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., the Partners will be hosting a Clean Air Fair at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. Individuals will be able to register on sign for EnviroFlash and also get more information on air quality, public transportation (with the Chicago Transit Authority) and carpooling (with the Pace Rideshare Program).

Kansas

• The Johnson County Kansas Environmental Department will be conducting gas cap testing on May 6th at the Olathe (KS) Department of Motor Vehicles office located at 782 N. Ridgeview, from 9:00 a.m. –noon. Drivers with gas caps that fail will get a coupon for 20% off of a new gas cap at NAPA Auto Parts stores. http://www.sharetheair.org/
• The Johnson County Kansas Environmental Department will be conducting gas cap testing on May 24th at the Mission (KS) Department of Motor Vehicles office at 6000 Lamar, from 9:00 a.m. –noon. Drivers with gas caps that fail will get a coupon for 20% off of a new gas cap at NAPA Auto Parts stores. http://www.sharetheair.org/

Michigan

• Governor Rick Snyder proclaims May 2-6 Air Quality Awareness Week in Michigan
  Proclaimation.

New Jersey

• New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has declared May 2nd - 6th Air Quality Awareness Week 2011 (http://www.nj.gov/dep/aqaweek/).

North Carolina

• Durham - On May 4, students at Bethesda Elementary School in Durham, NC, will raise a flag for air quality awareness. Bethesda is the first school in the Triangle area to adopt the School Flag Program, which uses flags based on the colors of the Air Quality Index to signal the air quality forecast each day. The flags are visual reminders to students, teachers and community members to take actions that will reduce their exposure to unhealthy air quality when necessary. The inaugural flag raising event will begin at 9:30 am, and be attended by parents, students and teachers, as well as representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the North Carolina Division of Air Quality, and Triangle Air Awareness.

Ohio

• The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission will be hosting its 7th Annual Clean Air Fair during Air Quality Awareness Week on Friday, May 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Arena District.  Downtown employees and the community are invited to learn more about the impact of air pollution on their lunch break and discover simple ways to improve our central Ohio air quality.  Participants will also enjoy a variety of activities such as prize drawings including a new bike, free ice cream and music. Poster (PDF). Postcard (PDF).
  www.cleanairfair.org 

• The Dayton, OH region will be launching the fifth year of the Drive Less Live More Initiative (see www.drivelesslivemore.org) in May 2011.  The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission continues to partner with Five Rivers MetroParks, the Miami Conservancy District and the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority to promote this program which focuses on encouraging the use of alternative transportation (biking, walking, carpooling/vanpooling, taking transit) all of which improve air quality. List of Events.

Pennsylvania

• The Air Quality Partnership of the Delaware Valley is conducting an Ozone season kick-off and lawn mower trade-in event on May 7, 2011. The event is open to residents of the five southeastern counties of Pennsylvania and pre-registration is required. The first 140 registrants will receive a $50 voucher towards the purchase of an electric or battery powered mower. Black and Decker will have electric and battery powered mowers on site for up to 30% discount for 250 registrants. Participants must bring a gas-powered mower emptied of all fluids to the trade-in to receive the discount and voucher.

  Details are available at www.airqualitypartnership.org/lawnmower. Registration opened on March 1, 2011 and will continue until 250 people register.

  The program has been funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, US. EPA Region III’s Sustainable Skylines Initiative, and PECO Energy Company, with support from Springfield Township and Sustainable Waste Solutions.

• AIR QUALITY TO IMPROVE WITH NEW “SHARE THE RIDE CHALLENGE” CONTEST THROUGHOUT THE LEHIGH VALLEY

  What could be better than investing in your health, keeping more money in your pocket, and improving the air quality in our area? Being rewarded for it! That is the idea behind a new six-month initiative being launched next week during Air Quality Awareness Week.
   
  The “Share the Ride Challenge” is being introduced by the Air Quality Partnership of the Lehigh Valley-Berks to help improve air quality in the region by emphasizing alternate modes of transportation. The contest objective is to motivate an increased number of people to “share the ride” via carpooling, vanpooling and public transportation thus reducing ground level ozone, particle pollution and congested roads while saving money on gas and other commuting expenses. Poster (PDF).
   
  May 1 through September 30, 2011, during the peak ozone season, commuters in Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties are asked to share their ride by carpooling or riding the bus as much as possible.
   
  Individuals can sign up at www.sharetheridechallenge.com. Logging ride sharing activities takes only a few minutes and qualifies commuters for a host of great prizes. Businesses can help do something about the quality of our air by daring their staff to participate in the Challenge and by sponsoring prizes.

Wisconsin

• The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is updating its Air Matters newsletter to provide more timely information on state and federal air quality issues.  The inaugural issue of Air News, will include a feature article on Clean Air Month, Air Quality Awareness Week, and Asthma Awareness Day and will provide tips, information and resources on air quality and health.  Log on to find news flashes as well as feature stories on air-related subjects.  Sign up for the Air News Listserv for notification when new information is posted.
• The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is visiting their adopted school, Toki Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin the first week of May for the school’s science fair with the theme “How do we affect the environment and how does the environment affect us?”  The 8th grade students are displaying projects focusing on energy at the fair!  DNR Air Management staff will be attending the fair to view the projects and talk with students.

Worldwide

• Students in the Global Ozone Project (GO3) are measuring ground-level ozone and sharing their data. Learn more http://go3project.com/network2/index.php/pages/home

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