Wednesday, January 13, 2010

New Guidelines for Air Toxics Happening Soon

Allegheny County is taking steps towards adopting new guidelines for air toxics. The Board of Health met on Wednesday and agreed to form a committee to work on new guidelines that would be used by the Health Department to assess toxic emissions when it considers permits for new, expanded or existing pollution sources.

The county's existing air toxic rules were adopted in 1988 by the Allegheny County Department of Health. If the county waits for the state to enact their guidelines it could be years. There is no timeline in place for how long the process will take.

Other topics discussed included the health department's new laboratory and an upcoming pharmaceutical collection program.

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