Air quality in the Oakridge area, for years falling short of national standards, will receive a boon from not meeting air quality standards in the form of a $2.7 million grant just as federal regulators are expected to officially recognize things have improved.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s targeted airshed grant will supplement existing programs meant to reduce smoke pollution around Oakridge, where wood-burning stoves are a common heat source. The Oakridge area qualified for the grant because it is not recognized as meeting air quality standards, though it soon should be.

The grant was awarded to the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency, which collaborates with local partners.

“Great work has already been done by residents and partners in Oakridge and Westfir to solve this problem,” said Steve Dietrich, LRAPA executive director. “This support from the EPA will further efforts underway in the community.”

Related:Oakridge area will benefit from $500,000 in wildfire risk mitigation grants

Targeted airshed grant built Oakridge Air

The new EPA grant supplements another targeted airshed grant awarded in 2019, which was used to found the Oakridge Air program. The program offers no-cost wood stove upgrades, home weatherization and ductless heat pump installation, as well as paying for increased air quality monitoring, subsidized seasoned firewood and more.

The new funding will allow more homes to enroll in the program and receive upgrades, according to the grant announcement.

It also will fund new efforts that benefit the area such as support for the city of Oakridge’s yard waste disposal program; offering residents chimney sweep vouchers, wood moisture meters and wood stove thermometers; and funding collaborative research between Oakridge Air, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University to evaluate indoor air quality improvements for residents enrolled in the home heating program, the release said.

The research will examine the community’s use of program interventions, protective actions residents take when air quality is poor and common habits that affect an individual’s exposure to particulate matter emissions.

Program collaborators include community partners such as Good Company, the Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative, Inbound LLC, Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council and others.

Oakridge-Westfir working on getting EPA acknowledgement

The Oakridge-Westfir airshed is the only area in Lane County designated as “non-attainment” for violating federal particulate matter standards, largely related to wintertime smoke. Air monitoring in the area, however, demonstrates the airshed has met those standards since 2016, which has allowed LRAPA to request the EPA remove the designation.

“The re-designation request is the cumulation of years of cooperation, progress and hard work,” Dietrich said in a news release. “We’re optimistic the EPA will approve the request in the coming months.”

After the Labor Day wildfires:Oakridge seeking EPA recognition of improved air quality, but delays may hamper efforts

LRAPA prepared its re-designation request to the EPA with data from 2020, which included an “exceptional events report” that explained certain days of low-quality air were related to the Holiday Farm Fire. Travis Knudsen, LRAPA spokesman, said preparing those reports requires a large amount of time and eventually requires EPA approval.

The request compiled by LRAPA then has to be sent to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, which forwards it to EPA for approval. EPA is currently processing the request, but LRAPA must submit 2021 air quality data by May 1. If EPA doesn’t finalize the request before then, it may make LRAPA refile with 2021 data.

The 2021 data would have to include another exceptional events report because of the complex wildfires that burned around Oakridge last year, something that would even further delay the eventual air quality re-designation.

The re-designation would reduce some permitting barriers for industries and businesses in and around Oakridge, Knudsen said. Attainment also would allow more opportunities for wildfire prevention-focused prescribed burning.

Knudsen said LRAPA expects to get the re-designation, but is aware bureaucratic processes still may cause delays.

Contact reporter Adam Duvernay at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @DuvernayOR.

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