Purpose:

This report provides information on steps that are being taken to develop a corporate smog alert response plan for the new City of Toronto for implementation during the summer of 1998 and beyond. With municipal amalgamation, there is a need to merge existing smog reduction practices and plans adopted by former Toronto-area municipalities into a comprehensive plan for the new City of Toronto.

Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

The financial and resource implications of implementing a corporate smog alert response plan will be addressed in a report to the Board of Health in late spring.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

Background:

In response to growing concern about the health impacts of smog, a number of former Toronto-area municipalities took steps to ensure that their organizations had plans in place to respond during poor air quality episodes. City Council for the former City of Toronto unanimously adopted the recommendation of the Anti-Smog Working Group (ASWG) and in doing so directed that a corporate Smog Alert Response Plan activated by the Medical Officer of Health be implemented during Air Quality Advisories (July 14, 1997). Also, during consideration of the Smog Accord for Ontario, Metro Council directed staff to modify certain activities to reduce emissions from corporate activities during Air Quality Advisory Days (June 18, 1997).

In addition to the above former council decisions, operating departments of several former Toronto area municipalities developed policies and/or practices for modifying activities during poor air quality episodes. The policies and practices included, where feasible, minimizing the use of pesticides and motorized equipment.

With municipal amalgamation, there is a need to merge these existing smog reduction practices and plans adopted by former Toronto-area municipalities into a comprehensive plan for the new City of Toronto.

Discussion:

Each summer Toronto experiences episodes of poor air quality that can have adverse health and environmental impacts. Recent research studies strongly suggest an association between poor air quality episodes in Toronto and southern Ontario and adverse respiratory health effects including illness and death. The growing body of evidence, reviewed by the Department of Public Health in a report to the Toronto Board of Health (July 11, 1996), provides a health-based rationale for improving air quality in the Toronto area. Also, trees, vegetation and buildings can be adversely impacted by high levels of smog-related pollutants. The number of poor air quality episodes experienced in Toronto has ranged from as few as one to as many as six per summer due to a combination of emissions and weather-related factors such as temperature and wind patterns. An Air Quality Advisory (also referred to as a smog alert) is called when levels of smog-related pollutants such as ground level ozone are forecasted to exceed acceptable exposure limits. Each advisory typically lasts one to three days.

A smog alert response plan is one way in which the corporation can make a direct contribution to environmental health during episodes of poor air quality. It is an important component of any broader initiative that aims to prevent air pollution and eventually reduce or eliminate poor air quality episodes. The provincial Smog Management Plan estimates that by reducing emissions of smog-producing pollutants by 45 percent (based on 1995 emission rates), there will be a 75 percent reduction in the number of smog alerts by the year 2015. In establishing a corporate smog alert response plan, Toronto would join 13 US cities that have already established smog alert response plans.

As a first step in developing a corporate smog alert response plan for Toronto, functional leads for those program areas which have the ability to make significant contributions to the City=s efforts to improve air quality on smog alert days have been invited to jointly develop the smog alert response plan. The plan will include the following components:

A report on the corporate smog alert response implementation plan will be presented to the Board of Health for approval in late spring. A copy of that report will also be forwarded to the Environmental Task Force for endorsement.

Conclusions:

A smog alert response plan is one way in which the corporation can make a direct contribution to environmental health during episodes of poor air quality. It is an important component of any broader initiative that aims to prevent air pollution and eventually reduce or eliminate poor air quality episodes.

A process is underway to develop a corporate smog alert response plan for implementation during the summer of 1998.

Contact Name:

Franca Ursitti, Environmental Protection Office, Public Health

Recommendation:

The Environmental Task Force reports having endorsed the recommendations contained in the report dated March 27, 1998 from the Medical Officer of Health.

Background:

The Environmental Task Force at its meeting held on April 8, 1998, had before it a report (March 27, 1998) from the Medical Officer of Health providing information on the steps being taken to develop a corporate smog alert response plan for the new City of Toronto for implementation during the summer of 1998 and beyond, and the need to merge existing smog reduction practices and plans adopted by the former Toronto-area municipalities into a comprehensive plan for the new City of Toronto.

The Task Force also had before it the following background reports which outline the existing smog reduction practices and plans adopted by the former Toronto-area municipalities:

Dr. Sheela Basrur, Medical Officer of Health, appeared before the Task Force in connection with the foregoing matter.

CCCC

(Tables 1a and 1b referred to in the foregoing report (April 7, 1998) from the Medical Officer of Health, were forwarded to all Members of Council with the agenda of the Board of Health for its meeting on April 21, 1998, and copies thereof are on file with the office of the City Clerk.)