Breathing clean air is important to all British Columbians which is why the B.C. Government is providing $300,000 to the BC Lung Association for the continuation of two successful air quality programs, in recognition of Clean Air Day.

The Province is providing $200,000 to support the Provincial Wood Stove Exchange Program and $100,000 for the BC Clean Air Research Fund (BC CLEAR).

Since 2008, the Province has partnered with the BC Lung Association to encourage British Columbians to replace their old uncertified wood stoves with new low-emission models or other cleaner types of space heating.  During this period, government has put approximately $2.5 million toward the program, successfully replacing over 6,000 wood stoves.

BC CLEAR is administered by Fraser Basin Council in partnership with the BC Lung Association and provides grants to academic institutions, government organizations, First Nations and consulting organizations to support important air quality and health research. The most recent funding will support, among other projects, a study by the Fraser Valley Regional District to assess open burning practices and present innovative options for reducing air emissions and other negative impacts associated with these practices.

A past recipient of BC CLEAR funding, the BlueSky Wildfire Smoke Forecasting System, is also up and running again this summer. The BlueSky system combines forest fire information and weather forecasts to provide the location and concentration of smoke up to 48 hours into the future. Currently, forecasts are produced for both a Western Canada and Eastern Canada region; however, Canada-wide forecasts will soon be available.

People can visit BlueSky to see hourly forecasts of smoke from wildfires through: www.bcairquality.ca/bluesky or directly at their new Canada-wide domain hosted by the University of British Columbia: www.firesmoke.ca

A new tool for smoke modelling called Playground has also been added to the website this year. Playground allows users to create emissions scenarios for a prescribed burn, then model and view the resulting smoke dispersion forecast to assess the impact on neighbours before the burn occurs. 

Clean Air Day has been celebrated on the first Wednesday of June every year since 1992 and aims to raise public awareness about the need to protect and promote clean air.

Quotes:

Mary Polak, Minister of Environment ─

“British Columbia has some of the best air quality in the world and we want to ensure it stays that way for future generations. By maintaining funding for key programs and working with our partners to promote important tools like BlueSky and Playground we are ensuring our province continues to be a leader when it comes to improving air quality.”

Scott McDonald, CEO, BC Lung Association ─

“The Wood Stove Exchange Program and BC CLEAR are two very important programs in terms of keeping our air as clean as possible and I thank the Province for their renewed commitment. I look forward to continuing our strong partnership with government and ensuring we keep making progress to improve air quality and health outcomes for British Columbians.”

Quick Facts:

• Clean Air Day began as a B.C. event in 1992 and has since become a national day.
• The BC Lung Association administers the woodstove exchange program on behalf of the Province, providing funding and education materials to participating communities.
• The Wood Stove Exchange Program has reduced particulate matter emissions by over 300 tonnes per year benefitting air quality in the 27 communities that have participated.
• The ministry has provided $1 million to BC CLEAR since the fund was created in 2008.
• The Ministry of Environment has led the development of the BlueSky system in partnership with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, the University of British Columbia, the Alberta Department of Environment and the U.S Forest Service.
• The information provided on BlueSky is a valuable source of information as different levels of smoke are provided in colours that correspond to different intensities of matter at ground-level.

Learn More:

BC Newsroom - Ministry of Environment:
http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/ministries/environment-1

Media Contacts:

Ministry of Environment Communications
250 953-3834