Peoria is joining in a last-ditch effort to keep the Valley from choking on its own dust.

The City Council adopted an ordinance in December 2007 that strengthens and augments the City Code regarding air quality, joining Maricopa County and cities across the Valley in a bid to reduce dust pollution in our air.

Peoria has had laws targeting PM-10 since 1998, when the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) came up with a Valleywide plan to reduce the amount of airborne particles. But the dust problem has persisted, and the county has struggled to achieve federally mandated dust-reduction standards. A 2005 study of PM-10 emissions found that 35 percent were tied to construction, while an additional 26 percent were particles kicked up from paved and unpaved roads.

As a result, Maricopa County has failed to meet federal air-quality standards, a situation that could prompt the loss of federal transportation dollars – which pay for a significant portion of state and local highway projects.

“For Peoria, this would impact the Loop 303 and planned improvements to Grand Avenue, which would compound our traffic problems,” says Mayor Bob Barrett.

To prevent that from happening, MAG has asked the county and its cities and towns to join in its plan to reduce PM-10 emissions by 5 percent a year until the region meets those standards. For Peoria, that has meant adopting tougher ordinances so that it can:

• Restrict parking to hard-surfaced areas that must be treated regularly to prevent dust from being kicked up.

• Ban off-road vehicles from state and federal lands unless an area is specifically designated for them.

• Restrict the use of leaf blowers to hardened surfaces and prohibit users from blowing debris into the street.

• Encourage the use of alternative work schedules or telecommuting among city employees.

The Engineering and Community Development departments are working along with the City Attorney’s Office to study the matter and make recommendations about how to implement the new rules.