Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of Air Quality

JAC Mission, Goals and Objectives[1]

The JAC's Mission is to:

develop, promote, and recommend to the La Paz Agreement Air Work Group air quality planning and management strategies to ensure a reduction in air pollution concentrations for public health and welfare of residents of the Paso del Norte air basin, recognizing the importance of the participation of local communities in carrying out this mission.

A set of Basin-wide Goals is defined to carry out the JAC mission as follows:

Achieve ambient air quality standards on both sides of the border;

Continue to characterize the air quality situation and its sources, and resulting health effects in Paso del Norte air basin including:

Monitor ambient air pollutant concentrations in the air basin;

Develop and maintain a valid emissions inventory for the air basin, updated and disaggregated as possible;

Conduct basin-wide air quality modeling to identify appropriate control strategies for attainment of ambient air quality standards;

Develop health parameters and monitor health status of residents to track incidence of adverse health effects in Paso del Norte population as a result of air pollutant exposure.

Establish instruments to promote and achieve voluntary compliance and emission reductions;

Promote partnerships between and among industry and regulatory authorities on both sides of the border to pursue economic incentives according to each country's laws.

A series of Objectives is outlined to achieve the JAC's goals:

Realize basin-wide emission reductions;

Implement air quality management programs according to State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for El Paso & Doña Ana County;

Implement the Air Quality Program for Cd. Juárez;

Recommend measures to deal with elements not covered in SIPs or Cd. Juárez Air Quality Improvement Plan.

[1]The JAC mission, goals and objectives were agreed to in February 1998.As the group evolves, these may be revisited and revised as necessary to accommodate potentially changing roles and funtions of the JAC.