Communities across the country benefit from reliable, up-to-date information about local air quality. ACC members can play a key role in monitoring and reporting air emissions and addressing potential community concerns about air quality.
Monitoring & Improving Air Quality
ACC's 2024 Sustainability Report
Jenny Heumann Godes
Table of Contents
Chemical Industry Actions
Community air monitoring projects can help share information about air quality, address community concerns, and build trust between industry and communities. ACC tracks new air monitoring initiatives funded by EPA grants under the Inflation Reduction Act and other laws, and ACC members may participate in voluntary air monitoring initiatives to boost technical capacity and reliable data for local areas and regions.
The end goal of any successful community air monitoring program should be:
- Producing scientifically defensible data that is accurate, quantifiable, verifiable and generated through the use of reliable air quality monitors or other comparable technologies that promote scientific integrity;
- Communicating results in an accessible, approachable format that prioritizes important contexts and proper risk characterizations for the data; and
- Enhancing engagement and buy-in from the community that the program is intended to serve in a clear and transparent way.
Learn more about elements of a science-based community air monitoring program.
Stakeholder collaboration is key to making progress in air monitoring initiatives:
- ACC engages regulators, including EPA, to promote credible, scientifically robust air quality data that are collected and publicly disseminated, using rigorous processes that promote data quality and scientific integrity.
- ACC collaborated with industry, researchers and local officials in Harris Country, Texas, to help enhance air monitoring data collection and improve air quality knowledge.
- ACC’s foundation provided a $1 million grant to Harris County to purchase air monitoring equipment to track the county’s air quality, including in under-served neighborhoods that previously did not have access to these tools.
- ACC’s foundation provided a $1 million grant to Harris County to purchase air monitoring equipment to track the county’s air quality, including in under-served neighborhoods that previously did not have access to these tools.
- ACC members engage with local stakeholders through Community Advisory Panels to listen to community concerns and drive meaningful actions to implement scientifically sound solutions to protect air quality.
By supporting community air monitoring initiatives, ACC members can lead the way in promoting evidence-based policy decisions aimed at protecting our environment and improving public health.
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Reducing Air Emissions: ACC Member Company Progress
Through Responsible Care®, ACC members track and publicly report progress in reducing facility air emissions. In 2024, ACC members began reporting additional air emissions data, including air emissions that companies report to EPA’s Toxic Releases Inventory (TRI).
8%
Decrease in Greenhouse Gas Intensity from Responsible Care companies since 2017
43%
Reduction of SOx emissions since 2017 by Responsible Care companies
18%
Reduction of NOx emissions since 2017 by Responsible Care companies