air quality

The Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture at Virginia Tech enrolled over 1,300 farms representing more than 202,000 acres.  It’s the first year of a landmark project that incentivizes agricultural producers in four states to adopt climate-smart practices.  The project i...

For people sensitive to wildfire smoke, many are struggling now.

Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Monday the adoption of emergency rules intended to protect workers from wildfire smoke and shield workers living in labor housing from extreme heat. The new rules go in effect Monday August 9th and run for six months. A ...

On Friday, the Washington Department of Labor & Industries filed emergency rules the organization says will protect employees from exposure to wildfire smoke. The new rules, which are in effect now, impact workers in agriculture, construction and others that spend a majority of their time outdoors. ...

The recent ash and smoke from West Coast fires has many Northwest gardeners concerned about the potential impact on their produce. Oregon State University Horticulturist and Associate Professor Brooke Edmunds says the ash and haze will not penetrate into fruits and vegetables ...

The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission has approved new smoke rules for the state that will allow more planned burns that reduce wildfire risk by getting rid of underbrush and dead trees.  Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that the rules approved Thursday are a tradeoff between having some smoke drift into communities during the winter months and the potential for devastating wildfires in th

Forecasters are warning of unhealthy air in much of the Northwest as winds push smoke from surrounding wildfires into the region.  The National Weather Service has issued air quality alerts for much of Washington.  Air quality numbers started to increase Sunday, and aren’t expected to drop considerably until mid-week.  The service s...

The Washington Department of Ecology has proposed changes to its fees for the air quality registration program.  The air quality registration program tracks emissions and the effectiveness of pollution controls at 530 facilities in central and eastern Washington.  It...

A bill that could impact Oregon dairy farms is working its way through Salem, but many in the dairy industry are concerned.   Tami Kerr with the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association said the bill would target the industry with new requirements and regulations, despite work that is already being done.  ...

Air pollution caused by dairy farms and how to deal with it are at the center of a Senate Bill that is being discussed in the Oregon Legislature.   Policy Director Friends of Family Farmers Ivan Maluski said SB 197 would enforce the rules that were discussed and agreed to back in 2008 between advocates, the industry and the legislature.  ...