Division of Air Quality
CDAQ is the Local Air Pollution Control Agency. We are a local agency serving Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, and we are local in that our authority lies within the health departments that we serve.
We contract with Ohio EPA and receive a grant from USEPA to enforce state and local air pollution control regulations in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, under the Congressional mandate of the Clean Air Act, has established health-based air quality standards for six air pollutants - lead, particulate matter, ozone (smog), nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. CDAQ has 22 air quality monitors to measure our air quality for these pollutants.
Since our existence, we have overseen the implementation of control measures that have greatly improved our air quality. In order to bring the area into conformance, we need the development of strong national programs for control of utility boilers (for SO2 and NOx) and mobile sources (sulfur in gasoline and diesel fuel, plus additional technology).
These national rules must accomplish sufficient reductions of background emissions to help us attain the standards. Following the application of these national rules, we will assess the need for further local control measures. In addition to the national air quality standards, CDAQ also pays close attention to toxic air pollutants and to indoor air problems. We have staff dedicated to programs to address both.
CDAQ staff is dedicated to the protection of public health and to the exercise of good government. We do our best to see that our mission statement is fulfilled on a daily basis.
Our MISSION is to ensure that emissions of regulated air pollutants from industrial sources are in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and to monitor levels of Criteria Air Pollutants throughout Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.
Cleveland Division of Air Quality (CDAQ) is responsible for enforcement of the City of Cleveland Air Pollution Control Code and is the Ohio EPA Delegated Agent for air pollution control for all of Cuyahoga County. CDAQ ensures that regulated air pollutants are in compliance with local, state, and federal air regulations, and monitors levels of specific air pollutants throughout Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.
Enforcement, Permitting, and Monitoring are the three sections of CDAQ that work together to improve the quality of life in Cuyahoga County, allowing Greater Cleveland to be a desirable place to live and work.
Enforcement Section
The enforcement section ensures that industrial and commercial air pollution sources within Cuyahoga County that are regulated by OEPA air pollution regulations are in compliance with the OEPA rules and regulations. The Enforcement section responds to citizen complaints about those regulated sources and regulates asbestos abatement in Cuyahoga County for sources that are subject to the National Environmental Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
Engineering Section
The Engineering Section prepares and issues permits to stationary sources of air pollution (including power plants, gas stations, incinerators, and other fixed sources of air pollution that do not move around). Permits are required to be obtained before construction begins, and to operate the source. The permits developed by the Engineering Section apply Federal, State and local laws to control air pollution from regulated sources.
Field Monitoring Section
The field monitoring section of the Division of Air Quality (DAQ) operates a network of ambient air monitors throughout Cuyahoga County. The network measures "criteria pollutants". The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses six "criteria pollutants" as indicators of air quality, and has established for each of them a maximum concentration above which adverse effects on humans may occur. The threshold concentrations are known as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The "criteria pollutants" include carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides.