The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency wants to turn fines into initiatives that benefit the environment.
The agency is is bringing back a program that’s been dormant for a few years. It’s called the Supplemental Environmental Project program, and it offers air-quality violators the option to direct 80% of any fines over $2,000 to a community-based environmental project.
Spokesperson Matt Sorensen said those projects might include things like environmental youth education programs, or efforts to reduce backyard burning.
For example, he told KLCC, an applicant could help “chip and repurpose the wood and yard debris so that we’re not getting those air emissions, and then we have a viable commodity that could be used for something else.”
Sorensen said entities that received fines may not use the program to clean up their own violations. Applications don’t have to be related to air quality, but they do need to be based in Lane County.
The program is a win/win, according to Sorensen, as it’s an optional way to direct money from air quality violations to projects that better the community. He said LRAPA’s fines have averaged between $30,000 and $60,000 per year for the last five years.
