Virginia. Dept. of Air Pollution Control.

The State Air Pollution Control Board was created by an act of the General Assembly passed on April 4, 1986, to hold public hearings and establish policies for the regulation and reduction of air pollution. The federal Clean Air Act of 1970 provided additional guidelines for the board in establishing standards to protect public health. In order to carry out the admininstrative functions of the board, a department operated within the board until 1989, when the department obtained separate status based on an amendment to the code of Virginia approved April 20, 1988.

The department is under the Secretary of the Natural Resources. The governor appoints an executive director who is given his administrative powers by the board, employing technical assistants and staff necessary to carry out the functions of the board. The department has three bureaus: technical operations (monitoring, technical evaluation and computer services); air quality programs (program development, administration, automation services and asbestos control); and regional operations. There are seven regions located in Abingdon, Chesapeake, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, Richmond, Roanoke, and Springfield.

The mission of the department is "the achievement and maintenance of such levels of air quality as will protect human health, welfare and safety, and to the greatest degree practicable, prevent injury to plant and animal life and property to foster the comfort and convenience of the people of the Commonwealth and their enjoyment of life and property and which will promote the economic and social development of the Commonwealth and facilitate enjoyment of its attractions."

The division of governmental and public affairs has published numerous booklets on air quality and the citizen's role in fighting pollution.