The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Department of Public Health have established new Illinois-specific guidelines for issuing air quality messages to the public to provide additional guidance for public health measures.
The Illinois EPA is incorporating all 14 sectors where air quality is forecasted in Illinois into the Air Pollution Action Day program, expanding the existing program beyond the Chicago Metropolitan Area.
These air quality messages are a call to action for residents to protect their health and for residents and businesses to reduce local contribution to air pollution.
Illinois EPA Director John Kim says this is in response to wildfire smoke in the region, which has produced air quality conditions at levels Illinois has not experienced in recent decades.
The Illinois EPA issues daily air quality forecasts, based on the Air Quality Index, for 14 sectors in Illinois and posts the information at www.airnow.gov.
