Federal and provincial environment ministers are poised to announce a new deal to better control industrial air pollution and reduce smog.

Officials from both levels of government have agreed in principle to the air-quality deal, and have the backing of almost all affected industries.

Ministers are meeting Thursday in Banff to sign the deal, barring last-minute objections, multiple sources say.

“This is the first comprehensive national environment scheme that I can recall,” said Stephen Hazell, an Ottawa-based environment lawyer who has been involved in smog-reduction since 2007. “This is extraordinary in itself.”

The deal would see the governments agree to higher standards on air quality, at first targeting fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone. Then they’ll move on limits to nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and volatile organic compounds.

via Ottawa, provinces poised to agree on new deal to control air pollution – The Globe and Mail.