Bibb County residents can breathe a bit easier with Thursday’s announcement that the area now meets all air pollution standards.

The decision by the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t completely remove all hurdles, though. The area’s smog “nonattainment” designation is likely to remain until next year until state and federal reviews are complete and show that the area’s air will stay clean.

But the announcement shows that Bibb County, and a small slice of Monroe County, reduced levels of fine particles in the air. Four years ago, the area also brought itself into compliance for ozone, which is the major component of smog.

Charise Stephens, executive director of the Middle Georgia Clean Cities Coalition, said seven counties and 13 cities worked together to reduce the particulate pollution, much of which comes from diesel exhaust. The small particles, known as PM2.5, coat lungs to cause asthma and premature death.

Among the fixes: pollution-reduction devices on school buses in Bibb, Monroe and Houston counties, plus biodiesel. Stephens said she no longer sees the belches of black smoke she remembers from school buses she rode on as a child.

Other fixes have come through upgraded pollution controls at Georgia Power’s Plant Scherer in Monroe County. Also, governments have been cracking down on idling engines, and hybrid vehicles have helped.

Stephens said there are other benefits.

“Clean air is good for health,” she said. “It’s also for economic development. What kind of company wants to locate in an area that has bad air?”

Chip Cherry, president of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, said the announcement makes it easier to attract employers that don’t cause much pollution. Someone painting parts for Robins Air Force Base need more stringent reviews in nonattainment areas, Cherry said. That’s a disincentive to business.

“It opens up more possibilities for us, because even if somebody’s not a significant polluter or doesn’t generate a lot of air emissions, a lot of people will avoid areas of nonattainment,” he said.

Jac Capp, air branch chief for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, said his agency will draft a report this year on how the Macon area will continue to keep its emissions low, which has to be reviewed by the EPA. Similar reports also will be generated for particle pollution in Rome, Atlanta and the Georgia part of Chattanooga, plus ozone in Atlanta.

The particulate standards look for particles of 2.5 microns, which is considerably smaller than the width of a human hair.

To meet the standards, the Macon-area air quality had to have less than 15 micrograms per cubic meter during several years.

In Macon, the EPA ruled, that level had fallen to 13.7 after it reviewed some missing data.

To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-4251.