DISTRICT BRIEFING

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

ENVIRONMENT

Air Pollution Plan Approved

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has approved a plan to reduce one kind of harmful air pollution in the region, officials said yesterday. The plan deals with fine-particle pollution -- particles just a few microns wide, which can lodge themselves deep inside human lungs and exacerbate heart disease and other health problems.

The region was declared out of compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards for fine-particle pollution in 2004. It now must meet new federal standards, limiting the amount of pollution produced in a year, by 2009.

The plan calls for reductions in the amount of fine particles emitted from power plant smokestacks in the area. Joan Rohlfs, an official at the council of governments, said that monitoring shows that the region's pollution appears to meet the 2009 standards now and that the new plan was intended to further reduce pollution.

-- David A. Fahrenthold

ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON

Papal Visit to Cost $3 Million

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Washington next month is expected to cost the Archdiocese of Washington "a minimum" of $3 million, according to Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl. That includes security and transportation for the pontiff and the cost of the April 17 Mass at Nationals Park, with expenses such as staffing and constructing a 50-foot sanctuary and installing an altar.

Wuerl says the money won't come out of the archdiocese coffers. Instead, he has turned to individual donors to cover the expenses. So far, he said he's getting positive results.

"The response has been, 'Yes, if the pope is going to come to our town, if the pope is going to Washington, we'll help meet the cost,' " Wuerl said.

-- Jacqueline L. Salmon

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Council to Discuss Nominee

The D.C. Council has scheduled a hearing for today to discuss confirming Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's selection to fill an open seat on the D.C. State Board of Education.

Fenty (D) nominated Robert A. Wines to fill a seat vacated by Tonya Vidal Kinlow, whom he named in October as the school system's first ombudsman. Wines is chief executive and president of a Net2it, a District-based information technology consulting firm.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the John A. Wilson Building downtown.

-- V. Dion Haynes