In our Fiscal Year 2014 Strategic Plan we committed to transforming our operations to become more effective at achieving our mission than we ever were before. Our overarching goals and key strategies have not changed. ADEQ developed five strategies to address challenges we face. These strategies -- deploy lean, increase outreach, leverage e-technology, strengthen core programs and unleash human potential.

The purpose of this handbook is to promote appropriate, consistent, and timely evaluations of compliance and initiation of enforcement by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. This handbook describes a uniform system for pursuing and escalating enforcement. It serves as a road map for new ADEQ compliance and enforcement staff, and a desk reference for those with more experience. It also provides guidance to those local authorities that have undertaken compliance and enforcement responsibilities through a delegation agreement with ADEQ. All of the concepts within ADEQ’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy, along with a number of other ADEQ compliance and enforcement related policies, have been incorporated into this handbook either explicitly or through the development of boilerplate.

This handbook describes the fleet station permitting process, the types of permits and inspector licenses that are issued, required inspection equipment and equipment maintenance, inspection procedures for specific classes of vehicles, and record keeping procedures. The handbook was developed from laws and regulations found in Arizona Revised Statutes Title 49, Chapter 3, Article 5, and Arizona Administrative Code, Title 18, Chapter 2, Article 10.

This handbook describes the fleet emissions inspection station requirements for all entities other than licensed motor vehicle dealers. Contained within are: Summarizations of the fleet emissions inspection station permitting and inspector licensing processes; lists of required inspection equipment and equipment maintenance/calibration standards; inspection procedures for specific classes of vehicles; record keeping procedures. The handbook was developed from laws and regulations found in Arizona Revised Statutes Title 49, Chapter 3, Article 5, and Arizona Administrative Code, Title 18, Chapter 2, Article 10.

This handbook describes the requirements for a licensed motor vehicle dealer to operate a fleet emissions inspection station. Contained within are: Summarizations of the fleet emissions inspection station permitting and inspector licensing processes; lists of required inspection equipment and equipment maintenance/calibration standards; inspection procedures for specific classes of vehicles; record keeping procedures. The inspection procedures outlined in this handbook apply to vehicles specifically held for retail sale. Vehicles other than those held for retail sale (parts truck, courtesy van, loaner vehicle) must be inspected at an official state emissions inspection station. Because dealers typically do not own the required equipment and apply for a permit to inspect diesel powered vehicles, this handbook does not address their inspection. The handbook was developed from laws and regulations found in Arizona Revised Statutes Title 49, Chapter 3, Article 5, and Arizona Administrative Code, Title 18, Chapter 2, Article 10.

In March 2000, Governor Jane Hull convened the Brown Cloud Summit to examine methods to improve visibility in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. As part of this Summit, a Visibility Standards Subcommittee was established to recommend methods for measuring visible air quality and tracking improvements in visible air quality over time. Based on its research, the Visibility Standards Subcommittee recommended that a visibility index be established through a public survey process representative of a cross-section of residents. Acting on the recommendation, ADEQ established the Visibility Index Oversight Committee. The Committee’s goal was to coordinate the involvement of Phoenix-area residents in the development of a visibility index.

While many potential voters care deeply about local and state issues, 45 percent of Arizona citizens of voting-age population did not vote in the last election, according to a report by Morrison Institute for Public Policy. To address this voter crisis, Arizona Clean Elections commissioned this report, the first in a series, to identify the reasons why only a little more than half of eligible voters actually are casting ballots in Arizona, as well as a first-of-its-kind knowledge bank of information on Arizona government to ensure that voters can vote in an informed manner.

The 2015 State of Our State Conference focused on criminal justice reform and included several white papers from various authors, researchers and legal officials from different perspectives. Here is the latest contribution in the series published by Morrison Institute for Public Policy as part of its ongoing effort to encourage public dialogue on criminal justice issues. America is witnessing a growing national consensus that we should not be incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders, even those with prior drug convictions, who have not committed property crimes. Many other less-serious offenders could receive reduced sentences without threatening public safety. Even when offenders deserve incarceration, they may not have deserved the amount of time imposed – the punishment did not fit the crime. These are among the evidence-based arguments presented by three veteran attorneys in “Fixing Arizona’s Mass Incarceration Dilemma.” The paper’s authors are former Maricopa County Superior Court Judge R.L. Gottsfield, Phoenix attorney Larry A. Hammond, founder and president of the Arizona Justice Project, and former Maricopa County public defender Donna Elm. Touching on all aspects of the justice system, the authors assert that Arizona is behind the curve in addressing its mass incarceration problem. The importance of ignoring the direction the country is going cannot be understated for Arizona, which has one of the highest incarceration rates. It is even more unjustified in light of research indicating that shorter sentences do not jeopardize public safety – with safety being the mainstay basis for Arizona’s heavy sentencing regime.