Western Australian councils and community groups will be able to take control of the air they breathe by applying for a share of the $100,000 Air Quality Management Community Grants Program.

Environment and Climate Change Minister David Templeman says individual grants of $5000- $10,000 are being offered to support grassroots projects that have the potential to enhance air quality management well into the future.

He says it an excellent way of engaging the community and encouraging them to take an active role in confronting the issues that directly affect them.

Local government, community and resident groups, environment groups, schools and small businesses working in partnership with the community are all invited to submit proposals that focus on air quality.

"Projects may focus on researching a particular issue or initiating a management plan to reduce the impacts of or exposure to known air pollution sources,” Mr Templeman says.

"For example, motor vehicles, industrial emissions and development sites all pose air quality challenges, so these are some of the many issues communities might want to address with their projects."

Successful applicants are being encouraged to use the Community Based Participatory Research approach to develop and implement their projects.

"This type of research involves communities in the whole research process, from developing initial questions to interpreting and releasing results and working out the solutions," Mr Templeman says.

All applications will be reviewed against the assessment criteria by a panel of experts from the Department of Environment and Conservation, the Conservation Council of WA, and the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand.

The Air Quality Management Community Grants Program will initially run for two years.

See www.dec.wa.gov.au/airquality.

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