LOWER PARK
Lower Public Smog opened to the public in June, 2004, over California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) Coastal Zone.
Creation of the park was made possible through the purchase of the right to emit a small amount of NOx offsets in the SCAQMD Air District. 24 lbs. of NOx 2003 cycle 2, Zone I NOx RTCs (expiring 6/30/04) were purchased from an unnamed offsets trading company, operating in a regional, non-Kyoto Protocol cap-and-trade scheme, and retired from use. The offsets were purchased at a price of $4.25 per lb, $102 in total.
Prior to executing the trade, registration into the SCAQMD Registry had to be permitted. With the help of an unnamed trader, this micro-purchase was executed for NOx offsets nearing the end of their financial life cycle. As NOx impacts the lower atmosphere, once the trade had been made, the Lower Park was unceremoniously opened to the public from June 16 to June 30, 2004 – when the credits expired.