The National Ambient Air Monitoring Strategy and Network Design

1
The National Ambient Air Monitoring Strategy and
Network Design

• Westar Spring 2007 Business Meeting
• April 4, 2007
• Bruce Louks, Idaho Department of Environmental
  Quality

2
DRAFT National Ambient Air Monitoring Strategy,
December 2005

• Revised April 2004 draft, less detail, broader
  scope
• Dispenses 3-tiered NCore, establishes integrated
  National Ambient Air Monitoring System
• Formative, focus more on goals rather than
  strategic plans
• Periodic stakeholder review and revision

3
Goals of National Air Monitoring Strategy

• SLT networks are reconfigured to be consistent
  with basic environmental and programmatic needs
  for current environmental management
• Integrate monitoring networks where opportunities
  exist
• Improve the scientific and technical competency
  of the nations air monitoring networks to ensure
  high quality data and
• Enhance data storage, dissemination, and analyses
  so that stakeholders have improved access to
  ambient monitoring data.

4
Air Quality Management Challenges

• New standards for ozone, particulate matter,
  regional haze
• Human health risk from exposure to air toxics
• Pollutant thresholds below which there are no
  harmful effects
• Environmental justice
• Ecosystems
• Multistate and international transport of
  pollutants
• Climate change

5
Urban NAAQSMonitoring Networks

• Attainment, trends, control strategies, AQI,
  environmental justice and health effects, methods
  development, models, source-receptor. Most are
  single pollutant. The Strategy recommends
• Reconfigure existing NAMS/SLAMS/PAMS and STN into
  NCore multi-pollutant sites overall reduction in
  number of sites.
• Streamline PAMS
• Emphasize continuous PM
• Integrate CASTNET, NATTS and other networks

6
Urban Air Toxics Monitoring Networks

• Urban hot spots, assess control programs, trends,
  health effects, research, source-receptor
  relationships. The Strategy recommends
• Maintain NATTS
• Fund local-scale projects
• Utilize PAMS, IMPROVE and CASTNET
• Refine model-based assessment tools (e.g. NATA)

7
Rural Monitoring Networks

• Atmospheric deposition trends, mercury and PBT
  deposition, visibility, PSD, pollutant transport,
  trends, regional air-quality model data input and
  validation, source-receptor relationships. The
  Strategy recommends
• Maintain and upgrade CASTNET, NADP, IMPROVE as
  core elements for acid deposition, mercury and
  visibility
• Retain current stations as is (e.g. PSD) for
  NAAQS
• Track rural background
• Formally integrate CASTNET with urban networks
  for air quality management efforts

8
Other Monitoring Networks

• Near Roadway Monitoring
• Assess exposure impacts, determine long-term
  trends (potentially NAAQS compliance.
• Develop and incorporate into national network as
  appropriate.
• Tribal Monitoring
• Leverage benefits to Tribes and national
  monitoring networks
• Data sharing
• Explore rural site operation of national/regional
  interest
• Homeland Security

9
Network Design and the Strategy

• Existing NAAQS compliance networks need to be
  reconfigured to emphasize persistent attainment
  problems.
• Shifting resources, divest in some pollutants
  (maintain adequate trends network)
• Incorporate continuous and multipollutant
  measurements where possible
• Emphasis on rural background monitoring for
  evaluation of long range transport, interstate
  concerns, NAAQS control strategies (CAIR, CAMR).
  Better integration of networks such as CASTNET,
  IMPROVE
• Linkage between ambient air monitoring and
  ecosystems, deposition, ozone
• Implement performance based quality system allows
  technological advances
• Enhanced storage and dissemination of data.