National Monitoring Steering Committee Report Gordon Pierce WESTAR

National Monitoring Steering Committee Report Gordon Pierce WESTAR Fall Business Meeting Salt Lake City, UT October 29, 2012

When was the last meeting? �National Monitoring Steering Committee meeting held at EPA in RTP, NC on July 19 -20, 2012 �After the National Air Quality Conference

NO 2 Update �Proposal on monitoring rule revisions going to OMB late July 2012 �Proposal now published for 30 -day comment period �Revise deadlines to a phased implementation, commencing 1/1/2014 thru 1/1/2017 �Near road �ORD study in Las Vegas and Detroit �Highest NO 2 and BC nearest to road, decreasing with distance �No significant gradient with PM

SO 2 Update �Stakeholder meetings held on implementation �Discussions on monitoring vs. modeling �Favorable opinions on a threshold � 2000 tpy ≅ 480 sources nationwide �Monitoring � How many sites needed? Who pays? How long? �Modeling � Cheaper, but does not always reflect reality �Need rulemaking �Internal EPA discussions occurring

Secondary NOx/SOx Update � 3 areas proposed for pilot studies �NE / Adirondacks �SE / Appalachians �Rockies / possibly Colorado �Pilot studies to use existing infrastructure and take place between 2013 and 2018 �Pilot studies to include NOy and trace SO 2 �Eutrofication and acidification a concern in Rockies and west �Higher acidification in the eastern US

PM Update �New PM proposal �Retain 24 -hr PM 10 at 150 ug/m 3 �Retain 24 -hr PM 2. 5 at 35 ug/m 3 �Reduce annual PM 2. 5 to 12 or 13 ug/m 3 �Add secondary visibility-based �Revise monitoring requirements �Discussions focused on secondary NAAQS �Applicability �Equipment �Area covered �Lot of comments submitted to EPA

National Air Toxics Trends Stations �First multi-year assessment performed � 2005 -2007 vs. 2008 -2010 �Next one in 2013 � 2 nd draft of report just released �Overall, a decreasing trend for a number of air toxics �Data very useful for NATA modeling validation, trends and health risk benchmarks �Need to: �Look at redundant sites and eliminate �Look at CR+6 possibly for sources/special studies �Look at DQO’s �Ensure that required MDL’s are being met

Current PAMS Re. Engineering Proposed �Reduce number of sites �Add PAMS in ozone nonattainment areas � 26 “Required” sites �O 3, NOx, VOC’s �Upper air met? �Some “flexible” sites �O 3, NOx �Good data tools �Auto-GC shootout

Analyzer developments �PM �Fixes for Thermo 1405 �BAM susceptible to dewpoint changes �NOx/NOy �Photolytic, CRDS, CAPS �Lead �New sampler being tested to replace hi-vol + ICP-MS �BC/EC � 7 different analyzer types being tested �Satellite �ORD ACE Task 145 to investigate

Use of Non-State Monitoring �Concerns on how to deal with non-state monitoring �Reference � NPS, USFS, BLM, EPA, Tribal, Other �Non-reference � USFS, NOAA, DRI, GO 3 Project, Private, Municipal, Other �Issues: �How to handle exceptional event data and flagging? �How to handle violations with non-state reference analyzers? �How to handle violations with non-reference analyzers? �Inclusion in monitoring plans?

Community/Citizen Monitoring �Lot of new technologies upcoming �Smaller �Easier to use �Some good, some questionable �Data readily available via internet �Question: How much citizen involvement is desired for monitoring? �Need to focus efforts on what are really the issues, not just the perceptions �Need better coordination on sensor apps �Need better communication with communities �EPA holding stakeholder meetings

Funding �Near-road NO 2 �Phase 1 awarded by end of July 2012 �Working on securing $5 million for Phase 2 in 2013 �PM 2. 5 transition from 103 to 105 �Start in FY 2013 (…assuming not under a CR) � 10% per year over 4 years �PAMS transition �Link to 2014 O 3 NAAQS �FY 2015 or 2016 earliest for network change �$2. 2 million available �IMPROVE �Static or decreasing budget �Some site to be cut or sample frequency decrease

�Next MSC meeting January 9 -10, 2013 in San Diego Questions?