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 nation’s 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.