Gordon PierceWESTAR Fall Business Meeting

Salt Lake City, UTOctober 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

NO2 UpdateProposal on monitoring rule revisions

going to OMB late July 2012Proposal now published for 30-day comment

periodRevise deadlines to a phased implementation,

commencing 1/1/2014 thru 1/1/2017

Near roadORD study in Las Vegas and DetroitHighest NO2 and BC nearest to road,

decreasing with distanceNo significant gradient with PM

SO2 UpdateStakeholder meetings held on

implementationDiscussions on monitoring vs. modelingFavorable 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 realityNeed rulemakingInternal EPA discussions occurring

Secondary NOx/SOx Update3 areas proposed for pilot studies

NE / AdirondacksSE / AppalachiansRockies / possibly Colorado

Pilot studies to use existing infrastructure and take place between 2013 and 2018

Pilot studies to include NOy and trace SO2Eutrofication and acidification a concern in

Rockies and westHigher acidification in the eastern US

PM UpdateNew PM proposal

Retain 24-hr PM10 at 150 ug/m3Retain 24-hr PM2.5 at 35 ug/m3Reduce annual PM2.5 to 12 or 13 ug/m3Add secondary visibility-basedRevise monitoring requirements

Discussions focused on secondary NAAQSApplicabilityEquipmentArea covered

Lot of comments submitted to EPA

National Air Toxics Trends StationsFirst multi-year assessment performed

2005-2007 vs. 2008-2010Next one in 2013

2nd draft of report just releasedOverall, a decreasing trend for a number of air

toxicsData very useful for NATA modeling validation,

trends and health risk benchmarksNeed to:

Look at redundant sites and eliminateLook at CR+6 possibly for sources/special studiesLook at DQO’sEnsure that required MDL’s are being met

PAMS Re-Engineering

Reduce number of sites

Add PAMS in ozone non-attainment areas

26 “Required” sitesO3, NOx, VOC’sUpper air met?

Some “flexible” sitesO3, NOx

Good data toolsAuto-GC shootout

Current

Proposed

Analyzer developmentsPM

Fixes for Thermo 1405BAM susceptible to dewpoint changes

NOx/NOyPhotolytic, CRDS, CAPS

LeadNew sampler being tested to replace hi-vol + ICP-

MS

BC/EC7 different analyzer types being tested

SatelliteORD ACE Task 145 to investigate

Use of Non-State MonitoringConcerns on how to deal with non-state

monitoringReference

NPS, USFS, BLM, EPA, Tribal, Other

Non-reference USFS, NOAA, DRI, GO3 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 MonitoringLot of new technologies upcoming

SmallerEasier to useSome good, some questionable

Data readily available via internetQuestion: How much citizen involvement

is desired for monitoring?Need to focus efforts on what are really the

issues, not just the perceptionsNeed better coordination on sensor appsNeed better communication with

communitiesEPA holding stakeholder meetings

FundingNear-road NO2

Phase 1 awarded by end of July 2012Working on securing $5 million for Phase 2 in 2013

PM2.5 transition from 103 to 105Start in FY 2013 (…assuming not under a CR)10% per year over 4 years

PAMS transitionLink to 2014 O3 NAAQSFY 2015 or 2016 earliest for network change$2.2 million available

IMPROVEStatic or decreasing budgetSome site to be cut or sample frequency decrease

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

Questions?