# Presentation: 669722

## National Air Monitoring StrategyThe New Monitoring Strategy and How it Supports Air Quality Reporting to the Public National Air Quality ConferenceFebruary 4, 2002

- <date/time>

- National Air Monitoring StrategyThe New Monitoring Strategy and How it Supports Air Quality Reporting to the Public National Air Quality ConferenceFebruary 4, 2002

***Tribes***

- STAPPA/ALAPCO

**Notes:**
Good Day....

The purpose of this presentation is to provide you with an overview of some exciting work being done by EPA and representatives from  various State, Local and Tribal organizations.

The reengineering of air monitoring is going forward in no small measure in response to many of our mutual concerns,  voiced during the PM 2.5 implementation.

The future is upon us and we want to begin the process of getting you engaged in the effort,  so that you may focus your staffs on the important work ahead.  

This strategy will impact your:

Program’s policies and focus  (New Data will give context to issues now being raised-toxics, diesel PM) 
Budgets (this work is expensive)
Ability to provide air quality products to our interested and informed public. (Using AIRNOW and AQI and local websites)  

We are limited in time and want questions at the end. We will be posting more detailed information on the AIRWEB site and hope you will read find it helpful. 

## National Monitoring Strategy Goal

*	**“**To manage the nation’s air monitoring networks such that critical stable network elements as well as changing priorities can be accommodated within a scientifically sound and resource optimized framework that addresses national and local interests.”*

## Topics

- Basics of the strategy...
- why
- what
- process
- How the strategy supports air quality reporting to the public
- Network assessments

## Why?

- Outdated design/lack of integration in ambient air measurements at:
- State and local Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS)
- National Air Monitoring Stations (NAMS)
- Capacity (State/Locals/Tribes workforce) can not keep up with demands
- Several years of scientific findings, new technologies
***Begging for optimization, rethinking, modification***
***The monitoring community is asking for this!  EPA is listening.***

## What?Major strategy elements

***Network Assessments***
***Core National Network redesign emphasizing integration***
*Technology*
- Enhancement of advanced monitors (e.g. continuous PM)
- Improved information transfer
- Regulation modifications
- Quality Assurance
- Communications
- National Monitoring Strategy Committee
- Workgroups with representation from EPA/States/Locals/Tribes
- Technology
- Quality Assurance
- Regulations

## National Monitoring Strategy Committee(NMSC)

- Representatives (16) from States, local agencies, Tribes and EPA
- Include leadership across monitoring programs and air program management
- Provided overall direction and endorsement for the strategy.

**Notes:**
This committee was convened by EPA last year to help evaluate the national program.

A great deal of this strategy is the result of work that has been conducted by the National Monitoring Strategy Committee.

The committee is diverse group that has come to consensus on the strategy.

## Major NMSC summary statements

*The nations ambient air networks **require significant ****change from the current focus on “NAAQS compliance”**** and criteria pollutants with numerous single measurement labor intensive sites.*
*Moderate to substantial ****disinvestments in traditional criteria pollutant**** monitoring are recommended in recognition of progress made towards abating levels of **CO, Pb, NO2,PM10 and SO2** over the last two decades.*
*An efficient multi-pollutant integrated network utilizing ****automated technology**** to deliver ****timely information to the public****, air quality management and research professionals is essential to fulfill future needs.*
* **Specific technology enhancements are recommended** to increase the nation’s capacity to measure **non-criteria hazardous air pollutants** and ****continuously reading particulate matter****.*
* **The nation’s **networks must be ****assessed**** at regular intervals** to insure their relevancy to current priorities and technologies.*

**Notes:**
This is a busy slide.... 

In short these are the key points from the committees endorsement of the new direction.

A transition in air monitoring is needed and it is not trivial. 
It is time to disinvest from certain activities and some of our methods are dated.
We need better tools and must use new automated technology and stimulate it’s development.
We must involve the Public in moving forward. (This is critical to successful transition).  
And finally ...
WE must assess and refine the network regularly.

## How does the Strategy Support Air Quality Reporting to the Public?

- Identifies Public Reporting and Mapping as National Objectives
- Emphasis on automated technologies that can deliver real-time or near-real time signals
- Technology workgroup has identified need to support information transfer as part of whole monitoring system.

## Network Assessments

- Reviewing relevancy/adequacy of networks and attempts at optimization
- Eliminating unnecessary redundancies
- Identifying needed additions
- National assessments
- Produce motivation/basis for more regionalized/local efforts
- Spurring use of spatial optimization, mapping tools for network design
- Regional assessments
- Supercede national results and provide direct guidance for network modification
- Regional assessments completed by end of 2002, then iterated

## Figure 3: 8-Hour CO 2nd Max - Percent of NAAQS: Red= >100%, Purple= 80-100%, Orange= 60-80%, Black= <60%

## Figure 4: NO2 Annual Mean - Percent of NAAQS: Red= >100%, Purple= 80-100%, Orange= 60-80%, Black= <60%

## Figure 5: SO2 2nd Max - Percent of NAAQS: Red= >100%, Purple= 80-100%, Orange= 60-80%, Black= <60%

## Figure 7: PM10 Annual Mean - Percent of NAAQS: Red= >100%, Purple= 80-100%, Orange= 60-80%, Black= <60%

## Figure 1: 98-00 8-Hour O3 4th Max - Percent of NAAQS: Red= >100%, Purple= 80-100%, Orange= 60-80%, Black= <60%

## Figure 2: PM25 Annual Mean - Percent of NAAQS: Red= >100%, Purple= 80-100%, Orange= 60-80%, Black= <60%

## Introducing value based approaches

- National Assessment
- Coop EPA/Washington U. (Husar)

## 4th Highest Ozone Concentration

- There are over 700 ozone monitoring sites over the Eastern US
- The AIRS sites are clustered mainly in urban-metropolitan areas
- The CASTnet sites cover rural regions
- The concentration metric used were the 4th highest daily 8 hr  average during 1993-95

## Concentration Error, E

- The concentration error is determined by
- selectively removing each site from the database
- estimating the concentration at that site by spatial interpolation
- Determining E as the difference between the actual measured and estimated value

- The error estimates in both metric of ozone concentration over the Eastern US ranges between 0-15 %.
- High estimation error is generally observed over areas with low station density.
- Low error generally occurs over areas with high station density

## Station Information Value Maps

- The station information value was calculated from the concentration error, E, weighed by the # of persons in the station zone:  I = E x W

- According to the above evaluation metric, ozone sites in the Southeast (Florida-S.Carolina), Texas, Kansas, Minn.-Wisconsin have **high** information value.
- Sites in the Illinois-Ohio zone, N. Carolina, Louisiana and others have **low** ozone information value

## Aggregate Ranking – Example Equal Weight 

- All five measures are weighed equal at 20% each.
- High ‘aggregate value’ stations (red) are located over both urban and rural segments of the central EUS.
- Low ‘value’ sites (blue) are inter-dispersed with high value sites.
- Clusters of low value sites are found over Florida, Upper Midwest, and the inland portion of New England.

## Summary of National Assessment Results

- Ozone
- Limited reductions nationally (5 - 30%) with an emphasis on relocation to enhance mapping, rural/regional concentrations, possible increases to assist in coverage in southeast and Texas.
- PM2.5 FRM
- Moderate reductions (20-30% to ~ 800 sites) after 3 years data collected coinciding with a shift to continuous methods for AQI/mapping; eventual 500 site (or smaller) FRM network with  total network of 800-1100 sites (filter and cont.) to support spatial needs (mapping AQI and regulatory)
- PM10
- Major reductions from 1600 site network (1996) dependent on Regional/State rqmts., consequences of PMcoarse
- CO, NO2, SO2
- Major reductions for NAAQS purposes; switch to representative and high sensitivity techniques for model evaluation/obs techniques, build into new core sites
- Lead
-  Declare victory!....minimal trends...emphasis as a HAP metal
- PAMS
-   Restructure.  Reduce “minimum” requirements.

**Notes:**
Here are some pollutant specific points from the assessment.

The percentages shown here are not targets or quotas.   Rather they are impressions derived from the initial assessment.

 Again,  we need regional assessments to validate final numbers.

Two final points here...

The assessment shows that the PAMS and manual method PM networks offer substantial savings and can be significantly revised. 

We know that some regulations  must be changes to achieve the full savings.

## Regional Assessments

- Draft results from R5/LADCO
- Tool development Region 3
- Various stages of progress in other Regions
- Initial results October/02
- Iterative...part of regular review practices
- Broad guidance

## Policy Connection

- Interpreting boundaries for emission strategy areas
- Moving away from single monitor and associated discontinuities to contiguous surfaces
- Using mapped data to represent “gaps” and define spatial surfaces...(implementing FACA concepts..AOI, AOV)
- Midwest and Region 3 examples...forcing issue...
- Science need
- Support to maximize use of spatial surfaces
- Spatial workshop....12/01...RTP

## National Core NetworkNCore [draft]

- The following slides do not reflect NMSC consensus....start....

## National Core Network (NCore) [draft]

- Address major “national” objectives through NCore
- Includes recommendations for “desired” modifications
- Under level resource constraint...realistic
- Add collocated multi-pollutant component
- In some cases...mini Supersites (more discussion)
- Consolidate CFR58 monitoring regs under NCore
- 	(e.g.; PAMSCore, MAP(NAMS)Core, HAPSCore, SPECCore)
- build on existing networks

## National Objectives [draft]

- Timely Public information dissemination
- Entails near real time characterization of most important pollutants (ozone, PM2.5) for AQI and forecasting support
- Recognizes mapping spatial surfaces of O3, PM2.5 (AIRNow)
- Emissions strategy development
- Routine (operational) Evaluation of Air Quality Models
- Source apportionment/observational analysis
- Accountability of emissions strategy implementation (and trends)
- Including risk assessments of national HAPs and visibility
- Basic infrastructure “core” for national exposure and epidemiological assessments to support NAAQS development
- Development of spatially coherent emissions strategy regions
- Evaluating methods through collocation
**Note:  a very broad array of data uses and sub objectives are imbedded**

## Proposed Design approach [draft]

- Start with “reasonable” coverage from health/exposure perspective
- Assume coverage emphasizing urban locations of various magnitudes (mostly large) with varying chemical composition
- Assumes need for ***multiple pollutants*** to tease out confounding factors
- Add in necessary coverage for spatial needs (mapping and regulatory) for PM2.5 and ozone
- Add in desired rural coverage for accountability (major national programs such as 3P, NOx SIP) and model evaluation
- Identify common parameters and locations throughout to flesh out or prioritize “core” parameters and locations.
- Determine ability of existing networks to address, modify as needed

## NCore would provide a new collocated multiple pollutant component to routine networks, and assumes: [draft]

- The regulatory and science communities support multi-pollutant measurement platforms; e.g.
- Modelers/source apportionment ...more rigorous evaluation/operation
- Exposure/health science communities...delineate confounding factors
- Monitoring community....to streamline operations and inter compare instruments
- New emphasis on gaseous Carbon, Nitrogen, and Sulfur representative measurements for non regulatory use.

## Linkage to PM Continuous monitoring

- Direction set by NMSC
- Network assessments identify redundant and FRM removal candidates
- Resource pool
- Reinvest in PM Continuous monitoring
- Revisiting of monitoring objectives, Greater emphasis
- on public information
- Support health studies
- Characterization for modeling..
- Regulations modification

## National Monitoring Strategy Summary

- Partnership
- EPA/States/Locals/Tribes
- Assessments
- National Assessments
- Regional Assessments
- Resources
- Assume flat funding
- Public Reporting and Mapping are National Objectives
- Need to capture gradients
- Need investments in information transfer and delivery
- National Core Network – (Ncore)
- Multi-pollutant measurements
- PM Continuous Monitoring

## To learn more about the Monitoring Strategy, visit EPA’s website at:

- http://www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/monitor.html