San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District June 25, 2013

Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement 

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

APPENDIX C: 

Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement

 
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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement 

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement C-1

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

In December 2009, the District was forced to close the Bakersfield-Golden State 

Highway (Bakersfield-Golden) air monitoring site (AMS) due to the expansion of Golden 

State Highway (compromising the siting criteria for proper distance from a roadway) and 

subsequent loss of the air monitoring site lease at the request of the landowner. This 

Appendix provides further information regarding the relocation, as outlined under 40 

CFR Part 58. 

40 CFR Part 58.14 paragraphs (c), and (c)(6), state that requests for discontinuation of 

a SLAMS monitoring station may be approved on a case-by-case basis if it does not 

compromise the data collection needed for comparison to the NAAQS and that the 

requirements listed in Appendix D of 40 CFR Part 58 continue to be met. A SLAMS 

monitor that is not eligible for removal under any of the criteria listed in 40 CFR Part 58, 

can be moved if logistical problems beyond the State’s control make it impossible to 

continue operating at the current site. When that is the case, the SLAMS monitor may 

be moved to a nearby location with the same scale of representation. The District has 

met both of these conditions in the closure of Bakersfield-Golden. 

The Bakersfield-Golden site was shut down due to termination of the lease by the 

landowner and highway expansion which would directly impact the siting criteria for the 

station. The District notified and kept EPA and CARB fully informed throughout the 

entire siting and relocation process via telephone calls and in the appropriate Network 

Plans. After an exhaustive effort, the Bakersfield-Golden monitoring site was relocated 

to the Bakersfield-Municipal Airport (Bakersfield-Muni) location. 

The Bakersfield-Golden monitoring site operated from June 1994 until December 2009 

and served primarily as a PAMS Type 2 site. PM10 equipment was installed in 1994 

and PM2.5 equipment was installed in 1999. As Table 1 below shows, over the past 

five years, this site is not the design value site for ozone, PM2.5, or PM10 for the 

Bakersfield MSA which comprises the entire county of Kern. Additionally, the District is 

able to meet or exceed minimum NAAQS monitoring requirements for each of those 

pollutants without this site being operational as shown in Table 2. 1

 

 

1 Monitors from both the District and the Eastern Kern County Air Pollution Control District can be counted in 

determining compliance with minimum monitoring requirements for the Bakersfield MSA. However, only monitors 

located within the District’s boundaries are included in this network plan.
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Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Table 1 Design Value Comparisons for Kern County 

1-hour Ozone Design Values (ppb) 

Monitoring Site 2005-2007 2006-2008 2007-2009 2008-2010 2009-2011 

Arvin-Di Giorgio - - - 120 118 

Arvin-Bear Mountain 131 135 135 139 

Bakersfield- California Ave 117 120 117 114 111 

Bakersfield-Golden State 108 110 - - - 

Edison 135 136 135 134 124 

Maricopa 100 97 97 97 102 

Oildale 112 114 112 110 102 

Shafter 105 106 106 106 102 

8-hour Ozone Design Values (ppb) 

Monitoring Site 2005-2007 2006-2008 2007-2009 2008-2010 2009-2011 

Arvin-Di Giorgio - - - - 73 

Arvin-Bear Mountain 107 108 105 104 - 

Bakersfield-California Ave 97 97 90 93 88 

Bakersfield-Golden State 86 88 87 - - 

Edison 99 102 99 101 96 

Maricopa 88 86 85 85 88 

Oildale 95 98 93 94 89 

Shafter 88 89 85 88 85 

24-hour PM10 Design Values (μg/m3) 

Monitoring Site 2005-2007 2006-2008 2007-2009 2008-2010 2009-2011 

Bakersfield-California Ave 115 122 94.5 99 108 

Bakersfield-Golden State 103 142 104 - - 

Oildale 104 107 117.5 88.6 100.2 

24-hour PM2.5 Design Values (μg/m3) 

Monitoring Site 2005-2007 2006-2008 2007-2009 2008-2010 2009-2011 

Bakersfield-Golden 69 64 66 - - 

Bakersfield-California Ave 66 66 68 62 62 

Bakersfield-Planz 68 70 70 65 55 

Annual PM2.5 Design Values (μg/m3) 

Monitoring Site 2005-2007 2006-2008 2007-2009 2008-2010 2009-2011 

Bakersfield-Golden 19.2 18.8 19.3 - - 

Bakersfield-California Ave 19.6 20.9 21 18.4 16.5 

Bakersfield-Planz 20.3 21.5 22.6 21.2 18.2 
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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement C-3

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Table 2 Summary of Monitoring Requirements and Current Monitoring Sites 

in the District portion of Kern County 

Pollutant/Program Required # of 

Sites 

Current # of 

Sites 

State and Local Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS) 

Ozone 2 6 

PM10 2-4 2 

PM2.5 2 2 

The Bakersfield-Muni site is intended to be a long term site that will serve as the 

replacement PAMS Type 2 site for Bakersfield-Golden (measuring ozone, NO2, and 

other PAMS compounds). PAMS stations can be used to meet minimum monitoring 

requirements, if the site meets NAAQS siting criteria for that pollutant. The ozone, 

carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide analyzers required as part of the PAMS program 

may be used for regulatory purposes after two years of operation provided the site 

meets NAAQS siting criteria for each of pollutants. Currently, the site does not meet 

NAAQS siting criteria for CO (near-road) and it does not meet NAAQS siting criteria for 

NO2 (area-wide, near-road, or RA40). 

Finding an appropriate replacement location took a considerable amount of time and 

staff effort (approximately two years) and proved very difficult. The District was 

unsuccessful in finding a location within a couple of kilometers of the BakersfieldGolden site, so the siting radius was expanded which enabled the District to find a 

suitable location approximately 6 km away. The Bakersfield-Muni site is located at the 

northern end of the Municipal Airport in a light commercial/industrial area downwind 

from freeways, which is similar to the Bakersfield-Golden site’s location. 

Construction of the site was also delayed in order to obtain the proper operating permits 

from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), approval from the City of Bakersfield, 

and electrical power installed. Once power was installed, construction of the platform to 

support the air quality monitoring equipment commenced and installation of the 

necessary equipment both inside the shelter and on the platform followed. Since the 

structure and power at Bakersfield-Golden have been removed and the site is closed, it 

is impossible to conduct parallel monitoring. As more data becomes available at the 

new Bakersfield-Muni site, the District will conduct ongoing comparative evaluation of 

the various Bakersfield monitoring sites. 

 
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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement C-4

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

PAMS Program 

EPA’s PAMS program is designed to provide enhanced information of ozone and its 

precursors to aid in modeling and development control strategies for Serious, Severe, 

and Extreme non-attainment areas. The speciated VOC equipment for PAMS and the 

PAMS related meteorological equipment became operational at Bakersfield-Muni AMS 

in June 2012. The station’s carbonyl and meteorological equipment for PAMS began 

operating in July 2012. The NMHC equipment was installed in October 2012. Table 3 

below compares the PAMS PAMS Type 2 equipment at the Bakersfield-Golden site to 

the Bakersfield-Muni site. Method code refers to the actual measurement method each 

piece of equipment. 

Table 3 Bakersfield-Golden and Bakersfield-Muni Comparison Table 

Site Latitude Longitude

Bakersfield-Golden 35.385269 119.014733 

Bakersfield-Muni 35.331572 118.999995 

Parameters Site Sampling Schedule Method Code

Golden Muni Golden Muni Golden Muni

Ozone x x 087 087 

CO x x 054 054 

NO x x 074 074 

NO2 x x 074 074 

NOx x x 074 074 

Speciated-VOC x x 1:3 

(Seasonal)

1:3 

(Seasonal) 011 011 

NMHC x x 011 011 

Carbonyls x x 1:3 

(Seasonal)

1:3 

(Seasonal)

IT x x 014 014 

OT x x 040 040 

BPR x x 014 014 

WS x x 020 020 

WD x x 020 020 

RH x x 011 011 

SRAD x x 011 011 

PM10 and PM2.5 Monitoring 

The District already meets the minimum monitoring requirements in Kern County 

without the PM10 and PM2.5 monitors at the Bakersfield-Muni site. The District 

attempted to utilize the air monitoring station to monitor both PM10 and PM2.5 to 

provide information for forecasting, in addition to conducting monitoring as a PAMS 

Type 2 site. Installation and initial operation of the PM monitoring equipment began in 

July 2012. However, it soon became apparent that this site was not acceptable as a 

PM10 and PM2.5 site because site specific emissions from nearby sources were 

impacting the site, and the site was therefore not measuring ambient particulate 

concentrations. 
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Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Under federal regulation, the purpose of particulate matter monitoring sites is to capture 

ambient (or neighborhood level) air quality. The siting requirements for both PM10 and 

PM2.5 state that the ideal monitoring site for these pollutants is of “neighborhood scale”. 

For PM10, the regulation states, in part, 

(b) Although microscale monitoring may be appropriate in some circumstances, 

the most important spatial scales to effectively characterize the emissions of 

PM10 from both mobile and stationary sources are the middle scales and 

neighborhood scales. (Appendix D to Part 58 4.6 (b)) 

Likewise, for PM2.5, the regulation states in part,

(b) Specific Design Criteria for PM2.5. The required monitoring stations or sites 

must be sited to represent community-wide air quality. These sites can include 

sites collocated at PAMS. These monitoring stations will typically be at 

neighborhood or urban-scale; however, in certain instances where populationoriented micro-or middle-scale PM2.5 monitoring are determined by the Regional 

Administrator to represent many such locations throughout a metropolitan area, 

these smaller scales can be considered to represent community-wide air quality. 

(Appendix D to Part 58 4.7 (b)) 

After building the site, problems with the site location became apparent. During detailed 

surveillance of the area (particularly during periods of peak emissions readings), the 

District discovered that nearby sources, including regular airport operations, were 

impacting PM levels at the site. For example, activities such as street sweeping, taxiing 

of aircraft, and soil disking were causing PM to be entrained immediately adjacent to or 

near the site. Figure 1 shows the location of the site from an aerial perspective. 

Figures 2 through 5 show nearby sources from various directions. Figures 6 through 11 

are pictures that show sources of dust near the site that is impacting both PM10 and 

PM2.5 concentrations. 

The Bakersfield-Muni AMS is surrounded by asphalt and the District is now aware that 

street sweeping activities occur regularly next to and around the structure. While 

conducting surveillance of the area, District staff observed a layer of dust coating flat 

surfaces at site. The plume generated by the street sweeper does not impact adjacent 

property owners but it directly impacts the Bakersfield-Muni AMS because the plume 

generated by the street sweeper engulfs the site. When this occurs, the analyzer 

measures the plume from the street sweeper (a point source) rather than the ambient 

air. Additionally, taxiways are nearby and planes using them entrain dust as they go by. 

Vacant land that occupies areas within and surrounding the airport is comprised of very 

fine, silty soil. Over 60% of this native soil consists of particles between 5 and 50 

microns in diameter. Such areas on the airport property that are next to the BakersfieldMuni AMS are routinely disked and mowed for weed control abatement which causes a 

considerable of dust to be deposited on the runway, taxiways, and other asphalt 

surfaces. Additionally some of the light industrial and commercial businesses located 
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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement C-6

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

adjacent to the airport have large unpaved areas that can contribute to PM levels in the 

area. 

In addition to the visual observations of the nearby sources, the District also installed 

additional PM monitoring equipment to help confirm that the aforementioned activities 

led to higher PM10 and PM2.5 measurements than would be normally found in ambient 

air, and to verify the that the suspect analyzers were operating properly. Through the 

extensive efforts of District staff, it was determined that this site was measuring nearby 

sources rather than measuring ambient air. Therefore, the site does not represent a 

“neighborhood scale” PM site and does not qualify as a SLAMS site due to near-source 

emission impacts that were unknown at the time of initial installation. 

Given the PM10 and PM2.5 measurements at this site were not representative of 

ambient air quality and the PM monitors are not required regulatory monitors, the 

District removed the PM analyzers at the Bakersfield-Muni AMS and is seeking another 

location in which to place them for continued forecasting support. Additionally, there is 

a nearby air monitoring site (Bakersfield-Planz) that currently measures PM2.5 

concentrations in the Municipal Airport area. The District will continue to operate the 

Bakersfield-Muni AMS for PAMS Type 2 purposes and will continue monitoring gaseous 

pollutants. 

Next Steps 

After the District determined that the site was not suitable to measure PM10 and PM2.5, 

the District began the search for a replacement site. During its investigation, the District 

discovered that the planned road expansion of Golden State Highway, which caused 

the closure of the original Bakersfield-Golden AMS, did not take place and the prior 

location would still meet appropriate siting criteria. Therefore, the District may be able 

to locate the replacement site at or near the old Bakersfield-Golden air monitoring site, 

which would be the preferred option since there is almost 15 years of air monitoring 

data that already exists for that area in Bakersfield. In fact, the District is now in talks 

with Kern County to place these two analyzers on the property where the previous 

Bakersfield-Golden AMS was sited. If the recommended location on the property meets 

appropriate siting criteria, the new PM site will be 40 feet away from the original site. If 

this location is determined to be infeasible, the District will continue its search for a new 

site. 

 
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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement C-7

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Figure 1: Aerial View of Bakersfield-Municipal Site

Figure 2: Looking North from the Probe 
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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement C-8

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Figure 3: Looking East from the Probe 

Figure 4: Looking South from the Probe 
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Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Figure 5: Looking West from the Probe 

Figure 6: Panoramic view of asphalt that is regularly cleaned by street 

sweepers adjacent to the site. 

 
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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement C-10

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Figure 7: Additional photo of asphalt that is regularly cleaned by street 

sweepers adjacent to the site. 

Figure 8: Dirt and debris near the site, in areas that the street sweeper cannot 

reach 
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Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Figure 9: Looking south east from the probe. Unpaved areas that are disked 

and mowed to keep the area weed free. Much of the airport property 

is unpaved. 

Figure 10: A disking operation being conducted on one of the large unpaved 

areas. Due to the sun angle, the plume is almost not visible. 
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Appendix C: Bakersfield-Golden AMS Closure and Replacement C-12

Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan 

Figure 11: Visible dust plume from disking operation 

.