Progress& C haellngespubs.awma.org/flip/EM-Jan-2015/coverstory.pdf · Lioy, P.J. Dust: The Inside...
4
em • cover story em • cover story 6 em january 2015 awma.org by Susan S.G. Wierman In 1995, Susan S.G. Wierman was the deputy director of the Maryland Air and Radiation Management Administration, and since 1997, she has been the executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association. She is a long-time member of EM’s Editorial Advisory Committee. E-mail: [email protected]. T o kick off EM ’s 20th year as a stand-alone publication, this issue highlights accom- plishments in improving air quality over the past 20 years and looks forward toward future challenges. The scope of this month’s articles is necessarily limited: space prohibits a comprehensive view. Topics covered in four featured articles include key court decisions interpreting the U.S. Clean Air Act, a Midwestern view of advances in air quality modeling, examples of collaborative policy development, and a scientific perspective on the future of multipollutant approaches to air quality management. Additional topics are touched on in this introduction, and others will be covered in subsequent issues of EM. Interested read- ers may find a more comprehensive timeline of actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-history. Progress & Challenges in Air Quality Over the Past 20 Years Accomplishments Air quality has improved greatly in the last 20 years. EPA recently released the second integrated urban air toxics report to Congress, highlighting substantial reductions in benzene, mercury, lead, and other air toxics achieved since 1999. 1 EPA’s Web site on Air Quality Trends contains a wealth of information about national and regional trends in air pollutant concentrations and emissions. 2 As EPA marked its 25th anniversary in 1995—the year EM was born—the substantial U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 and 1990 were well established law. However, as the article by Andrea Bear Field describes (page 10), in the last 20 years many litigants have turned to the courts for clarifi- cation. Her interesting article reviews cases related to climate change, interstate air pollution, and new source review. Copyright 2015 Air & Waste Management Association
Transcript of Progress& C haellngespubs.awma.org/flip/EM-Jan-2015/coverstory.pdf · Lioy, P.J. Dust: The Inside...
em • cover storyem • cover story
6 em january 2015 awma.org
by Susan S.G. Wierman
In 1995, Susan S.G. Wierman was the deputy director of the Maryland Air and Radiation Management Administration, and since 1997, she has been the executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association. She is a long-time member of EM’s Editorial Advisory Committee. E-mail: [email protected].
To kick off EM ’s 20th year as a stand-alone publication, this issue highlights accom-
plishments in improving air quality over the past 20 years and looks forward toward
future challenges. The scope of this month’s articles is necessarily limited: space
prohibits a comprehensive view. Topics covered in four featured articles include key
court decisions interpreting the U.S. Clean Air Act, a Midwestern view of advances in air quality
modeling, examples of collaborative policy development, and a scientifi c perspective on the
future of multipollutant approaches to air quality management. Additional topics are touched
on in this introduction, and others will be covered in subsequent issues of EM. Interested read-
ers may fi nd a more comprehensive timeline of actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) at http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-history.
Progress & Challenges in Air Quality Over the Past 20 Years
AccomplishmentsAir quality has improved greatly in the last 20 years. EPA recently released the second integrated urban air toxics report to Congress, highlighting substantial reductions in benzene, mercury, lead, and other air toxics achieved since 1999.1 EPA’s Web site on Air Quality Trends contains a wealth of information about national and regional trends in air pollutant concentrations and emissions.2
As EPA marked its 25th anniversary in 1995—the year EM was born—the substantial U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 and 1990 were well established law. However, as the article by Andrea Bear Field describes (page 10), in the last 20 years many litigants have turned to the courts for clarifi -cation. Her interesting article reviews cases related to climate change, interstate air pollution, and new source review.
06_EM0115-CS-Weirman.indd 6 12/22/14 8:46 AM
Copyright 2015 Air & Waste Management Association
Both our personal and professional lives have changed in many ways over the last 20 years because of the expanded use of the Internet and increased computing power. EPA’s Web page had only been in existence for one year back in 1995. Air quality modeling has advanced considerably since then, and in his article (page 14) Rob Kaleel describes how this has affected air quality man-agement in the Midwest. Enabled by tremendous increases in computing power and refl ecting bet-ter understanding of atmospheric chemistry and pollution transport, improved modeling tech-niques have enhanced the technical foundation for policy development.
By 1995, it was clear that by limiting emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), the acid rain cap-and-trade program was provid-ing cost-effective emissions reductions,3 and many believed a cap-and-trade approach could address other air quality problems affecting broad regions. States in the Northeast agreed to implement a NOx budget rule to further reduce emissions in two phases (1999 and 2003).4 In 2003, EPA began to administer the larger NOx Budget Trad-ing Program, requiring 22 states and the District of Columbia to submit State Implementation Plans (SIPs) that reduced emissions of NOx in order to reduce the regional transport of ground-level ozone (O3). EPA added the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) in 2005, reducing SO2 emissions more than the acid rain program had done, and superseding but not signifi cantly extending, the
NOx Budget Trading Program. Ten years later, 2015 will mark the start of the Cross State Air Pol-lution Rule, replacing CAIR.
Together with stricter standards for motor vehi-cles and fuels, as well as other initiatives, these programs have achieved signifi cant emissions reductions, and air quality has improved. Sat-ellite data, which are playing an increasing role
EM has been an asset to me and my clients over the years. The articles have given me current information regarding regulatory and technology
changes and both had a signifi cant positive impact on the services that I was able to provide my customers. Whether it was the permitting of a new power plant or the siting of a landfi ll, EM provided information that was of value. The magazine has also kept me informed regarding activities
within the Association and its membership, which helped me stay close to my network of colleagues.
— Jim Powell, QEP, A&WMA Executive Director
january 2015 em 7awma.org
th
ANNIVERSARY
ttth
ANNNNIVERIVERIVERIVERIVERIVERIVERSSARY
th
ANNIVERSARY
ttth
ANNNNIVERIVERIVERIVERSARY
Thinkstock Photo
06_EM0115-CS-Weirman.indd 7 12/22/14 8:46 AM
Copyright 2015 Air & Waste Management Association
8 em january 2015 awma.org
in air quality management, vividly illustrate the reduction in NOx pollution in the eastern United States through 2011 (see Figure 1). NOx reduc-tions have reduced ground-level O3 pollution. EPA trends analysis indicates that nationally, O3 concentrations declined 23% from 1990 to 2013, and annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concen-trations were 34% lower in 2013, compared to 2000.2 SO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, along with particulate organic matter from wild-fires and wood burning, are major contributors to PM2.5 and regional haze in rural areas.5 Reducing PM2.5 concentrations has improved visibility and provided significant health benefits.
As multi-state air quality problems received increasing attention, various methods were used to promote collaboration and cooperation among regulators, scientists, and regulated industries. In the third feature article (page 20), Theresa Pella explains that the NOx Budget Trading Program built upon the broad-based collaborative work of the Ozone Transport Assessment Group, which focused on the eastern United States. Later, EPA’s 1999 nationwide Regional Haze Rule initi-ated multi-state regional air quality planning and regulatory development work that involved not only states and EPA, but also federal land man-agement agencies, tribal governments, and other
Figure 1. NASA images highlight reduction in NOx concentrations in the eastern United States.
Notes: Nitrogen dioxide (NOx) pollution has decreased across the United States, as illustrated by annual averages for the years 2005 and 2011. Measurements of NOx from the OMI instrument on the Aura satellite depict the concentration of the gas throughout a column of air in the troposphere. The images are color-coded: Blue and green denote lower concentrations and orange and red denote higher concentrations, ranging from 1x1015 to 5x1015 molecules per square centimeter, respectively.
Source: T. Schindler, NASA Goddard Scientifi Visualiza-tion Studio, June 26, 2014, http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/new-nasa-imag-es-highlight-us-air-quality-im-provement/#.VDCQAmddV2p. Images were composed by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio based on data and input provided by atmospheric scien-tists: Yasuko Yoshida, Lok Lam-sal, and Bryan Duncan.
2005
2011
06_EM0115-CS-Weirman.indd 8 12/22/14 8:46 AM
Copyright 2015 Air & Waste Management Association
january 2015 em 9awma.org
stakeholders. Pella focuses on efforts to increase transparency and outreach in developing U.S. air quality policy. Her experience in working on O3 transport and regional haze issues leads her to see the positive results of inclusive processes.
Future ChallengesUnderstanding and resolving future air pollution problems will often require multi-state, interna-tional, or multipollutant approaches, as well as the ongoing program evaluation. Dr. Chris Frey’s thought-provoking article (page 24) explores why it has been so difficult to take a multipollut-ant approach to reduce overall net risk. Particu-late matter, regional haze, air toxics, ozone—each of these issues requires understanding multiple sources and the interactions of multiple pollutants, and all of these issues have sources and effects in common. Dr. Frey explains that the greatest challenge to a comprehensive look at the entire process—from emissions to health effects—may be the lack of robust multipollutant exposure- response models.
Emergency response and enhanced monitor-ing technology also pose challenges. One can’t look back on the past 20 years without remem-bering September 11, 2001, hurricane Katrina, superstorm Sandy, and the multiple wildfires that destroyed tens of millions of acres of western for-ests and communities. Short-term exposure to extreme air pollution can lead to long-term health effects, adding to the toll of immediate deaths from such catastrophic events. The book Dust, by Dr. Paul Lioy of the Rutgers University Rob-ert Wood Johnson Medical School, is a thought-ful, first-hand account of air quality problems caused by the destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York. Dr. Lioy identified
shortcomings of routine air quality monitoring for emergency response and determining when it is safe to return to contaminated environments. He recommended “… that we must devote the money, the time, and the effort to develop short-term monitors and rehabilitation standards for events like the WTC aerosol, or a gaseous release from an accident, or a waterborne release from an accident, or any other event of consequence. These monitors must measure contaminants or indicators quickly enough so that we minimize the number of people at risk after an event….”6
It is important to measure the right pollutants and understand the consequences. Dr. Lioy calls for “…a serious review of the types and number of monitoring and sampling tools that are available for disasters, and how to select those that can and cannot provide valuable information in a spe-cific situation to prevent further exposures….”6 The future development of real-time personal air quality monitors holds promise for needed special purpose monitoring—if these instruments allow measurement of contaminants not normally measured and allow quantification of unusually high levels of traditional pollutants. Both new technology and guidelines for data analysis and response are needed.
It goes without saying that climate change and reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses pose many health and environmental challenges. Furthermore, despite great progress in air qual-ity improvement, EPA calculates that in 2013 approximately 75 million people in the United States still lived in counties with pollution levels above national health-based air quality standards.2
Important work remains to protect public health and the environment. em
References1. National Air Toxics Program: The Second Integrated Urban Air Toxics Report to Congress; EPA-456/R-14-001; U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, August 21, 2014, http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-08/documents/082114-urban-air-toxics-report-congress.pdf.2. Our Nation’s Air: Status and Trends through 2010; EPA-454/R-12-001; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC,
February 2012, http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/aqtrends.html.3. 1995 Compliance Results; EPA/430-R-96-012; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation, July 1996, http://www.epa.
gov/airmarkets/progress/docs/1995compreport.pdf.4. Overview of the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) NOx Budget Program. See http://www.epa.gov/airmarkt/progsregs/nox/otc-overview.
html.5. Hand, J.L. Spatial and Seasonal Patterns and Temporal Variability of haze and its Constituents in the United States: Report V; Interagency Mon-
itoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE), June 2011, http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Publications/improve_reports.htm.6. Lioy, P.J. Dust: The Inside Story of its Role in the September 11th Aftermath; Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.: Lanham, MD, 2010 (pp.
190-191 and 210-211).
06_EM0115-CS-Weirman.indd 9 12/22/14 8:46 AM
Copyright 2015 Air & Waste Management Association
