Allegheny County Health Department. Air Quality in Allegheny County. GWC Workshop No. 9 August 27, 2015

Transcription

1 Allegheny County Health Department Air Quality in Allegheny County GWC Workshop No. 9 August 27, 2015

2 Who Are We Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) State & Local Programs Implement Clean Air Act through Rulemaking Set standards for Air Quality Funds States/Locals to implement Rules & Meet Standards Responsible for technology to measure pollution Measure Air Quality Regulate/Permit Pollution Sources Implement Federal Rules Develop Plans to Meet NAAQS Track Emissions Two local air programs in Pennsylvania: Allegheny County and Philadelphia

3 Criteria Pollutants Fine Particulates Ozone Carbon Monoxide (CO) Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) Lead

4 The NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standard set for Criteria Pollutants. Criteria Pollutant: A group of six widespread and common air pollutants regulated by EPA to protect human health and the environment. The Act requires EPA to review these standards every five years. Two NAAQS Standards Primary and Secondary: NAAQS primary standard is to protect human health NAAQS secondary standard, to protect public welfare and the environment

5 Current NAAQS

6 Monitoring Sites Current raw (unverified) monitor data feed from all ACHD sites Downloadable Air Quality Index (AQI) report Annual air quality reports and data summaries

7 PM2.5 Annual Standard Site 2013 Average Annual Std. = 12.0 µg/m³ 2014 Average Year Average Year Average Liberty North Braddock Avalon Lawrenceville Harrison Clairton South Fayette North Park

8 PM2.5 Annual Standard

9 PM Hour Standard 24-Hour Std. = 35 µg/m³ Site Hour Max Hour Max Hour Exceed Hour Exceed th - Percentile Value th - Percentile Value Year Avg. of 98 th - Percentile Year Avg. of 98 th - Percentile Liberty North Braddock Clairton Avalon Harrison Lawrenceville South Fayette North Park

10 PM Hour Standard

11 Ozone 8-Hour Std. = ppm Site Hour Maximum (ppm) Hour Maximum (ppm) th Highest Value 2013 Exceedance Days 2014 Exceedance Days Hour 3-Yr. Avg. of 4 th Max. (ppm) Hour 3-Yr. Avg. of 4 th Max. (ppm) Harrison Lawrenceville South Fayette

12 Ozone

13 Sulfur Dioxide 1-Hour Std. = 75 ppb Site Hour Maximum Hour Maximum th percentile th percentile 2014 Exceedances Liberty North Braddock Avalon Lawrenceville South Fayette

14 Sulfur Dioxide

15 Pittsburgh Planning

16 Why Allegheny Co. is Unique Complex Terrain/Meteorology Inversions trap pollutants Difficult to Model Violations typically occur at night Type of Industrial Sources Smaller sources Less dispersion potential Monitoring Network More coverage/data Proximity to Industrial Sources

17 Inversions

18 What We re Working On PM2.5 Attainment/Maintenance Plans Ozone Attainment (At state level) SO2 Attainment Air Toxics 3 Areas of Concern: Neville Island, Downtown, and Liberty/Clairton Multiple health studies occurring in each area Source cameras (website in development) Air toxics sampling projects in Avalon/Bellevue, Liberty Clairton (website in development) Downtown diesel study (currently underway data to be published by Pitt, 2016) Marcellus shale monitoring: Current projects to reduce air toxics: Funds for diesel retrofits in and around Neville Island, and for small construction companies: Healthy Homes: Upcoming fund to provide indoor air remediation projects for homes in the Avalon/Bellevue area (anticipated project start date: Spring, 2016)

19 Public Participation Public comment periods and public hearings are open to all. ACHD welcomes all public comments on proposed regulation changes and permits. Be notified of public comment periods on regulations as well as Air Quality Action Days and No Burn Days. 24- Hour Air Quality Complaint Line:

20 Jim Kelly Planning and Data Analysis Section Manager Allegheny County Health Department Air Quality Program