Imperial County Air Quality. Felipe Solorzano. San Diego State University: Undergraduate. Project duration: March 2014-August 2014

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1 1 Imperial County Air Quality Felipe Solorzano San Diego State University: Undergraduate Project duration: March 2014-August 2014 Advised by: Cydean Gillespie United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Services July 23, 2014

2 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH 5 PROJECT OUTCOMES 10 CONCLUSION 16

3 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This project was supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture I would like to show my appreciation to Cydean Gillespie for her leadership, and assistance during the internship period. I would also like to thank Jose Luis Herrera and Rogelio Araujo for helping me collect data related to the project. Thanks also go to Kevin Carpenter for providing me with resources needed to complete the project. Very special thanks to Water Resource Institute (WRI) of California State San Bernardino University Enterprises Corporation (FF20717), for initiating a 'Watershed Management Internship Program' supported by USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) through Watershed Management Experiential Learning for USDA Careers.

4 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During my internship I assisted the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. USDA NRCS helps private landowners conserve our natural resources, and air resources are among those. Throughout the internship I reported how Air Quality programs such as the National Air Quality Initiative (NAQI) helped the environment by lowering the amount of emissions left by agricultural machinery in the Imperial County. Throughout the year period the NAQI program has assisted the Imperial County environment by helping landowners replace their old machinery that emits high emission levels with new machinery that emits lower levels of emissions.

5 5 PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH As an intern for the Natural Resource Conservation Service at United States Department of Agriculture in El Centro, my goal was to help create different methods to manage watersheds in an effort to conserve water. While working with Kevin Carpenter (Soil Conservationist, Imperial County) I was interested on how he managed to design ways to route water supply in the Imperial County. However after working in the field with Jose Luis Herrera (Soil Conservationist, Imperial County) with National Air Quality Initiative (NAQI) contracts, I developed an interest in Air Quality, specifically on how NRCS helped the environment. I then decided to shift my focus on how the NAQI program managed to lower emissions in the last 4 years. After collecting data for Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contracts, I realized that NAQI has had tremendous results in the Imperial County. My project will analyze the NAQI program that is running in the Imperial County and will demonstrate accurate data regarding agricultural machinery emissions. This project will also illustrate how much NAQI has helped the environment by providing detailed comparison results.

6 6 United States Department of Agriculture Air Quality Programs The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helps private landowners conserve our natural resources, and air resources are among those. Our Air Quality resource concerns can be broadly classified into four air quality and atmospheric change issues which are Nitric Oxide (NO) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter (PM10), Ozone Precursors, greenhouse gases, and finally carbon sequestration. Environmental Quality Incentives Program The purpose of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is to support agricultural production, forest management, and environmental quality as compatible goals; elevate environmental benefits; and help farmers and ranchers meet Federal, State, Tribal, and local environmental regulations. EQIP is a continuous sign-up, voluntary, conservation program administered by NRCS that offers financial and technical assistance for approved conservation practices based on a existing conservation plan. National Air Quality Initiative The primary goal of the National Air Quality Initiative (NAQI) is to achieve and maintain the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) within designated nonattainment areas of California. NAQI can assist agricultural producers by implementing conservation practices that reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC), particulate matter (PM10), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions from agricultural sources.

7 7 The typical conservation treatment for NAQI is the removal from service and permanent destruction of in-use high-polluting internal combustion engines that power and self-propel offroad mobile agricultural diesel vehicles or equipment and replacement with new engines that meet current model-year California emission standards as determined by the applicable EPA Engine Family Name and State of California Air Resources Board (ARB) Executive Order. Significant emission reduction benefits are reached when high-polluting off-road diesel engines are retired earlier than through normal turnover and replaced with cleaner new model-year offroad diesel engines. National Air Quality Initiative in the Imperial County In the Imperial County alone NAQI has made a huge positive impact in the environment by removing from service and permanent destruction of in-use high-polluting internal combustion engines that power and self-propel off-road mobile agricultural diesel vehicles. What is NOx? NOx refers to the group of total concentration of various gases made up of different levels or nitrogen and oxygen, the two most common being Nitric Oxide (NO) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). It is produced from the reaction of oxygen and nitrogen gases in the air during combustion at high temperatures. NOx is most commonly seen as smog or particles mixed in the air.

8 8 Environmental and health problems associated with NOx Acid Rain High levels of NOx can produce acid rain which is a serious environmental problem that can be harmful to fields, lakes, forests and the plants and animals that live in these ecosystems. Acid rain severely lowers the ph level of the soil, which is a serious concern for NRCS. Lowering of ph levels in the soil can cause the nutrients to be locked up in the soil and plants would not be able to make use of these nutrients. Imperial County is responsible for 50% of the country s alfalfa, as well as its other predominant plant which are lettuce, onion, sugar beets and carrots. If acid rain lowers the soil ph too far it will result in a poor crop yield causing that will affect the county and country. Alfalfa has the greatest sensitivity to acid soils of any crop grown, making ph level management critical. Alfalfa will not grow below a soil ph of 6.0, while other field crops are resistant to levels as low as 5.5 or even 5.0. If NOx emissions are high, it will result in a high probability of acid rain that will affect the ph of alfalfa making it a nation problem since Imperial County is responsible for over 50% of the nations alfalfa and is a vital producer of 20% of the food for the state s vast dairy industry

9 9 Figure 1. Below are pictures of a tractor that was approved by NAQI to be replaced. The old tractor is disposed prior to receiving financial assistance.

10 10 PROJECT OUTCOMES Data from Air Quality Programs The information that follows is based on actual data gathered from EQIP contracts from the Imperial County. The data is gathered from 30 EQIP contracts and reflect initial, final and percentage reduction of NOx, and PM10 emissions in the Imperial County alone. Imperial County NOx Results Data, graphs and tables are based on 30 old tractors; information provided by Natural Resource Conservation Service Imperial County. Average annual Nitrous Oxide (NOx) emissions of 18.32lbs and average annual particulate matter (PM10) emissions of.12lbs for a passenger vehicle provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Average vehicle length of ft provided by United States Department of Energy. From 2010 to 2013 the EQIP program alone reduced Nitrous Oxide (NOx) tractor emissions from tons to tons by replacing 30 old tractors and agricultural machinery for newer machinery, making that a reduction of about 79.3%. The NAQI program reduced and estimated 85.2 tons of NOx, or in

11 11 terms of passenger vehicles that would translate into a reduction from 11,731 cars to 2,430 cars worth of passenger vehicle emissions. That s like removing an average of 9,301 cars from our environment per year. Fact: Based on the average vehicle length of ft. provided by the United States Department of Energy the EQIP and NAQI programs in the Imperial County have eliminated an average of 9,301 cars worth of NOx emissions from the environment. If we were to take those 9,301 cars and put them bumper to bumper that would be around 23.8 miles. What is PM10? Particulate matter (PM10) are pieces of liquid or solid matter in the Earth's atmosphere. PM10 is suspended in the atmosphere as aerosol or air mixture, as opposed to the particulate matter alone. Particulates in the air are considered the deadliest form of pollution since it is able to enter deep into the lungs and blood streams unfiltered, causing short to permanent DNA mutations, heart attacks and even death. Environmental and health effect of PM10 According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) major concerns for human health from contact to PM10 include: cancer, effects on the respiratory systems, lung tissue damage and premature death. The children and the elderly with long-term lung disease, asthma, or influenza, are particularly delicate to the effects of PM10. Acidic PM10 can also harm humanmade materials and is an overall cause of low visibility in various parts of the United States.

12 12 In cropland, PM10 affects vegetation by clogging its pores creating a barrier to photosynthesis, thus affecting the growth of the crop. Imperial County PM10 Results Those same tractors replaced in the Imperial County generated 3.26 tons of particulate matter (PM10), from that number was reduced to.166 tons of PM10, making that a reduction of 3.1 tons of PM10. The average passenger vehicle emits an average of tons of PM10 per year, so a 3.1 ton reduction of PM10 is a substantial amount. The 3.1 tons of PM10 is the amount of PM10 emitted from 51,633 passenger vehicles in 1 year. Fact: Based on the average vehicle length of ft. provided by the United States Department of Energy the EQIP and NAQI programs in the Imperial County have eliminated an average of 51,633 cars worth of PM10 emissions from the environment. If we were to take those 51,633 passenger vehicles and put them bumper to bumper that would be around miles. NOx, ROG, and PM10 Machinery Emissions from The information that follows is based on actual data gathered from EQIP contracts from the Imperial County. The data is gathered from 30 EQIP contracts and reflect

13 13 initial, final and percentage reduction of NOx, and PM10 emissions in the Imperial County alone. The tables below reflect the initial and final results of machinery contamination in a year basis based on the period. The initial values reflect the contamination in tons emitted by machinery previously owned by landowners followed with the final results which reflect the contamination emitted by the newer machinery that the NAQI program provided.

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16 16 The table below displays the reductions of NOx and PM10 in tons for period as well as the total reduction for the 4 years together. CONCLUSION Imperial County has benefited a lot from the NAQI program. In a period of 4 years, the NAQI program has replaced 30 tractors that have reduced NOx emissions from tons to only tons making that a reduction of 79.3%. Based on the same 30 tractors that were replaced by the NAQI program a reduction of PM10 went from tons to only.166 tons making that a reduction of 94.91% of PM10. Air Quality programs enforced by the United States Department of Agriculture have brought massive results to the Imperial County alone. This report is based on emission results from the last 4 years alone. If Air Quality programs continue to help the Imperial County in the

17 17 coming years, it is guaranteed that the nation s cropland will continue to provide resources to our people for a longer time span. End Notes 1) Data, graphs and tables are based on 30 old tractors; information provided by Natural Resource Conservation Service Imperial County. 2) Average annual Nitrous Oxide (NOx) emissions of 18.32lbs and average annual particulate matter (PM10) emissions of.12lbs for a passenger vehicle provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 3) Average vehicle length of ft provided by United States Department of Energy.