April 13, 2016
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a March 28th Final Rule in the Federal Register containing revisions to Ambient Air Monitoring Requirements for criteria pollutants. 81 Fed. Reg. 17248.
EPA had previously proposed revisions in 2014 stating it was providing clarification to its existing requirements and reducing the compliance burden and monitoring agencies operating ambient monitoring networks.
Sampling ambient air conditions is an important part of the process for determining whether an area is and/or will remain in compliance with the relevant Clean Air Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Determining the quantity of a given pollutant in the ambient air it is often accomplished by:
- Sampling the air,
- Chemical analysis of the sampled air, and
- Quality assurance to ensure the precision and accuracy of measurement
For example, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality operates a number of sampling stations to monitor various state Air Quality Control Regions’ compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
EPA states that the final rule includes revisions that:
- Add and harmonize definitions
- Clarify annual monitoring network plan public notice requirements
- Revise network design requirements; system modifications and operating schedules
- Clarify data certification, data submission and archiving procedures
- Reorganize and clarify quality assurance requirements
- Revise certain network design criteria for non-source oriented lead monitoring
The revisions are also stated to address other issues in the Ambient Air Quality Surveillance requirements.
Click here to download a copy of the Federal Register notice.
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