INTERNATIONAL AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD

Progress Report 23

April 1997

Table of Contents
1.0 OVERVIEW
2.0 ACID PRECIPITATION
2.1 Progress Toward Acid Rain Control in the United States
2.2 Need for Continuing Support of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
2.3 Trends in Acid Rain Precursors
2.4 U.S. EPA Nitrogen Oxides Emission Reduction Program - Final Rule for Phase II, Group 1 and Group 2 Boilers - (Coal Fired Utilities)
2.4.1 Need for Reductions in NOX Emissions
2.5 Ozone
2.6 Acid Precipitation
2.6.1 First Stage of the NOX Reduction Program
2.6.2 Second Stage of the NOX Reduction Program
2.6.3 Compliance and Deadlines
2.6.4 Addition of Limited Cap and Trade Option
2.7 The Acid Rain Issue in Canada
2.7.1 Deposition
2.7.2 Environmental Response
2.7.3 The Future
3.0 STANDARDS SETTING
3.1 Overview
3.2 Standards & Guidelines
3.3 Health Impacts: Statement on Asthma and Air Pollution
3.4 Ozone
3.4.1 Formation
3.4.2 U.S. EPA Proposed Ozone Standard
3.4.3 Update on the Ozone Transport Assessment Group
3.4.4 Ozone Transport in the Ozone Transport Assessment Group Domain
3.4.5 Status of Ozone Transport Assessment Group
3.4.6 Canadian Actions on the Revisions of Ozone Objectives
3.4.7 Current Canadian Ground-Level Ozone Objectives
3.4.8 Current Canadian Air Quality with Respect to Ground-Level Ozone
3.4.9 North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO)
3.4.10 Historical Summary
3.4.11 Current Developments
3.5 Particulate Matter
3.5.1 Formation
3.5.2 EPA Proposed Particulate Standard
3.5.3 Monitoring Requirements
3.5.4 Current Canadian Particulate Matter in Air Objectives
3.5.5 Current Canadian Air Quality with Respect to Particulate Matter in Air
3.5.6 Particulate Matter in Air: The Science
4.0 CLIMATE CHANGE
4.1 Overview
4.2 Control Scenarios
4.2.1 The International Management Mechanism
5.0 JOINT MANAGEMENT OF TRANSBOUNDARY REGIONAL AIR QUALITY
5.1 Overview: What Will Be the Air Management Framework of the Future?
5.2 Single Issue Management Regimes
5.2.1 Management of Ground-level Ozone
5.2.2 Management of Acidifying Emissions
5.3 Multi-Pollutant, Multi-Effect Management Regimes
5.3.1 U.S. Joint Implementation Program for Ozone, Particulates and Regional Haze
5.3.2 Canadian Regional Smog Management Plans
5.4 Observations
5.5 Great Lakes Air Quality Partnership
5.6 The Paso del Norte Air Quality Task Force
5.7 B.C./WA Environmental Cooperation Council Activities
5.7.1 Germane Activities
5.8 North Eastern States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) and the Eastern Canadian Transboundary Smog Issue Group (ECTSIG) Joint Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Project
5.8.1 Objectives for the Pilot Project
5.8.2 Deliverables
5.8.3 Timeframe
5.9 Commission for Environmental Cooperation
5.9.1 Continental Pollutant Pathways Report
5.9.2 The Program on Sound Management of Chemicals
5.10 New U.S. ­ Mexico Program Directed at Health and Environment Improvements on Common Border

List of Tables

Table 1. Estimated Regional Reductions Necessary to Mitigate Various Environmental Effects
Table 2. Comparison of Various National and International Air Quality Tools
Table 3. Relationship Between Changes in Concentrations of Air Pollutants and Percentage Change in Human Health Indicator
Table 4. Subjects Per Million Population Affected by 3-Day Exposure to Specific Concentrations of PM10
Table 5. Comparison of Selected National and International Targets ­ Ozone
Table 6. Comparison of Selected National and International Targets ­ Sulfur Dioxide
Table 7. Comparison of Ambient Fine and Coarse Mode Particles
Table 8. Ambient Particulate Matter Standards and Objectives in Canada and the U.S. Permissible Pollutant Concentrations (micrograms per cubic metre)

List of Figures

Figure 1. Pollution Sources
Figure 2. Current CASTNet Sites near the U.S.-Canada Border with a 1989-1995 Trend Record
Figure 3. Change in SO2 Concentration from 1989 through Sept. 1995 (As percent of mean 1989 site model outputs)
Figure 4. Change in SO4 Concentration from 1989 through Sept. 1995 (As percent of mean 1989 site model outputs
Figure 5. Change in Total Sulfur Concentration from 1989 through Sept. 1995 (As percent of mean 1989 site model outputs)
Figure 6. Change in Total Nitrogen Concentration from 1989 through Sept. 1995 (As percent of mean 1989 site model outputs)
Figure 7. Change in Ozone Concentration from 1989 through Sept. 1995 (As percent of mean 1989 site model outputs)
Figure 8. Smooth Estimates of Trends in SO2 Concentrations (g/m3) at CASTNet Sites Closest to Canada [includes 4thQ 1995 data where available] [R2 for site models shown in legend]
Figure 9. U.S. NOX Emissions in 1992
Figure 10. VOC Emissions Trends
Figure 11. Counties Not Meeting EPA's Ozone Proposal Standard (* hour, average 3rd maximum, 0.08 ppm)
Figure 12. Source Regions of Influence 1991 OTAG Episode Transport Vectors & Normalized Residence Time 1991 OTAG Episode
Figure 13. Source Regions of Influence 1993 OTAG Episode Transport Vectors & Normalized Residence Time 1993 OTAG Episode
Figure 14. Source Regions of Influence 1995 OTAG Episode Transport Vectors & Normalized Residence Time 1995 OTAG Episode
Figure 15. Average Number of Days when 1h Ozone AQO (82 ppb) was Exceeded (1987 - 1992) at Selected Cities
Figure 16. PM10 Concentrations Correlated with Population
Figure 17. Average Daily PM10 Concentrations for Major Canadian Cities
Figure 18. Average Daily PM2.5 Concentrations for Major Canadian Cities
Figure 19. Source Regions (Emission Management Areas) For Smog
Figure 20. Source Regions (Emission Management Areas) For Acid Rain
Figure 21. Various Options for Defining AOI's with Preliminary Pros and Cons

Acronyms

AELs alternative (higher) emissions limits
AIRS Aerometric Information Retrieval System
ANC Acid Neutralizing Capacity
AOI(s) Areas of Influence
AOV(s) Areas of Violation
AQO Air Quality Objective
ARB Air Resources Board
CAAA Clean Air Act Amendments
CASAC Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee
CASTNet Clean Air Status and Trends Network
CEC Commission for Environmental Cooperation
CEPA Canadian Environmental Protection Act
CFCs chlorofluorocarbons
CO2 carbon dioxide
COP Conference of Parties
DDT Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichlorethane
ECTSIG Eastern Canadian Transboundary Smog Issue Group
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPRI Electric Power Research Institute
FERC Federal Environmental Regulation Commission
FPAC Federal/Provincial Advisory Committee
FY Fiscal Year
IAQAB International Air Quality Advisory Board
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Committee
JPAC Joint Public Advisory Committee
LNB low NOX burner
LRTAP Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NADP National Atmospheric Deposition Program
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
NAPAP National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program
NARSTO North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone
NAWQA National Water Quality Assessment Program
NESCAUM Northeastern States for Co-ordinated Air Use Management
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide
NOX Nitrogen Oxides
NRC National Research Council
NSMP National Smog management Plan
NTN National Trends Network
OAQPS Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
OTAG Ozone Transport Assessment Group
OTR Ozone Transport Region
PM particulate matter
RAMPs Regional Air Management Partnerships
RAP(s) Remedial Action Plan(s)
RIPs Regionally Integrated Plans
ROSA Regional Ozone Study Area
RSMP Regional Smog Management Plans
SO2 Sulphur dioxide
SO4 Particulate sulfate
SOMA Sulphur Oxides Management Area
TSP Total Suspended Particles
UAM Urban Airshed Model
UK United Kingdom
USGS U.S. Geological Survey
VOCs volatile organic compounds
WGAQOG Working Group on Air Quality Objectives and Guidelines
WGSMC Working Group on Sound Management of Chemicals
WHO World Health Organization


URL: http://www.ijc.org/rel/boards/iaqab/r23-ch1.html