Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District 2016 Annual Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan Draft June 2016 Prepared by Christopher Lanane Air Monitoring Specialist Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District 157 Short Street Bishop, California 93514 (760) 872-8211 (760) 872-6109 Fax www.gbuapcd.org Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 1 2.0 Public Comments……………………………………………………………………… 1 3.0 Network Design……………………………………………………………………… 1 Definition of Terms…………………………………………………………… 9 Monitored Pollutants and Meteorological Variables ……………………… 11 Network Description………………………………………………………….. 12 4.0 Special Programs………………………………………………………………………17 5.0 Recent or Proposed Modifications to Network……………………………………… 18 6.0 Minimum Monitoring Requirements………………………………………………… 21 7.0 Data Certification and Reporting …………………………………………………… 22 Appendix A. Site Information ……………………………………………………………… 23 Appendix B. NCORE Monitoring Plan ……………………………………………………… 27 Tables and Figures Figure 1. Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District map…………………………… 3 Figure 2. Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District map, Owens Lake Detail……… 4 Figure 3. Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District map, Mono Lake Detail ……… 5 Table 1. List of Monitoring Sites and Variables Monitored…………………………………… 6 Table 2. Criteria Pollutant Monitoring Objectives and Spatial Scales………………………… 7 Table 3. Criteria Pollutant Monitoring Purposes……………………………………………… 8 Figure 4. Owens Lake Map: Dust Identification Program Detail …………………………… 15 Figure 5. Mono Lake Map: Dust Identification Program Detail …………………………… 16 Figure 6. Coso Flood Deposition Area Map ………………………………………………… 19 Table A.1 Site Specific Information………………………………………………………… 24 Table A.2 Pollutant Monitors ……………………………………………………………… 25 Table A.3 Quality Assurance Audits 2015 ………………………………………………… 26 ii Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 ii Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 1.0 Introduction An annual review of all national air quality monitoring networks is required by Federal regulations as a means to identify needs for addition, relocation, or termination of monitoring stations or instrumentation. The Annual Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan (AMNP) prepared by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the primary quality assurance organization (PQAO) of which the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (District) is a part, includes the area encompassed by the District. As part of the ARB PQAO, the District operates under the ARB’s EPA-approved Quality Assurance Program (QAP). With this monitoring plan, the District has sought to develop a more comprehensive and District-specific plan for submittal to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This plan describes the network of ambient air quality monitors to be operated by the District during the 2016 calendar year. It includes a review of actions taken in the monitoring network during the 2015-2016 fiscal year and plans for actions in the years ahead. This draft plan addresses the requirements for an annual network plan as listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 58, Section 10 (40 CFR 58.10). These regulations require that the AMNP be submitted to the EPA by July 1 of each year after a 30-day public inspection period. The inspection period for this plan began on June 10, 2016, and closed on July 13, 2016, after which the plan, along with the comments received during the public inspection period, will be submitted to EPA for approval. Please note that all highlighted text indicates additions and/or revisions of the information contained in the 2015 AMNP. The District staff, along with the CARB and EPA Region IX conducted a comprehensive review of the air monitoring stations throughout the District in 2007. State and Local Air Monitoring Station (SLAMS) designations, monitoring objectives, and spatial scales of representativeness were assigned to the criteria pollutants monitored by site. Each year, District staff conducts an annual review of the air monitoring network to evaluate whether the current monitoring strategies are meeting the needs of the District, to determine compliance with all current Federal and State regulations, and to aid in the development of future monitoring strategies. When monitoring station additions or relocations are warranted, site reports are written and/or updated locally and in the EPA’s Air Quality System (AQS) database to document compliance with established monitoring criteria. 2.0 Public Comments Pursuant to Federal regulations, this draft plan was made available for public inspection and comment for at least 30 days prior to submission to the EPA. Notice of availability of the document was published in local newspapers and the document was posted to the District's website (www.gbuapcd.org) on June 10, 2016, under the link, “What's New.” The public inspection period provides an opportunity for the public, the EPA, and any other interested parties to provide comments on the plan. Comments received during the inspection period will be included with the plan in the submission. Following the review period ending July 13, 2016, the plan will be submitted to EPA for approval of any SLAMS network changes. 3.0 Network Design The District operates nineteen (19) PM10 monitoring stations, that include meteorological monitoring, and six (6) additional meteorology only, monitoring stations in four planning areas 1 Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 and in the general environs of the District’s three counties: Alpine, Inyo, and Mono. The planning areas in the District are: Coso Junction (formerly Searles Valley), Owens Valley, Mono Basin, and Mammoth Lakes. Figures 1 - 3 present maps of the entire District indicating the planning areas, the monitoring stations currently in operation, and those stations planned for installation this year. Note that three monitoring stations, North Beach, Mill Site, and Dirty Socks, were shut down due to the cancelation of leases in November 2012, by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, the land owner and the air polluter responsible for the dust emissions from Owens Lake. In the first quarter of 2014, a permit was granted by the California State Lands Commission for the new North Beach monitoring location. That station has been fully operational since August 2014. In November 2014 the lease dispute with the LADWP was resolved and the Dirty Socks and Mill Site monitoring stations were re-installed in their former locations. PM10 monitoring at these locations re-commenced in December 2014. Table 1 provides a list of the monitoring stations, the pollutants measured at each station, the EPA Air Quality System (AQS, the EPA's national air quality data base) site codes, and the start date for each station. Table 2 presents the monitoring objective and spatial scale for each monitor at each site. A list of the monitoring objectives and a description of them is provided in this document. Portions of these monitoring objectives and their descriptions are adapted from the CARB annual network plan for 2016. After consultation with the District Board and District monitoring specialists, the APCO determines monitoring locations in the District, as delegated by CARB. Monitoring locations are then added to or removed from the network monitoring plan that is assembled and presented annually to the public for inspection. This plan is then submitted to EPA for review and consideration for approval. The EPA Region IX administrator has the final authority on the configuration of the monitoring network. Multiple purposes for monitoring a pollutant at a particular site are possible. There is some overlap between monitoring objectives as defined by EPA, presented in Table 2, and the monitoring purposes presented in Table 3. A brief description of the network for each criteria pollutant monitored is provided here. Further site-specific information is presented in the site reports presented in Appendix A. The primary and basic objective of all of the District’s ambient air quality monitors, including all SLAMS and SPMs, is to determine compliance with the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant and to aid the District in the development of emissions control strategies that protect the public health. Data from these monitors has and will continue to be used in the development of attainment plans for the two remaining nonattainment areas in the District, the Owens Valley Planning Area and the Mono Basin Planning Area, and in verifying compliance with the PM10 standard in the attainment areas, the Coso Junction Maintenance Area and the Mammoth Lakes Planning Area, within the District. A secondary objective of the monitoring program is to provide air pollution data to the public in near-real-time through presentation of the data on the District’s website. Additionally, these data are used to notify the public of unhealthy levels of particulate through the District’s Dust Alert system. These notifications are received by any interested parties through e-mail, text message, or via fax. 2 Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 Figure 1. Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District Map 3 Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 Figure 2. Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District Map, Owens Lake detail 4 Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 Figure 3. Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District Map, Mono Lake detail 5 Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 Table 1. List of Monitoring Sites and Variables Monitored * Monitor restarted December 2014 after two-year hiatus due to lease cancellation by property owner. ** PM10 monitoring suspended at Flat Rock May 2011 when monitor was moved to Mill Site. Flat Rock now used for meteorological monitoring and video capture and PM monitor testing. *** Special purpose monitoring stations. PM10 monitoring suspended July 9, 2012, for T4 and August 22, 2012, for T23. † PM10 monitoring suspended August 2008; meteorological monitoring suspended June 2011. †† District's Portable Monitoring Station berth, adjacent to District's NCORE station. 6 Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan – June 2016 Table 2. Criteria Pollutant Monitoring Objectives and Spatial Scales MONITORING OBJECTIVE/ SPATIAL SCALE SITE TYPE HC - Highest Concentration MI - Microscale PO - Population Oriented MS - Middle Scale SI – Source Impact NS - Neighborhood Scale BK - Background Level US - Urban Scale PT - Pollutant Transport RS – Regional Scale VI – Visibility/Welfare Impacts NaS – National Scale SPM - Special Purpose Monitor GS – Global Scale * Monitor restarted December 2014: two-year hiatus due to lease cancellation. ** PM10 monitoring ended at Flat Rock May 2011. Station now used for meteorological monitoring, video capture and PM monitor testing. *** T-4, T-23 were special purpose monitors where monitoring was suspended July and August 2012, respectively. † T-7 and T27 are special purpose monitors that began operation in July and August 2012, respectively. †† PM10 monitoring suspended August 2008; meteorological monitoring June 2011. 7