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Air Quality Programs & Activities
| Air Quality Standards | Monitoring Network Plans | Ozone Information | Regional Haze | Indoor Air Quality | Monitor Maps |
Smog and other "criteria" air pollutants
A few common air pollutants are found all over the United States. These pollutants can injure health, harm the environment and cause property damage.
EPA calls these pollutants criteria air pollutants because the agency has regulated them by first developing health-based criteria (science-based guidelines) as the basis for setting permissible levels. One set of limits (primary standard) protects against adverse health effects; another set of limits (secondary standard) is intended to prevent environmental and property damage. A geographic area that meets or does better than the primary standard is called an attainment area; areas that don't meet the primary standard are called nonattainment areas.
Although EPA has been regulating criteria air pollutants since the 1970 Clean Air Act was passed, many urban areas are classified as nonattainment for at least one criteria air pollutant. It has been estimated that about 90 million Americans live in nonattainment areas.
Region 7 nonattainment areas for current criteria pollutants:Lead - Herculaneum, MO
Ozone - St. Louis, MO
Fine Particulate Matter - St. Louis, MO
Air Quality Standards
The Office of Air Quality and Planning and Standards (OAQPS)
manages EPA programs to improve air quality in areas where the current
quality is unacceptable and to prevent deterioration in areas where the
air is relatively free of contamination. To accomplish this task, OAQPS
establishes the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for each
of the criteria pollutants.
Because different pollutants have different effects, the NAAQS are
also different. Some pollutants have standards for both long-term and short-term
averaging times. The short-term standards are designed to protect against
acute, or short-term, health effects, while the long-term standards were
established to protect against chronic health effects.
This NAAQS table lists all criteria pollutants and standards.
Each year EPA examines air pollution trends of each of the six principal pollutants in this country. A yearly EPA document titled National Air Quality and Emissions Trends Report gives a detailed analysis of changes in air pollution levels over the last 10 years time, plus a summary of the current air pollution status.
Monitoring Network Plans
Each year, states are required to submit an annual air monitoring network plan to EPA. The network plans provide for the creation and maintenance of monitoring stations, in accordance with EPA monitoring requirements specified in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 58. EPA monitoring rules provide an opportunity for public comment on the annual monitoring network plans and modifications to the plans. The purpose of this Web notice is to ensure that the public has an opportunity to comment on the states' annual monitoring network plans, as described in the state-specific public notices (links below).
- Notice of Public Comment Period: Missouri Department of Natural Resources' 2009 Ambient Air Monitoring Plan for Airborne Lead (Pb) (Comments due by Dec. 16, 2009)
- Notice of Public Comment Period: Kansas Department of Health and Environment's 2009 Ambient Air Monitoring Plan for Airborne Lead (Pb) (Comments due by Nov. 30, 2009)
- Notice of Public Comment Period: Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality's 2009 Air Monitoring Network Plan (Comments due by Nov. 9, 2009)
- Notice of Public Comment Period: Iowa Department of Natural Resources' 2009 Air Monitoring Network Plan (Comments due by Oct. 28, 2009.)
Links to Air Related Information and Programs
| Ozone Links |
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| Region 7 State
Air Monitoring Programs |
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| National Air Monitoring Data | |
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Regional Haze/
Visibility |
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| Indoor Air Quality | |
| Energy Conservation
and Renewable Energy |
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| Pollutant Monitor
Location Maps |
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| Tribal Air Quality | |
| Meteorogical Data |
Region VII does not archive meteorological data. However, meteorological data are available from other sources. The principal federal sources are the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) located in Asheville, NC, the National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Centers, and the EPA Support Center for Regulatory Models (SCRAM) at Research Triangle Park, NC. State Climatological Offices are an excellent source of meteorological data. Commercial and university websites are also sources of current weather conditions. The NCDC is the most extensive source of meteorological and climatological data. EPA's SCRAM site has surface and mixing height data that can be used to create wind roses and/or used in air dispersion models. These data are for the major NWS stations throughout the United States. The data are mostly for the years 1984 through 1992 (for surface data) or 1991 (for mixing heights). Current weather observations and forecasts for Kansas and Missouri, as well as climatological data for the Kansas City and St Joseph areas, are available from the NWS Pleasant Hill station. A list of website where meteorological data are available follow: |
