Product Design Team

Introduction

The Product Design Team (PDT) is comprised of members from State, Local, and Tribal air agencies (SLTs) and EPA programs.  The team has the responsibility for segmenting the CAER implementation work, prioritizing supporting research activities, setting up the smaller Research and Development (R&D) teams to do the work, setting the project scope and expectations for these teams, enabling these teams to be successful, and integrating the outcomes of the R&D teams into future activities and the proposed vision for the CAER future state.  The purpose of the R&D teams is to accomplish discrete projects identified by the PDT that further the implementation objectives under the overall CAER project. These projects involve a range of policy and program research activities related to identifying program needs, analyzing business rules and quality assurance/quality control procedures across programs, review of program regulatory requirements, and other program characteristics and functions that are important considerations for creating a shared emissions system under the CAER proposed future state.

The PDT also receives periodic updates on the progress of CAERS, helps prioritize what new functionality is needed in CAERS, and provides feedback on CAERS to improve the system.  We meet every two weeks.  Members donate additional time for R&D projects where possible.

Current PDT SLT membership:

AZ, Pima AZ, DC, GA, FL, LA, ME, MI, MN, MS, MT, NC, OK, OR, RI, SC, TN, TX, WI, WY.  While not all of our SLT members plan to join CAERS soon, their input has been instrumental in making CAERS the best product it can be for all users. 

If you are interested in joining, please reach out to one of our PDT co-chairs:

Julia Gamas
U.S. EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
gamas.julia@epa.gov
919-541-7915

Sierra Allen
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
sierra.allen@maine.gov
207-815-7684

Tammy Manning
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
tammy.manning@ncdenr.gov
919-707-8717

You may also reach out to Kurt Rakouskas from ECOS with questions: krakouskas@ecos.or, 202-266-4935.

Previous Projects

Short Term Wins

During its initial phase the PDT worked on project that would be of immediate benefit in improving air emissions reporting as stand-alone products.  You can find more information about those projects here.

State/Local/Tribal (SLT), National Emission Inventory (NEI), Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Mapping

Researched consistency and possible workflows for sharing of emissions data between TRI, SLTs and NEI. This included creating a crosswalk for pollutants between programs, understanding how to handle each program’s terminology (e.g. facility, unit) and emission sources covered by reporting, and identifying where guidance needs to be harmonized.

• R&D Project Scope: SLT, NEI, TRI Mapping (pdf) (72.53 KB)
• TRI/NEI/SLT R&D Team Summary Report for Phase I CAER Project (pdf) (1.2 MB)
• TRI/NEI Pollutant Crosswalk (xlsx) (171.88 KB, September 2020)
• R&D Project Plan SLT/NEI/TRI Phase 2 (pdf) (187.61 KB, 2/20/2018)
• TRI/NEI/SLT R&D Team Summary Report for Phase 2 CAER Project (pdf) (4 MB, September 2018)
  • TRI/NEI/SLT R&D Team Summary Report for Phase 2 CAER Project (pdf) (4 MB, September 2018)

Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC)

Identified and evaluated a common set of emissions data QA/QC procedures for potential use in a shared emission reporting system.

• R&D Project Scope: Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) (pdf) (69.86 KB)
• CAER QA/QC Phase 1 Project Team - Final Report (pdf) (578.04 KB)

Data Model for the Common Emissions Form (CEF)

Documented a data model with the emissions-related data elements needed to support a common emission form (CEF) reporting structure in a shared emissions platform.  Identified and included state-specific data elements sufficient to allow for broad usage by states and EPA CAER programs.

• R&D Project Scope: Data Model for the Common Emissions Form (CEF) (pdf) (48.85 KB)   
• Emissions Data Model PDT Research and Development (R&D) Project Team Report (pdf) (1.59 MB)
  • Emissions Data Model R&D Report Appendix A - Data Model Survey Results (xlsx) (122.33 KB)
  • Emissions Data Model R&D Report Appendix B - Additional Pollutants (xlsx) (54.63 KB)
  • Emissions Data Model R&D Report Appendix C - Additional Data Fields (xlsx) (21.34 KB)
• R&D Project Scope: Data Model for the Common Emissions Form (CEF) Phase 2 (pdf) (188.6 KB)
• Emissions Data Model Product Development Team Report - Phase II (pdf) (817.99 KB)
  • Emissions Data Model PDT Report Appendix 1 - CEF Data Fields (xlsx)
  • Emissions Data Model PDT Report Appendix 2 - CEF Calculation Requirements
• Data Model for the CEF Phase II Presentation (pdf) (227.07 KB)

SCC-WebFIRE for the Common Emissions Form (CEF)

Identified problems and solutions with SCCs and WebFIRE that would meet SLT, NEI, NATA, and CEDRI/ERT requirements under the CAER project.

• R&D Project Scope: SCC-WebFIRE for the Common Emissions Form (CEF) (pdf) (45.23 KB)
• Final Report: SCC-WebFIRE for the Common Emissions Form (pdf) (1.03 MB, November 22, 2017)

State Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) to National GHGRP Mapping

Pilot study to map emission data in the national GHGRP to state GHGRP programs to understand which data elements state mandatory reporting programs have in common with GHGRP required data elements, and identify steps to share data between programs. 

• R&D Project Scope: State Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) to National GHGRP Mapping (pdf) (80.17 KB)
• State Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) to National GHGRP Mapping Final Report (pdf) (1.75 MB, October 2, 2017)

Confidential Business Information Procedure Study

Studied state, local and tribal (SLT) and EPA program business cases and practices for handling confidential business information (CBI) as it relates to emission reporting information, and identified issues and recommendations for handling CBI within the proposed common emissions form (CEF) approach under CAER. 

• R&D Project Plan CBI Procedures Study (pdf) (47.71 KB, February 1, 2018)
• Confidential Business Information Project Final Report (pdf) (746.68 KB)

Development of a State-Local-Tribal Emission Factors Compendium

Developed a compendium of emission factors to support state, local and tribal authorities (SLTs) and other relevant stakeholders that utilize and are in need of emission factor information.  The compendium could also, eventually, be used as one of several inputs to the Common Emissions Form (CEF) to provide reporters tools to share data across reporting programs, including EF data.  

• R&D Project Plan: Development of a State-Local-Tribal Emission Factors Compendium (pdf) (60.24 KB, January 16, 2018)
• Development of a State-Local-Tribal Emission Factors Compendium Research and Development Project 10 (pdf) (263.91 KB)
  • SLT EF Compendium Report Appendix 1 - Minnesota (xlsx)
  • SLT EF Compendium Report Appendix 2 - Michigan (xlsx)
  • SLT EF Compendium Report Appendix 3 - South Carolina (xlsx)

Standardize Code Tables for the Combined Air Emissions Reporting System (CAERS)

Identified the differences in data codes between State Local Tribal (SLT) emissions inventory systems and the National Emissions Inventory system so that CAERS can account for these differences when reporters use the system.  These differences, including naming convention differences as well as codes that may be unique for the SLTs and are not included in the NEI or don't have a one-to-one match in NEI.  The team compared codes for the following data fields: unit type, control measure, calculation parameter unit of measure, calculation material, and emissions calculation method. 

• Standardize Code Tables for the Combined Air Emissions Reporting System (CAERS) - Overview (pdf) (163.88 KB, January 15, 2020)
• Standardize Code Tables for the Combined Air Emissions Reporting System (CAERS) - Final Report (pdf) (1.85 MB)
  • Appendix A: List of Data Field Codes (xlsx)
  • Appendix D2: Proposed CAERS Tables (xlsx)

WebFIRE in CAERS

Emissions Inventory reporters frequently use emission factors published by EPA's WebFIRE.  This project found current challenges in the use of WebFIRE in reporting systems.  The report provides recommendations regarding changes in WebFIRE and how to handle WebFIRE in CAERS.

• WebFIRE in CAERS Final Report (pdf) (624.82 KB, 10/15/2021)
  • Appendix A. Retired Mapped SCCs with Emission Factors (xlsx) (2.31 MB, 7/30/2021)
  • Appendix B. WebFIRE Factor Analysis (xlsx) (10.26 MB, 8/24/2021)
  • Appendix C. Default Heat Content Ratios in CAERS V2 (pdf) (201.62 KB, 8/24/2021)
  • Appendix D. Minnesota State Specific Data (pdf) (247.64 KB, 8/20/2021)
  • Appendix E. Emission Factors from AP-42 (xlsx) (8.88 KB, 10/15/2021)
  • Appendix F. Duplicate Emission Factors (xlsx) (19.35 KB, 10/15/2021)
  • Appendix G. Ratios of Natural Gas Emission Factors (xls) (84.5 KB, 6/9/2021)
  • Appendix H. Natural Gas Process Factors (xls) (132 KB, 6/9/2021)
  • Appendix I. Wyoming's Approach to WebFIRE Adjustments (pdf) (144.16 KB, 10/15/2021)

Facility Inventory SLT Requirements

SLTs handle their facility inventory data in many ways to meet their own program requirements as well as the EPA's.  Depending on what sources of facility inventory data an SLT uses, CAERS could be relied on more or less by SLTs to maintain facility and sub-facility data.  SLTs may also have Quality Assurance (QA) checks in addition to those from the federal programs.  The following two reports contain information about specific SLT workflows and QA checks for SLT facility inventory data.

• Investigation of Current SLT Facility Inventory Data & Sources (pdf) (406.41 KB, 03/23/2023)
• Investigation of Current SLT QA QC Practices for Facility Inventories (pdf) (309.9 KB, 03/23/2023)
  • Appendix A. Original Letter and Questionnaire (pdf) (251.52 KB)
  • Appendix B. Facility Staging Requirements (xlsx) (77.63 KB)
  • Appendix C. All Original Responses (pdf) (2.91 MB)
  • Appendix D. SLT Facility Inventory Research (xlsx) (185.97 KB)
  • Appendix E. See QA report above.
  • Appendix F. EIS QA Checks and Analysis (xlsx) (119.27 KB)
  • Appendix G. CAERS V3 QA Checks (xlsx) (44.74 KB)