Office of Research and Development National Risk Management Research Laboratory/Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division Photo image area measures 2” H x 6.93” W and can be masked by a collage strip of one, two or three images. The photo image area is located 3.19” from left and 3.81” from top of page. Each image used in collage should be reduced or cropped to a maximum of 2” high, stroked with a 1.5 pt white frame and positioned edge-to-edge with accompanying images. What is the local air quality impact related to major transit sources and can barriers reduce exposure? EPA Office of Research and Development: Gayle Hagler, Rich Baldauf, Sue Kimbrough, Eben Thoma, Steven Perry, David Heist, Tim Barzyk, Vlad Isakov Presented by: Michelle Bergin, Georgia EPD Southeast Diesel Collaborative - August 6, 2012

1 EPA has conducted research on people’s exposures to air pollutant emissions from nearby transportation sources and potential ways to mitigate these exposures Field assessment of near-source air pollution concentrations Highways Rail yards Ports Field and modeling to assess whether boundary walls or vegetation improves local-scale air quality Multi-city assessment of the Panama Canal expansion project and near-source air quality issues Overview

EPA ORD field measurements Near-road field studies: NYC (2004) Las Vegas ( ) Detroit ( ) Raleigh (2006, 2012/13) Las Vegas Chicago Detroit Raleigh Atlanta NY/NJ Near-rail yard field studies: Chicago ( ) Atlanta (2012) Near-port field studies: Port of New York/New Jersey (2012-) Mobile sampling Stationary monitoring Measurement approaches: Additional studies done throughout US with academic grants 2

~60 m 3 Near-road air quality 3 Hagler et al (2010) Over 45 million people in the US estimated to live within 300 feet of a major transportation system. 3 GT East campus dorms in Atlanta I-85/I-75 UFP: ultrafine particles (smaller than 100 nanometers) 300 ft (Raleigh, NC)

Assessing mitigation options - Mitigation strategies include new emissions standards as well as urban planning strategies, which may have a long time window for improvements - Structural or vegetative barriers are of interest as a potential near-term mitigation option, if shown to reduce near-source air pollution e.g., Tree stand adjacent to highway, brick noise barrier adjacent to highway 4

Solid barriers Highway environment: Found to provide consistent reductions downwind of roadways, up to ~50%, although effects at the top and ends can be important Field measurements: (Raleigh, NC) 6 m barrier No barrier Modeling studies: Air flow Distance from road (H = 6 m, therefore 50 = 300 m) Chi: model-normalized concentration of an inert tracer. 20 nm particle count (#/cm 3 ) 5

Vegetation as a barrier (Baldauf et al., 2008) Raleigh, NC: Trees + solid barrier had lower downwind particle count than solid barrier alone Chapel Hill, NC: Thin evergreen tree stand had mixed results – particle number concentrations were sometimes higher, sometimes lower. (Hagler et al., 2012) *Pending - Detroit, MI: Data analysis underway assessing one month of continuous measurements in clearing versus behind tree stand. 6

Cicero rail yard study (CIRYS) Mobile monitoring approach applied surrounding a rail yard in Cicero, IL e.g., 4-7 AM session In general, black carbon found to be sensitive indicator of local-scale impact – elevated by % in downwind residential areas up to several hundred meters from yard boundary during early morning and evening periods. Other measurements (PM 2.5, PM 10, CO, particle count) did not show consistent upwind/downwind differences. 7 Black carbon (ng m -3 ) Distance from the rail yard boundary (m) Preliminary results

Atlanta rail yard study (ARYS) Mobile monitoring conducted around Inman/Tilford Yards for 3 weeks in May 2012 Continuous, real-time, and highly speciated mapping of: Gases: CO, NOx (NO, NO 2, NOy), CO 2, SO 2, benzene, toluene, xylene, acetone, acetaldehyde… Particles: PM 2.5, black carbon, particle size and count, particle composition (aerosol mass spectrometetry) e.g., snapshot of an intercepted train plume *data currently under analysis 8

Solid barriers Rail yard environment: Assessment through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling plus potential mitigation strategies 6 m Wall No Wall Wall surrounding yard, with entrance/exit breaks Assessing how emissions disperse in idealized rail yard set-up: -Changing wind direction -Terrain impacts – within yard, surrounding neighborhood buildings, with wall - Weighted and unweighted emissions distribution 9

Considering near-source impact and future freight activity growth Panama Canal expansion and near-source air quality: - GIS assessment underway to understand population demographics and baseline air quality nearby ports and along port-related freight corridors. - Ports for detailed analysis include: Savannah, Houston, Norfolk, Miami, and New York/New Jersey - Future research may develop community screening model allowing multi-modal “what if” scenario assessments. - Panama Canal expansion impacts are uncertain – commentary ranges from describing it as “the next Y2K” for certain port areas to “a non-event”. However, economic demand-driven significant growth is agreed upon.

Any questions? EPA contacts: Rich Baldauf – Gayle Hagler – Acknowledgements: EPA ORD Air, Climate, and Energy program National Risk Management Research Laboratory National Exposure Research Laboratory EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality EPA Region 2, Region 4, and Region 5 EPA Environmental Modeling and Visualization Laboratory Federal Highway Association Georgia Environmental Protection Division Atlanta Regional Commission Research support provided from ARCADIS, Lockheed Martin, Aerodyne Research, Duke University, and UNC Institute for the Environment 11