1. Ozone in the Tri Cities
August 2018

2. Smog – Ground Level Ozone

3. Ozone in the Tri Cities - a brief history:
2013 – AirPact (model) showed potential for high ozone in Kennewick
2014 – Temporary Monitor on Kellogg; mobile monitoring
2015 – Permanent Monitor installed at BCAA offices; additional mobile monitoring
2015 – National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone reduced to 70 ppb from 75 ppb
2016 – Precursor Study
2017 – Precursor Study Completed; Kennewick ozone values continue to be of concern
2018 – Community outreach

4. Areas of the country projected to have ozone issues:
The Tri Cities is not on this map!

5. Local geography is part of the situation:

6. Area of interest: Franklin County Dept. of Ecology Benton County
Nuclear Program
Industrial Unit
Eastern Regional Office
Benton County
Walla Walla
County
Benton Clean Air Agency

7. Where does Ozone come from?

8. Sources of NOx

9. Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds

11. August 13, 2015 (77 ppb)

15. Average of three years’ fourth highest 8-hour daily average

17. Ozone Design Value
Federal standards require the O3 “Design Value” to be less than 70ppb.
DV calculated as the average of the annual fourth highest maximum daily 8-hour average(MDA8).
Kennewick O3 4th high MDA8, ppb
# of days > 70 ppb
2015 75 5
2016 68 2
2017 74 9
Latest DV 72
If ozone levels exceed Federal standards, the entire community has to bear the health consequences and financial burden of reducing ozone. This also makes it more difficult for industries to expand.

19. When does O3 build up? Almost guaranteed in right conditions
Light north winds on hot days
Suggest constant & not sporadic precursor sources
Northerly flow dams up against Horse Heaven Hills, allowing O3 to “cook”

20. Whodunnit? Tri Cities Ozone Precursor Study (TCOPS) StoryMap
Data/Scientific-reports/Air-quality-studies
Ecology spent about $150K to contract with WSU and RJ Lee Group Inc to conduct 3 weeks of intensive field measurements in summer 2016, to understand O3 precursor sources in the Tri Cities.

21. How do you know vehicles contribute?
Emissions inventory
TCOPS: NOx spikes coincide with rush hour
Weekday/ weekend effect
~ 17% reduction in NOx and VOC emissions
Almost entirely driven by mobile sources
Weekend O3 ~ 3.5ppb less under similar conditions

22. Main TCOPS findings No single “smoking gun”.
Airshed not VOC or NOx limited.
Moderate NOx and VOC cuts for now
Very crude estimate: 30% reduction  -5ppb O3.
Modeling study needed to nail down specifics.

23. Timeline Oct. 1, 2015 EPA finalizes 2015 Ozone NAAQS Oct. 1, 2016
October submission requested that Kennewick be declared “unclassifiable” as there are insufficient data to do otherwise
Oct. 1, 2017
EPA finalizes designations based on DVs
Kennewick considered unclassifiable (this is good news)
May 2017 and forward
If monitor readings continue to exceed the standard, there is potential that the area represented by the Kennewick monitor could be declared in non-attainment. (Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla)
2018
Community Outreach to begin to consider ramifications of non attainment and how we might develop solutions
Local Entities explore strategies: Benton Franklin Council of Governments, Benton Clean Air, Department of Ecology, Benton Franklin Transit, Benton Franklin Health Department
Oct. 1, 2020
Ozone standard evaluated for revision
Oct. 1, 2022
(possible) Non-attainment designation

24. Affected Communities
Regulated Sources
Stationary sources of air pollution currently in a permit program:
gas stations
autobodies
food processing
chemical plants
fertilizer plants
Effects of Non-Attainment New Source Review
Transportation Infrastructure
Transportation projects and planning
Transportation Conformity
Economic Development
Impact on manufacturing/production establishment and expansion
Citizens
Health impacts of ozone
Sensitive populations most affected (elderly, young, cardiovascular conditions, allergies)
General Quality of Life
Transportation
Mobile sources –passenger vehicles, trucking, rail shipping, barge/river shipping
Transit
Trip management resources
Many potential impacts; many potential solutions; community effort – thank you for being here this morning.

25. Benton Clean Air Agency
526 South Steptoe Street Kennewick, WA Robin Bresley Priddy, PE

26. Non Attainment New Source Review
Would apply to new or reconstructed sources of NOx and VOC
Lowest Achievable Emissions Rate (LAER)
The term "lowest achievable emission rate" means for any source, that rate of emissions which reflects:
the most stringent emission limitation which is contained in the implementation plan of any State for such class or category of source, unless the owner or operator of the proposed source demonstrates that such limitations are not achievable, or
the most stringent emission limitation which is achieved in practice by such class or category of source, whichever is more stringent. 
Best Available Control Technology (BACT) is the current standard – it is much more flexible
Result of structured analysis on a case by case basis
Energy consumption, total source emission, regional environmental impact, and economic costs are taken into account.