1. Arizona 2011 Exceptional Events WESTAR Fall 2011 Business Meeting Tempe, Arizona Air Assessment Section Air Quality Division Arizona Department of Environmental Quality November 1, 2011

2. New Approach Previous EE packages focused on events with less weight of evidence Now, prioritizing events, first focusing on ‘SLAM DUNK’ events (e.g. Haboobs) 2011 Monsoon season extremely active for blowing dust events –From July 1 – September 30: Nearly 100* exceedances 17* exceedance days –Needless to say, lots of work ahead * Includes only Maricopa County PM 10 non-attainment area monitors. Several additional exceedances occurred in Pinal County and other ‘rural’ areas of the state.

3. What’s a Haboob Anyway?  Arabic word meaning ‘strong wind’.  Originate from collapsing thunderstorms that send outflow boundaries radially outward  Common occurrence in southwestern U.S.  Occur between July and September during the monsoon season. Source: Desert Meteorology. Thomas T. Warner. 2004.

4. July 2-8, 2011 Documentation Package Five exceedance days in Maricopa County PM 10 non-attainment area Combining into one documentation package Shooting for a ‘basic’ submittal package

5. July 5 th 2011 http://www.phoenixvis.net/videos/640x480/SOMT1_07052011.swf

6. Weight of Evidence Credit: Matthew Poppen – Maricopa Association of Governments

7. Weight of Evidence (continued)

8. Issues Level of effort is immense (for both EPA & state and local agencies), even for ‘basic’ package Recurrence Issue Density of Urban vs. Rural networks –Continuous vs filter-based instruments Transport from sources outside non-attainment areas –How to deal with this? Wind threshold (25 mph?) –Agreement on focusing on winds in source region, not necessarily at monitors Level of BACM or RACM needed –May continuously change based on a trial and error process (i.e. previously approved BACM may be determined insufficient)

9. Positives Coordination with EPA and other agencies –Collaboration with MAG and MCAQD –Collaboration with the National Weather Service –Informal feedback from EPA throughout the document creation process Conceptual Model approach provides a solid foundation for building the rest of the EE demonstration

10. Next Steps Discussion of draft EE with EPA Incorporation of comments into July 2-8 package Working on ways to utilize this template for the rest of the Maricopa County monsoon season EEs Working on ways to streamline process

11. Contact Information Bryan Paris Data Management and QA Unit Manager e-mail: bp2@azdeq.govbp2@azdeq.gov Theresa Rigney Air Assessment Section Manager e-mail: tr3@azdeq.govtr3@azdeq.gov Additional information available online at: www.azdeq.gov/environ/air/index.html