Annual Air Quality Monitoring Network Review

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will hold a public informational meeting on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, to review Wisconsin's ambient air quality monitoring network. The meeting will be held in Room 713, GEF II, 101 S. Webster St., Madison, and all are welcome. The Department will accept oral and written comments on these documents:

The Department will accept oral and written comments on the above documents. Please send written comments on the monitoring network directly to:

Mr. Bart Sponseller
c/o Air Monitoring Section
DNR Bureau of Air Management
PO Box 7921 - AM/7
Madison, WI 53707-7921
email bart.sponseller@wisconsin.gov
phone 608.266.1058

Submit comments no later than June 23, 2009.

Wisconsin’s NCore Multipollutant Monitoring Network Plan Proposal

In October 2006 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final amendments to the ambient air monitoring regulations for criteria pollutants which are codified in 40 CFR parts 53 and 58. The purpose of the amendments was to enhance ambient air quality monitoring to better serve current and future air quality needs. One of the most significant changes in the regulations was the requirement to establish National Core (NCore) multi-pollutant monitoring stations. These stations will provide data on several pollutants at lower detection limits and replace the National Air Monitoring Station (NAMS) networks that have existed for several years. The final network plan must be submitted to EPA by July 1, 2009 and the stations must be operational by January 1, 2011.

Since 1994, WDNR has operated a monitoring site near Mayville, Wisconsin. The Mayville site represents a rural location with relatively uniform land use and ambient air concentrations. By April 2007, WDNR began performing high sensitivity continuous gaseous, ozone, filter-based fine particle, continuous fine particle, speciated fine particle and meteorological monitoring at this location. The existing site effectively meets NCore monitoring objectives.

Wisconsin’s NCore plan for the Mayville monitoring station is also available for public comment through June 23, 2009. Please send any comments directly to Bart Sponseller at the above address.

Wisconsin DNR Air Management Bureau Internal Guidance for Exceptional Events

When potential exceptional events occur in the state, WDNR's Air Monitoring (AM) and Regional Pollutants and Mobile Sources (RPMS) sections will follow an internal exceptional event procedure. The AM section will flag the data in accordance with the federal Exceptional Event Rule (EER) in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality System (AQS) [exit DNR]. If the event may be defined as an exceptional event that causes a violation of a standard and requires an exclusion request flag, staff scientists will complete an analytical demonstration (similar to a weight-of-evidence analysis) within the timeline requirements set forth in the EER. A period for public comment will be given. The demonstration and documentation of the public comment period will be submitted to EPA in a timely manner.

WDNR is accepting public comment on this internal guidance document, as an effort to make the public aware of this procedure. Please send any comments directly to Bart Sponseller by June 23, 2009 at the above address.

 

Air Monitoring Network
Last Reviewed: May 26, 2009
Next Review: May 26, 2010
Last Revised: Thursday May 28 2009