Comprehensive Assessment of North American Air Emissions Inventories and Ambient Air Monitoring Networks
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Comprehensive Assessment of North American Air Emissions Inventories and Ambient Air Monitoring Networks September 2009 Commission for Environmental Cooperation This background paper was prepared by the North American Expert Consortium—Paulette Middleton, Panorama Pathways (United States); Luisa T. Molina, Molina Center for Energy and the Environment (MCE2) (United States/Mexico) and Agustín García, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (Mexico); and Don McKay and Doug Johnson, ORTECH Environmental (Canada)—for the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. The information contained herein is the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the CEC, or the governments of Canada, Mexico or the United States of America. The material herein may be reproduced without seeking permission, provided that it is accurately reproduced, is not used for commercial purposes, and includes an acknowledgement of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Except where otherwise noted, this work is protected under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial-No Derivative Works License. Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 2009 Publication Details Publication type: Background paper Publication date: September 2009 Original language: English Resumen ejecutivo disponible en español ; résumé disponible en français For more information: Commission for Environmental Cooperation 393, rue St-Jacques ouest Bureau 200 Montreal (Quebec) Canada H2Y 1N9 t 514.350.4300 f 514.350.4372 [email protected] / www.cec.org 2 Table of Contents List of Acronyms................................................................................................. 4 Executive Summary............................................................................................ 7 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................... 11 2.0 Scope ......................................................................................................... 13 3.0 Approach ................................................................................................... 17 4.0 Status: Inventory and Monitoring Programs.......................................... 18 4.1 Emission Inventories ............................................................................... 19 4.2 Monitoring Networks................................................................................ 37 5.0 Intercomparisons and Priority Needs ..................................................... 59 5.1 Issues and Database Completeness....................................................... 59 5.2 Priority Areas for Improvement................................................................ 64 5.3 Compatibility and Accessibility ................................................................ 66 5.4 Infrastructure and Capacity Building ....................................................... 67 6.0 Recommendations.................................................................................... 69 6.1 Overarching Goals and Guidelines ......................................................... 69 6.2 Key Strategies ......................................................................................... 69 7.0 References, Interviews and Reviews ...................................................... 73 7.1 References .............................................................................................. 73 7.2 Interviews and/or Reviews* ..................................................................... 81 3 List of Acronyms ACRONYM MEANING AIRMoN Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network AMTIC Ambient Monitoring Technology Information Center AQ Air Quality AQI Air Quality Index AQS Air Quality System BC black carbon BRAVO Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational BTX benzene, toluene, xylene CA Canada CAA Clean Air Act CAC Criteria Air Contaminant CAM Metropolitan Environmental Commission CAPs Criteria Air Pollutants CAPMoN Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network CASNET Clean Air Status and Trends Network Cd cadmium CEC Commission for Environmental Cooperation Cenica Centro Nacional de Investigación y Capacitación Ambiental CEPA Canadian Environmental Protection Act CERR Consolidated Emissions Reporting Rule CFCs chlorofluorocarbons CH4 methane CMAQ Community Multi-scale Air Quality modeling system CO2 carbon dioxide CO carbon monoxide COA Canada-Ontario Agreement Cofepris Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios (Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks) CSN Chemical Speciation Network DATGEN Spanish acronym for General Information EPA US Environmental Protection Agency EIS Emissions Inventory System FEM Federal Equivalent Method GAW Global Atmosphere Watch GHG Greenhouse Gases GHNEI Greenhouse Gas National Emission Inventory GIS Geographic Information System GPMN Gaseous Pollutant Monitoring Network H2 hydrogen H2S hydrogen sulfide HAPs Hazardous Air Pollutants HCFCs hydrochlorofluorocarbons HFC hydrofluorocarbons Hg mercury 4 HM heavy metals HTML HyperText Markup Language IADN Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network Imeca Indice Metropolitano de la Calidad del Aire (Metropolitan Air Quality Index) IMPROVE Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments INE Instituto Nacional de Ecología (National Institute of Ecology) Inegi Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (National Institute for Statistics and Geography) IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency LGEEPA General Act on Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection MCMA Mexico City Metropolitan Area MDAMN Mexican Dioxin Air Monitoring Network MILAGRO Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations MNEI Mexican National Emissions Inventory MX Mexico N2O nitrous oxide NAAQS National Air Quality Standards NAAWG North American Air Working Group NADP National Acid Deposition Program NAPS National Air Pollutant Surveillance network NARSTO North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone NATA National Air Toxics Assessment NATTS National Air Toxics Trends Stations NCore National Core Network NEI US National Emissions Inventory NH3 ammonia NIR National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report NMHC nonmethane hydrocarbons NPS National Park Service NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOX nitrogen oxides NPRI National Pollutant Release Inventory NTN National Trends Network MDN Mercury Deposition Network O3 ozone OAQPS Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards PAH polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PCB polychlorinated biphenyls QA quality assurance QC quality control PAMS Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations PBTS Persistent Bioaccumulating Toxic Substances PDD Pollutant Data Division PFC perfluorocarbons Pb lead PM Particulate Matter PM10 Inhalable Particulate Matter (particles less than 10 microns in diameter) PM2.5 Respirable Particulates (particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter) PNMA Programa Nacional de Monitoreo Atmosférico (National Air Quality Monitoring Program) 5 POMS Portable Ozone Monitor Systems POPs persistent organic pollutants Proaire Programa para Mejorar la Calidad del Aire en el Valle de México (Program to Improve the Air Quality in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area) Proname Programa Nacional de Monitoreo y Evaluación (National Program of Monitoring and Environmental Evaluation) PRTR Pollutant Release and Transfer Register RAMA Red Automática de Monitoreo Atmosférico (Automatic Air Monitoring Network) Redda Red de Depósito Atmosférico (Atmospheric Deposition Network) Redma Red Manual de Monitoreo Atmosférico (Manual Air Monitoring Network) Redmet Red de Meteorología y Radiación Solar (Solar Radiation and Meteorological Network) RETC Registro de Emissiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes RPO Regional Planning Organizations Semarnat Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recuros Naturales (Mexican Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources) SF6 sulfur hexafluoride Simat Atmospheric Monitoring System Sinaica Sistema Nacional de Información de la Calidad del Aire (National Air Quality Information System) Sine Sistema Nacional de Emisiones (National Emissions Inventory System) S/L/T State/Local and Tribal Agencies SLAMS State, Local Air Monitoring Stations SMOKE Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions Model SO2 sulfur dioxide SOX sulfur oxides STN Speciation Trends Network TPM Total Particulate Matter TRI Toxics Release Inventory UABC Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (Autonomous University of Baja California) UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change US United States UV Ultraviolet VOC Volatile Organic Compounds WMO World Meteorological Organization WGA Western Governors’ Association XML Extensible Markup Language ZMVM Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México (see MCMA) 6 Executive Summary The Comprehensive Assessment of North American Air Emissions Inventories and Ambient Air Monitoring Networks has four overarching objectives. • First, the assessment seeks to establish how: o Comparable inventory and monitoring methodologies are across the three countries; and o Comparable and accessible inventory and monitoring databases are. • Second, the assessment aims to establish how well existing inventories and networks in Canada, US, and Mexico are able to: o Support analytical tools for addressing high priority national, cross border, and North American air quality human health and environmental issues; o Support multi-pollutant