Construction Activity, Emissions, and Air Quality Impacts: Real-World Observations from an Arizona Road-Widening Case Study Final Report Prepared for Beverly Chenausky Arizona Department of Transportation October 2010 Construction Activity, Emissions, and Air Quality Impacts: Real-World Observations from an Arizona Road-Widening Case Study Final Report STI-908017-3971-FR Prepared by Paul T. Roberts, Ph.D. Stephen B. Reid Douglas S. Eisinger, Ph.D. David L. Vaughn Erin K. Pollard Jennifer L. DeWinter Yuan Du Alison E. Ray Steven G. Brown Sonoma Technology, Inc. 1455 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite D Petaluma, CA 94954-6503 Ph 707.665.9900 | F 707.665.9800 sonomatech.com Prepared for Beverly Chenausky Arizona Department of Transportation Multimodal Planning Division 206 S 17th Avenue, MD 310B Phoenix, AZ 95007 October 22, 2010 Cover graphic is a map highlighting the location of the SR 92 road widening project in southeastern Arizona, and photos of construction equipment and a monitoring trailer. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was completed under ADOT Contract T08-49-AK001, Task Assignment TPD 21-08, PO No. PG-TD0115. Beverly Chenausky at ADOT served as the project manager and provided invaluable help and technical advice during the study. Dustin Berry at Bison Construction Company, the ADOT contractor responsible for completing the road work, provided STI with access to construction equipment, assisted STI with GPS unit installation, and facilitated the transfer of various data to STI either directly or via ADOT staff. Bill Harmon and Tony Hanna with the ADOT Safford District Office assisted with data collection (e.g., daily fuel use) and kept STI apprised of construction schedules and local conditions that might have an impact on monitored activity and air quality. Joonwon Joo at ADOT helped provide construction diaries. Jackie Watkins of Benson Construction provided STI with site-specific information. Chris Moore of Parsons Brinckerhoff provided STI with construction planning documents that aided in the selection of monitoring locations. Staff from Sulfur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, the Yaqui Electric Company, and Arizona Land Specialists assisted in providing electrical power to the monitoring trailers. Karole George, a resident in the area near the construction work, allowed STI to place monitoring trailers on his property during the course of the study. Joey Landreneau of STI assisted with the installation of the air monitoring equipment. Alison Ray of STI performed audits of the air monitoring equipment, assisted with the removal of the air monitoring equipment, and performed some of the data validation. Jon Kaiser, Jeff Prouty, Siana Alcorn, and Eric Gray assisted with the setup of the air monitoring database and website. Terry Graham, sometimes assisted by Kathy Graham, performed routine checks of the air monitoring equipment, provided local technical support for the study, and assisted with the removal of the air monitoring equipment. Jennifer DeWinter, Theresa O’Brien, and Joshua Shiffrin performed data validation of portions of the air monitoring data. Dr. H. Christopher Frey, professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University, Dr. Deb Niemeier of the University of California, Davis, and Mr. Guido G. Schattanek of Parsons Brinckerhoff each graciously assisted the study team in answering technical questions and obtaining related technical information. Finally, appreciation goes to the STI support staff who assisted with the preparation and delivery of our project work products and generally supported field operations: Chelsea Jennings, Dennis O’Reilly, Jana Schwartz, Mary Jo Teplitz, and Mary Anne Slocum. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... xiii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................ES-1 1. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 1-1 1.1 Study Purpose and Motivation.................................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Summary of the SR 92 Road Widening Project ....................................................... 1-2 1.3 Overview of Activity, Emissions, and Air Quality Field Study............................... 1-4 1.4 Principal Findings..................................................................................................... 1-6 1.5 Report Outline.......................................................................................................... 1-7 2. EQUIPMENT ACTIVITY, EMISSIONS, AND MITIGATION OPTIONS: A LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Overview................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Equipment Activity................................................................................................... 2-2 2.3 Emissions.................................................................................................................. 2-7 2.3.1 Trends and Regulatory Response................................................................. 2-7 2.3.2 Emissions Measurements ............................................................................. 2-8 2.3.3 Emissions Modeling..................................................................................... 2-9 2.4 Mitigation ................................................................................................................. 2-9 2.4.1 Encouraging Use of Newer, Lower Emitting Equipment .......................... 2-10 2.4.2 Retrofitting Older Equipment..................................................................... 2-10 2.4.3 Modifying Fuel Use.................................................................................... 2-10 2.4.4 Curtailing or Controlling Activity.............................................................. 2-11 2.4.5 Applying Dust Suppressant and Removal Approaches.............................. 2-11 2.4.6 Increasing the Distance Between Sources and Receptors .......................... 2-11 3. INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD PROGRAM ............................................................. 3-1 3.1 SR 92 Construction Project ...................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Overview of the Study Design.................................................................................. 3-2 3.3 Data Quality Assurance and quality control Processes ............................................ 3-3 3.3.1 Air Quality and Meteorological Data........................................................... 3-3 3.3.2 Activity Data................................................................................................ 3-4 4. AIR QUALITY AND METEOROLOGICAL DATA COLLECTION METHODS ........ 4-1 4.1 Air Quality and Meteorological Parameters Measured ............................................ 4-1 4.2 Monitoring Sites and Locations................................................................................ 4-2 4.3 Equipment Installation and Operations .................................................................... 4-4 4.4 Data Acquisition, Storage, and Validation ............................................................... 4-5 5. EQUIPMENT ACTIVITY................................................................................................. 5-1 5.1 Activity Data Needs.................................................................................................. 5-1 v Section Page 5.2 Data Collection Methods .......................................................................................... 5-2 5.2.1 Equipment Instrumentation .......................................................................... 5-2 5.2.2 Daily Fuel Logs............................................................................................ 5-5 5.2.3 Field Inspector Diaries ................................................................................. 5-5 5.2.4 Onsite Observations..................................................................................... 5-6 5.3 Overview of Data Collected ..................................................................................... 5-7 6. TRAFFIC DATA............................................................................................................... 6-1 7. EMISSIONS ASSESSMENT............................................................................................ 7-1 7.1 Construction Activity and Emissions ....................................................................... 7-1 7.1.1 Methodology for Estimating Equipment Exhaust Emissions....................... 7-1 7.1.2 Methodology for Estimating Fugitive Dust Emissions ................................ 7-2 7.1.3 Summary of Construction Activity .............................................................. 7-3 7.1.4 Summary of Construction Equipment Exhaust Emissions........................... 7-5 7.1.5 Summary of Fugitive Dust Emissions.......................................................... 7-6 7.1.6 Summary of Overall Construction-Related Emissions ...............................