Short-Term Monitoring for Compliance with Air Quality Standards (2004)

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T R A N S P O R T A T I O N R E S E A R C H B O A R D WASHINGTON, D.C. 2002 www.TRB.org NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM NCHRP REPORT 479 Research Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in Cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration SUBJECT AREAS Planning, Administration, and Environment Short-Term Monitoring for Compliance with Air Quality Standards D. CANIPAROLI CH2M HILL Portland, OR

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. Note: The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NCHRP REPORT 479 Project B25-15 FY’98 ISSN 0077-5614 ISBN 0-309-06771-5 Library of Congress Control Number 2002113524 © 2002 Transportation Research Board Price $15.00 NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the program concerned is of national importance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished schol- ars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and techni- cal matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Acad- emy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Acad- emy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both the Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, which serves the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research. In an objective and interdisciplinary setting, the Board facilitates the sharing of information on transportation practice and policy by researchers and practitioners; stimulates research and offers research management services that promote technical excellence; provides expert advice on transportation policy and programs; and disseminates research results broadly and encourages their implementation. The Board’s varied activities annually engage more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 479 ROBERT J. REILLY, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, Manager, National Cooperative Highway Research Program RONALD D. MCCREADY, Senior Program Officer EILEEN P. DELANEY, Managing Editor NCHRP PROJECT B25-15 PANEL Field of Transportation Planning—Area of Impact Analysis SIMON P. WASHINGTON, University of Arizona (Chair) JOHN ZAMURS, New York State DOT LAWRENCE W. BLAIN, Puget Sound Regional Council, Seattle, WA AMY W. DATZ, Florida DOT DAVID W. HYDER, North Carolina DOT ALLEN R. SCHAEFFER, American Trucking Associations, Alexandria, VA STAN STERNBERG, Montana DOT WALT ZYZNIEUSKI, Illinois DOT KEVIN BLACK, FHWA Liaison Representative KIMBERLY FISHER, TRB Liaison Representative

This report contains the results of research into predicting ambient air quality exceedances at transportation project locations. It is intended to provide transportation and air quality planners and decision makers short-term monitoring procedures that can produce accurate and timely input data for predicting air quality exceedances without requiring the collection of large amounts of monitoring data. During the project, the research team developed and tested a statistical procedure to estimate probability of exceedance of the 8-hour carbon monoxide standard through the collection of a limited amount of data at the project site. This procedure is intended to reliably estimate peak emission concentrations of carbon monoxide near proposed roadway improvements while obviating the need for extensive collection of monitoring data as prerequisites inputs for dispersion models. Requiring only limited monitoring data from the project location, this approach is intended to be used as a tool in transportation planning and air quality evaluations. Thus, the procedure presented in this report may be useful in reducing the time and resources required to identify and to develop further projects that can meet the requirements of ambient air standards. The report demonstrates the feasi- bility of short-term monitoring procedures and identifies a number of important issues in conducting such monitoring. This report should be useful to state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), and local trans- portation planners as well as other practitioners concerned with planning, program- ming, and implementing transportation projects. The report will also be useful as an educational resource into the concepts, tools, and procedures for assessing the air qual- ity implications of transportation projects. Passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) have significantly changed the way in which transportation-system and project-development decisions contribute to air quality improvements. Transportation improvements must demonstrate conformity with national air quality standards. This is true for pollutants that impact the entire region as well as those that have more localized impacts in areas adjacent to trans- portation facilities. Carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) are considered microscale pollutants (their concentration can change significantly over a relatively small distance). In nonattainment areas, federal regulations require that a project can not cause or contribute to a new violation of a national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) and must reduce the concentrations of existing violations. To avoid a nonat- tainment designation, a project expected to cause a violation of the standards may not be advanced in an attainment area. The air quality impacts of proposed transportation plans, programs, and projects are estimated and evaluated through the application of various required computer mod- els. In the case of microscale pollutants, projects are assessed by so-called dispersion FOREWORD By Ronald D. McCready Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

models that predict concentrations at specific locations either directly or indirectly affected by the project. In cases where CO models predict possible violations, project development actions must be stopped while additional monitoring at the site is carried out. This monitoring is designed to obtain site-specific input data in order to calibrate the dispersion model to more accurately describe the current conditions at the project site. Such monitoring can add years to the project development cycle just to confirm that the high-concentration predictions are due to inaccurate or overly conservative model input assumptions. This research was initiated to determine if a short-term CO measurement procedure can be developed that provides reliable input data for use in models to estimate the potential to exceed the standards at a project location. If this short-term monitoring procedure can be linked to modeling as a validation tool for con- formity and other environmental determinations, then unnecessary project develop- ment delays can be avoided. Under NCHRP Project 25-15, “Short-Term Monitoring for Compliance with Air Quality Standards,” CH2M HILL, of Portland, Oregon, developed and tested a short- term monitoring procedure that can produce more accurate input data for air quality dispersion models and can do so in a manner requiring less data collection and less time to complete than do current monitoring requirements.

1 SUMMARY 2 CHAPTER 1 Introduction and Research Approach Purpose of Study, 2 3 CHAPTER 2 Findings Procedure Development Data Sets, 3 Parameterization Testing, 21 36 CHAPTER 3 Appraisal and Monitoring Methodology Short-Term Monitoring Procedure, 36 47 CHAPTER 4 Recommendations and Conclusions 48 REFERENCES 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY 51 APPENDIX A Summary of the Regression Fits CONTENTS

AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research report herein was performed under NCHRP Project 25-15 by CH2M HILL with assistance from Air Sciences, Inc. Don Caniparoli of CH2M HILL was the principal investigator. Signifi- cant contributors to the study were Kent Norville and Mark Schaaf of Air Sciences, Inc., and Mary Beth Yansura of CH2M HILL. Kent Norville was the major author of the report. Data collected under NCHRP Project 25-6 by R.G. Iverson and E.L. Carr were used in the analysis.