Air Quality Data Analysis & Regulatory Development Support
Regional Haze Rule Consulting & More
Air Resource Specialists has a long history of teaming with regional planning organizations to perform air quality and visibility data analyses, and support regulatory efforts through a variety of means. Some of our projects are highlighted below:
- Regional haze rule support
- Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) – ARS supports this multi-stakeholder group of 15 Western states by analyzing regional data sets, performing data substitutions where necessary to augment long-term records, developing and hosting web sites.
- ARS performed similar work previously for SESARM/VISTAS, CENRAP, and MidWest RPO.
- As a precursor to the current regional haze Regional Planning Organizations, ARS supported the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission in the late 1990s.
- Visibility Index development support for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality – ARS has operated a long-term visibility network for Arizona DEQ in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Development work began on a Visibility Index in 2000 in which ARS provided modeled images of various visual air quality levels that the department used in public surveys. The Phoenix Visibility Index was established in 2003 and continues to be used as a tool for communicating visual air quality to the public. ARS developed and still hosts the department’s visibility web page.
- Alberta Environment and Water (Canada’s Ministry of Environment) – ARS developed a Data Quality Standard for ambient air quality. The assessment included recommendations for processes including data handling, storage, verification and validation procedures, and reporting requirements.
- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency – ARS provided visibility monitoring and regulatory support to this agency, in support of its mission “to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region.”