With your help, Ecology is working to reduce air pollution in Washington’s overburdened communities
This initiative
The Improving Air Quality in Overburdened Communities is an exciting initiative of the Climate Commitment Act. While the Climate Commitment Act is focused on greenhouse gas reduction, it also creates an opportunity to address existing air quality concerns in communities most impacted by air quality. The Act states that as we lower greenhouse gases and carbon pollution, we’re also able to reduce other forms of air pollution, like fine particulates or ozone.
What is involved for implementation?
The first step is to identify the overburdened communities for thsi initative. this outrach is the first sstep in that process.
Each of these steps are essential to create pathways to address air pollution. Ecology's initial focus is on the process of identifying overburdened communities to be able to initiate the placement of an expanded monitoring system. From there, Ecology will determine emission control strategies and other methods to address criteria air pollution.
To do that, the Climate Commitment Act requires us to build an expanded air quality monitoring network in overburdened communities around the state, and then conduct a periodic review of whether air pollution is being reduced in those disproportionately affected communities.
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Process: Your role
Input from community members across Washington State is essential to the Improving Air Quality in Overburdened Communities initiative. In late summer 2022, Ecology will be conducting our next engagement opportunity to provide feedback on the draft indicators to identify overburdened communities highly impacted by air pollution.
Initial Comment Period Summary
We held the first public comment period to hear about peoples' lived experiences with air quality and what they would like to see prioritized in Ecology's process to identify overburdened communites for this initiative. The three-month comment period went from January-March 2022, and included eight public and community group listening sessions, as well as a survey and a comment map. We used the comments regarding air quality and socio-economic factors we heard to develop the draft criteria to identify overburdened communities highly impacted by air pollution. Here are some of the common themes we heard:
Air Quality
Transportation
Agriculture and livestock
Land use/zoning
Ports
Wildfire smoke
Dust
Smoke from outdoor burning & wood stoves
Stationary facilities
For example, industrial, landfills, cement
Cumulative impacts
Interaction with high heat
Socio-economics
Health disparities
Race
Income
Outdoor Workers
Unhoused people
Age - children and older adults
Ideas for Change
Education
Regulation
Grant programs
Increased access to air quality information
Outside our Scope
These issues areas could not be integrated into the draft criteria as they are outside the scope of air quality issues that Ecology is directed to foucs on in the Climate Commitment Act:
Odor
Air toxics
Indoor air quality
MethaneNext steps for engagement
Sources of Information
To identify the overburdened communities for this iniative, Ecology is using a variety of sources of information. Beyond understanding air quality, Ecology will also determine who is most impacted by pollution to identify overburdened communities.
Process to Identify Communities- Source of Information
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• Monitoring
• Modeling
• Emissions inventory
• Environmental Health Disparities Map
• Socioeconomic & Population Data
• Public/Partner Input
Monitoring is just one tool in the toolbox. It is used to get real world measurements of criteria pollutants.
Monitoring - That data is limited only to the monitoring locations, and we will be expanding monitoring in overburdened communities in the future.
Modeling - Another tool that helps us take factors like topography and weather into account for predicting air quality beyond the monitoring sites, and is useful for projecting trends over time
Emissions Inventory - A tool to estimate pollution emissions at the county level. This inventory uses data like number of registered vehicles, fuel usage, as well as direct reporting from large industrial and other stationary sources to help determine where pollution is coming from.
Beyond understanding air quality, Ecology will also determine who is most impacted by pollution to identify overburdened communities:
Environmental Health Disparities (EHD) Map - The EHD map is a great tool to look at aggregated data. It takes into account many factors including environmental exposures, socioeconomic factors, sensitive populations, and more. Socioeconomic and population data can help determine where sensitive populations face that greater health risks from pollution exposure are located and also where people could use more resources to address that risk.
Public feedback - Ecology is taking into account feedback and suggestions from partners and the public, including tribes, local air agencies, and community groups.
Criteria Pollutants
The Climate Commitment Act specifically directs Ecology to focus on addressing six Criteria Air Pollutants in overburdened communities: Particulate matter (both fine and coarse), Ozone, Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Carbon monoxide; and Lead.
The six Criteria Pollutants:
1. Particulate Matter(PM2.5, PM10)
2. Ground-level Ozone (O3)
3. Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
4. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
5. Carbon Monoxide (CO)
6. Lead (Pb)
• Regulated by National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
o Standards are set to protect the health of sensitive populations
• A few examples of sources:
o Wood stoves, outdoor burning
o Transportation – Motor vehicles
o Industrial sources
o Natural sources
The Climate Commitment Act specifically directs Ecology to focus solely on addressing six Criteria Air Pollutants in overburdened communities: Particulate matter (both fine and coarse), Ozone, Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Carbon monoxide; and Lead. Pollutants can also vary seasonally. Ozone is a good example because it is generally higher in the summer. Sources of emissions also vary throughout the year. For example, there is more agricultural activity and wildfires in summer months and more home heating in winter months.
The Climate Commitment Act, directs Ecology to focus on addressing six Criteria Air Pollutants in overburdened communities: Particulate matter (both fine and coarse), Ozone, Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Carbon monoxide; and Lead.
Air monitoring
Learn about the basics of air monitoring, current monitoring and the implications for this new iniative.
75 ambient air monitoring sites across WA in the Ecology network
Ambient air monitors are located in public, outdoor areas representative of where people live, work, and play.
• Ambient air monitors are located in public, outdoor areas representative of where people live, work, and play
• Operated by Ecology or local, federal, and tribal partners
Different types of monitors are used depending on:
• Purpose: Public information, compliance, supporting research
Pollutant type
What can ambient air monitoring tell us?
Yes:
• Public Information on air quality conditions
o Accessible to public on Ecology’s website, weather apps, etc.
o Informs public health decisions on school closures, burn bans, etc.
• Inform pollution reduction efforts
Yes:
• Inform pollution reduction efforts
Yes:
• Inform air pollution research studies
Depends:
• Compliance with federal air quality standards
Limited:
• Key categories of pollution sources (e.g. wood burning, motor vehicles, industrial sources, etc.)
No:
• Emissions from individual sources (e.g. specific roadways, buildings, industrial sites, etc.)
Most ambient air monitoring is useful for sharing information with the public and informing decisions about public health such as when to close schools or implement a burn ban. Trends in air quality also guide decision making for pollution reduction efforts, as well as inform air pollution and public health research.
The Climate Commitment Act, directs Ecology to focus on addressing six Criteria Air Pollutants in overburdened communities: Particulate matter (both fine and coarse), Ozone, Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Carbon monoxide; and Lead.
