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Minnesota Pollution Control Agency sent this bulletin at 05/13/2014 01:44 PM CDT
Ozone pollution is up, particulates down in Minnesota
Minnesota received mixed grades in the annual American Lung Association (ALA) State of the Air Report, released April 30. Three counties went down a grade for ozone pollution from last year’s report: Anoka County received a C grade, and Carlton and Scott counties both earned B grades for ozone. On the other hand, six Minnesota counties went up a grade in particulate pollution: Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Olmsted, and Scott counties all earned a “B” for particulate pollution, and Ramsey County improved from a “D” to a “C” this year. The Twin Cities metro area had its best-ever ranking for annual particle pollution in the 15 years the ALA has issued its annual report card.
According to MPCA air monitoring specialist Cassie McMahon, the number of air alert days for ozone and fine particles varies from year to year. Between 2011 and 2012, fine particle alerts issued in Minnesota were below historical averages, while ozone alerts increased. The increase in ozone alerts was due in part to hotter summers and smoke blown in to Minnesota from western wildfires. Citizens, businesses, and other government agencies in Minnesota are working together through a process called Clean Air Minnesota to identify new ways to reduce emissions of pollutants that contribute to ozone.
$320,000 in small business grants available to reduce VOCs
Electric vehicles are charging forward in Minnesota
MPCA begins community air monitoring project
With funding from the 2013 Minnesota Legislature, the MPCA has begun an air quality monitoring project to assess whether low-income communities or communities of color are disproportionately impacted by air pollution emissions from highways, air traffic, or industrial sources.
Project objectives are to:
1. sample ambient air at seven locations, giving priority to criteria listed in legislation
2. analyze and compare results to data from the agency’s existing air monitoring network
3. determine if there are significant differences between the community monitor locations and MPCA’s existing stationary monitors
4. share results with legislators, neighborhood groups, and the general public.
Monitor locations will be chosen based on the criteria identified in the funding legislation. Within the community, actual monitoring locations will be selected based on community input and ability to meet monitor siting requirements. Identified communities will be monitored for three months, after which time the monitoring equipment moves to the next site.
Air quality data in seven neighborhoods will be collected over the course of two years. Monitored pollutants include fine particles (PM2.5) and “air toxics,” which include metals, volatile organic compounds, and carbonyls. Monitoring began last October at the Little Earth housing complex in Minneapolis’s East Phillips neighborhood. Currently the monitor is in St. Paul’s Westside neighborhood. Monitoring will continue through June 30, 2015.
As sites are selected, their community information, monitoring status, and available monitoring results will be posted to the Community Air Monitoring Project website. 2014 Pollution Report to the Legislature released
The MPCA’s 2014 Pollution Report to the Legislature: A Summary of Minnesota’s Air Emissions and Water Discharges is now available. Every two years the MPCA reports on the volume of pollution released into the state’s air and water. The report also examines trends in pollution releases broken down by sector. Annual estimates of pollution volumes are one important part of tracking progress on air and water pollution and for tracking performance and relative contributions of a variety of pollution sources. Health and climate video
The Minnesota Department of Health, in partnership with the Minnesota Environmental Public Health Tracking Program and Twin Cities Public Television, recently released a film titled Health and Climate. Minnesota’s climate is changing in ways that impact human health: our weather, air, food, water, and plant and wildlife are all being affected. This film highlights some of the changes being seen in Minnesota and how they are affecting public health. It also explores how Minnesota can mitigate and adapt to climate change. Regulatory updatesAnnual compliance certification submission requirements
Effective March 13, 2014, submissions of the Annual Compliance Certification solely to the MPCA will be considered compliant with the reporting requirements under 40 CFR Part 70.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that submittal of Annual Compliance Certifications (ACC) to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will satisfy the requirements under 40 CFR Part 70.6(c)(5)(iv), which states in part that “all compliance certifications be submitted to the Administrator as well as to the permitting authority.” EPA Region 5 has been asked to publish approval and acknowledge that the submission of original ACC’s to the MPCA will fulfill the source’s obligation under the reporting requirement. Effective March 13, 2014, the MPCA will consider submissions solely to the MPCA as compliant with the reporting requirements. The language in individual permits will be updated to reflect this change at the next permit reopening. In the news
Supreme Court upholds the cross-state air pollution rule
On April 29, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the EPA’s “Cross-State Air Pollution Rule” (CSAPR), a major rule requiring significant emissions reductions from coal and gas-fired power plants in the eastern U.S. The rule outlines EPA’s strategy for the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor” provision, and requires upwind states in the eastern U.S. to cut power-plant emissions that contribute to air pollution in states downwind. Minnesota is among the states included in the rule, and also relies on the rule’s reduction strategies for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides for its Regional Haze plan.
In the past 12 years, Minnesota’s electricity generating industry has undertaken many projects to lower sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in a significantly cleaner fleet today. As a result of these projects, the MPCA believes that it will be able to implement CSAPR in a straightforward manner. The MPCA will need to wait until EPA issues guidance before implementing the rule.
For additional information, visit the EPA’s CSAPR Web page or contact Melissa Kuskie at 651-757-2512.
7 million premature deaths caused by air pollution according to new study
A new World Health Organization study reports that seven million people died in 2012 due to exposure to air pollutants. This new estimate makes air pollution the world’s largest environmental health risk.
U of M study indicates disproportionate exposures to NO2 emissions by people of color
A new study from the University of Minnesota concludes that levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are on average 38 percent higher in neighborhoods with predominantly nonwhite residents. The researchers go on to estimate that if NO2 concentrations in those neighborhoods were reduced to the levels experienced in predominantly white neighborhoods, deaths due to certain types of heart disease would be reduced by about 7,000 per year.
KARE 11 covers installation of new monitoring station
The MPCA recently installed a new station to monitor ultra-fine particles near the intersection of Highways I-94 and 35W and KARE11 covered the story. Ultra-fines are particles less than 1 micron in diameter, and Minnesota is among the first states in the nation to monitor for them.
Minn. law targeting power-sector CO2 emissions deemed unconstitutional
A federal district court struck down the Minnesota Next Generation Energy Act, finding that the law violates the U.S. Constitution by regulating commerce in other states. The law prohibited the construction of large power plants that would contribute to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as well as the import of power from out-of-state facilities that contribute to statewide CO2 emissions, unless those purchases were offset by CO2 reduction projects. The court argued that the statute violates the Commerce Clause since out-of-state facilities would have to comply with the Minnesota law in order to feed power to the common grid.
Subscriptions and submissions welcome
The MPCA publishes AirMail as a quarterly e-newsletter featuring updates on air quality topics relevant to Minnesota. If you have a story to share, please contact Amanda Smith at the email or phone number listed below. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, and you'd like to subscribe to future issues, click here and follow the prompts.
Amanda Jarrett Smith
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