BIOS and ABSTRACTS

 

December 9, 2010

 

 

BOB PAINE - AECOM

 

BIO: Mr. Robert Paine is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist and a Qualified Environmental Professional with 35 years of experience in air quality modeling and consulting, all with AECOM in Westford, Massachusetts.  He has participated in the design, coding, evaluation, and documentation of several air quality models submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, including AERMOD, an advanced air quality dispersion model now recommended by USEPA for air quality permitting.  He has participated in stakeholder review and oversight of agency efforts to resolve nonattainment issues that involve the application of photochemical models to hundreds of emission sources to find solutions for modeled compliance.

 

ABSTRACT: General Topic:  “Impact of Ambient Air Rules for PM2.5 and Ozone”

Mr. Robert Paine of AECOM will discuss the effect of tighter ambient standards for PM2.5 and ozone on permitting of new sources.  In addition, the effect of an expansion of nonattainment areas on existing sources will be reviewed.  Each nonattainment area and changes to the State Implementation Plan requires considerable investment by stakeholders to assure that their interests are protected when reviewing agencies are looking for emission reductions to bring these areas into modeled attainment.

 

JOHN KINSMAN – EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE

 

BIO:  John Kinsman is Senior Director, Environment at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Kinsman’s career has spanned 28 years, including the last 22 years at EEI.  EEI is the trade association for U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies plus international affiliates and industry associates worldwide. He addresses air quality issues, including Clean Air Act regulation of GHG, in policy, regulatory, legislative, and communications contexts. 

 

ABSTRACT: EPA is actively engaged in setting new NAAQS for ozone, PM, SO2 and NO2.  EPA activities in standard setting and implementation will be overviewed, as well as the impacts of the new standards on power generators.

 

 

KATE VACCARO, MANKO, GOLD, KATCHER & FOX, LLP

 

BIO: Kate Vaccaro is an associate with Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, LLP, an environmental and energy boutique law firm located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.  Kate has experience advising clients on issues related to regulatory compliance, litigation, and transactional matters, particularly in the area of air quality. She has represented industrial and commercial entities, ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to closely held companies, in complex matters involving permitting and enforcement actions and regulatory compliance counseling, among other things.  Kate is a 2005 graduate of the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law, where she was a member of the Temple Law Review.

 

ABSTRACT: My "Hot Topic Hour" presentation will address the NAAQS for PM2.5 and ozone, focusing on state-level implementation of the federal New Source Review requirements for PM2.5.  In particular, I will discuss certain challenges faced by owners and operators of fossil fuel-fired power plants and other industrial facilities located in states seeking to institute PM2.5 NSR regulations that are more stringent than the federal standards, evaluating both practical and economic feasibility considerations.  I will also discuss how these challenges affecting the power production sector may be compounded by other air quality regulations being developed by EPA, including the new proposed rule to reduce Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone, which would impose stringent emission limits for NOx and SO2 on affected electric generating units.   

 

  

December 10, 2010

 

 

KEVIN CROSBY – THE AVOGADRO GROUP, LLC

 

BIO: Kevin Crosby has been actively testing stack emissions since 1976, and is the Technical Director for The Avogadro Group, based in the San Francisco area.  He has extensive experience with measurement of emissions from nearly every type of source – power plants, kilns, refineries, etc.  As regulatory limits have been lowered over the years, his group has gained special experience with measuring low-concentration emissions.

 

ABSTRACT:  PM2.5 Emissions – Do the new test methods improve the results?

EPA must promulgate reference methods for testing of PM2.5 emissions this year.  The existing versions of the methods are known as “other test method” OTM-27 and OTM-28.  When edited and promulgated, these will replace EPA Methods 201A and 202.  Studies have indicated, and EPA expects, that OTM-28 especially will improve the measurement of condensable particulate matter (CPM) emissions.  The hypothesis is that OTM-28 will better measure the primary CPM emissions with much less “artifact” CPM from the gaseous precursors to the formation of secondary PM2.5.  That is, the results will generally be lower than those from the older method.

 

The presentation will review data from a number of testing programs that have used OTM-27 and OTM-28.  Many of these programs have included concurrent testing with the older methods for comparison.  The data will be examined to determine whether the hypothesis might be true, and how the data might affect permitting issues such as emission factors, NSR and PSD.

 

 

SONJA SAX - GRADIENT

 

 

BIO: Sonja Sax is an environmental health scientist specializing in exposure assessment and health effects of environmental pollutants, including airborne gases and particles. At Gradient, Sonja has been actively involved in the investigation of indoor and outdoor air quality issues. Sonja also contributes to the evaluation and interpretation of epidemiological and toxicological studies, and in the preparation of technical and expert reports. In this capacity, Sonja has published and presented extensively on the health risks of particles and gases and has often provided regulatory comments to the US EPA, including comments on the NAAQS. Sonja can be contacted via e-mail at ssax@gradientcorp.com or by phone (617) 395-5000.

 

ABSTRACT:  Update of the New Proposed PM and Ozone NAAQS

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM) are currently undergoing regulatory review and the ozone NAAQS are being reconsidered.  US EPA is recommending lowering both the PM and the ozone NAAQS despite considerable uncertainties associated with the underlying studies used to support these efforts. Sonja Sax of Gradient will present an update of the review process and uncertainties in the supporting evidence, and the possible implications of lower PM and ozone standards for point sources such as coal fired power plants.  

 

 

KEVIN McCALL – ALL4 INC.

 

BIO: Colin McCall is the manager of All4 Inc.’s (ALL4’s) Ambient Group, responsible for executing air dispersion modeling and air quality and meteorological monitoring projects in support of a wide range of industrial clients.  ALL4 is an environmental consulting firm specializing in air quality.  ALL4’s Ambient Group conducts prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) air dispersion modeling, nonattainment NSR modeling to support emission reduction credit purchases, air toxics modeling, and meteorological/ambient monitoring in support of air quality permitting and compliance needs, and has had a particular recent focus on projects that are being impacted by the new NAAQS levels.  For more information on today’s presentation contact Colin at cmccall@all4inc.com or 610.933.5246 x20.  To sign-up for ALL4’s monthly electronic newsletter “4 The Record,” which covers timely topics such as those in today’s presentation, visit www.all4inc.com.

 

ABSTRACT: Within the past two (2) years, U.S. EPA has promulgated/proposed a 1-hour NO2 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), a 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, and a revised 8-hour ozone NAAQS.  In addition, U.S. EPA has finalized new source review (NSR) regulations related to the annual and 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.  These new health-based NAAQS are extremely stringent and will make it increasingly difficult to obtain approval for new facilities or for existing facility expansion and modernization projects.  Now more than ever, the NAAQS and the associated air dispersion modeling requirements in both attainment and nonattainment areas will dictate the viability of new projects and the way that new projects are designed.  Facilities may also be impacted by the new NAAQS levels even in the absence of a new project.  This presentation will provide an update on the new NAAQS levels and their impact on power plants, including recommendations on how to plan for the NAAQS implementation strategies that U.S. EPA has outlined over the last several months for pollutants such as SO2.