2000 Annual Air Quality Report

Contents

 


Introduction

This annual report provides information on the air quality in Santa Barbara County for 2000.

In 2000, Santa Barbara County met state and federal standards for all pollutants except for ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10). The Federal 1-hour ozone standard was exceeded on one day in August at the Las Flores Canyon 1 (LFC 1) monitoring station.

The California standards for one-hour ozone (0.09 ppm) and 24-hour suspended particulate matter standard (50 ug/m3) were exceeded in 2000. The state ozone standard was exceeded on 6 days and the PM-10 standard was exceeded on two days at one station during the year.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of establishing an averaged 8-hour ozone standard that provides a better guide to longer-term exposure and health risk than the one-hour standard. The standard is currently under review and has not been published as a law.


National Ambient Air Quality Standards

The Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) (Title 1, Section 109) requires the EPA to prescribe national primary ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for certain air pollutants where public health criteria (protecting sensitive populations such as asthmatics) have been established. These pollutant levels were chosen to protect the health of the most susceptible individuals in a population, including children, the elderly and those with chronic respiratory ailments. A secondary standard is also prescribed to protect human welfare (visibility, crop damage, building damage). These pollutants are known as criteria pollutants.

The EPA currently has NAAQS standards for six criteria pollutants. Ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), lead (Pb), and particulate matter (PM10). Table 1 lists the current NAAQS, along with the California standards. In addition to the EPA standards, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has set air quality standards for sulfates, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), vinyl chloride (chloroethene, C2H3Cl), and visibility reducing particles.


Air Quality Monitoring Station Status for 2000

In 2000, there were 19 monitoring stations operating in Santa Barbara County (Table 2) during the year. The stations are divided into State and Local Air Monitoring (SLAMS) and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) sites. In 2000 there were seven SLAMS and 12 PSD stations operating in Santa Barbara County.

Of these 19 stations, 17 stations were operated for the entire year. Two stations were not in operation for the full year. The Ellwood Odor monitoring station began operation in January and the Santa Barbara Carrillo station was decommissioned in October 2000.

Table 2 lists the monitoring stations operating in Santa Barbara County in 2000 and the pollutants measured at each station. A date in parenthesis indicates when the station was decommissioned.


Criteria Pollutant Summary

Table 3 lists the four highest 1-hour ozone concentrations measured during 2000. The highest hourly ozone concentration recorded in Santa Barbara County was 128 ppb at the LFC 1 station. This maximum hourly ozone value was below the 135 ppb recorded last year in Santa Barbara County.

Table 4 lists the four highest 8-hour ozone concentrations measured during 2000. The highest 8-hour hour ozone concentration recorded in Santa Barbara County was 84 ppb at the LFC 1 station. The high value for 1999 was 110 ppb.

Table 5 lists the three highest 1-hour concentrations for NO2, SO2, and CO for 2000. The highest concentrations for these three pollutants were 124 ppb, 26 ppb, and 5.8 ppm respectively. No state or federal standards were exceeded for these pollutants in 2000.

Table 6 provides the 2000 Particulate summary for PM10. There were no samples over the federal 24-hour standard of 150 µg/m3. There was one station that measured particulate levels over the state 24-hour California standard of 50 µg/m3 on two days during the year. The highest recorded value (53 µg/m3) was recorded at the Santa Maria station.

Figure 1 is a Map showing the locations of all monitoring stations in Santa Barbara county during 2000.

Figure 2 shows Ozone Exceedance Days above the California State and Federal Standards for 1988 through 2000.


New in 2000

Regulatory changes: There were no changes in 2000.

Monitoring station changes in 2000:

The following changes were made to the SBCAPCD monitoring station network in 2000:

Ellwood Odor monitoring station: Began monitoring on January 11, 2000. Santa Barbara Carrillo: This station was decommissioned on October 24, 2000.