Summary of Communication and Outreach

Work Group Face-to-Face Meeting

August 12, 1997

I. PURPOSE

A face-to-face meeting of the Communication & Outreach Work Group took place on August 12, 1997 to discuss NAAQS communication, issue paper summaries, modifying the Pollution Standard Index (PSI), and the OTC maps. Following is a summary of the discussion and proposed action items.

II. PARTICIPANTS

Work Group members in attendance:

Tom Curran, Co-chair, OAQPS/ITG

Ron White, Co-chair, ALA

Jan Kleeman, OAQPS/ITG

Bill Baker for Kathy Callahan, EPA Region II

Bruce Carhart, OTC

Alice Collingwood, PSAPCA

Nancy Kruger, STAPPA/ALAPCO

Richard Paul, AAMA

Nancy Seidman, Massachusetts DEP

Scott Thomas, Oklahoma DEQ

Work Group members not in Attendance:

Tad Aburn, MDE

Margaret Cook, Intertribal Council of Arizona

Kathy Ellis, DoD

Jayne Mardock, Clean Air Network

Caryl Pfeiffer, Kentucky Utilities Co.

Quin Shea, NMA

Others: Bill Hunt (EPA)

Deborah Amaral, EC/R Incorporated (EPA Contractor support)

III.	MEETING SUMMARY

Action items

1)	Issue paper summaries will very likely need to be reworked after the August 1997 FACA Subcommittee meeting. The priorities for some of the summaries might need to be changed as a result of the discussions during the Subcommittee meeting.

2)	The group would like to hear from Bill Hunt on the modifications of the Pollution Standards Index (PSI) again in a few months.

Other items to note:

1)	Schedule for upcoming meetings:

Sept. 11, 1997	12:30 - 2:00 p.m. EDT	Call-in #: 919-541-4557

IV.	SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION

NAAQS Communication

The group discussed the Presidential Directive that came out with the new standards. The new timelines suggest a need for EPA to move very quickly. For example, final FACA input will be needed on NSR and Transportation Conformity by the end of August 1997, and that may be much faster than FACA can respond.

Members reported the information on the new standards could be found on the Internet on July 16, 1997. They were very impressed that it was so timely, and said the information was helpful. Nancy Kruger offered that STAPPA/ALAPCO has a set of 74 slides in PowerPoint available to be downloaded. Ron White said the broadcast (July 24, 1997 satellite downlink) was announced to the entire ALA. EPA estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people were in the audience for the broadcast, and this was the biggest audience, ever.

EPA has still not updated the maps. Bill Hunt estimated this would be done by mid-
October, 1997. Tom Curran mentioned the website for the Commerce Committee, which has statements not favorable to EPA.

Issue Paper Summaries

One of the handouts distributed at the meeting presents the issue paper status based on the Presidential Directive. The papers have been sorted into 5 categories: previously completed, scheduled to be completed at the August 1997 FACA Subcommittee meeting, scheduled for discussion at the October 1997 FACA Subcommittee meeting, limited input expected from FACA due to timing constraints, and issue papers needing no further discussion. This is an EPA staff draft, and it is being reviewed by the workgroups.

Of the issue papers in the first category, the summary for Areas at Risk is completed, no paper has been prepared for Designation Issues, and PMfine Designations had a lower priority. PMfine Designations could be bumped-up in priority, and EPA could request a first draft from the contractor. In the second group, AOV Boundaries has a final working draft, but it will need to be reworked. The first draft of Progress During SIP Development is included in the handouts for the meeting. The group can take comments on it at this meeting, and rework it. All five of the issue paper summaries that have been prepared can be found in a separate area in the FACA BBS/website.

Members discussed how much things might change and need to be reworked after the August 1997 meeting of the FACA Subcommittee. They considered how some papers might be merged, and others split.

Modifying the Pollution Standard Index (PSI)

Bill Hunt presented the Pollution Standard Index (PSI). He described how the PSI categories are defined, and ways in which the index might need to be modified under the new ozone standard. The index is a segmented linear function related to the dose- response. Different pollutant levels will map into different concentrations for each subindex. The index is reported for the highest pollutant level, although the guidance recommends calculating and reporting each pollutant that is above the standard. Often, only the index is given, without naming the pollutant. The index has been used very successfully worldwide.

Members discussed the sophisticated forecasting abilities available today that were not available 20 years ago when the guidance came out on the index. Some members are more interested in looking ahead, and influencing public behavior to reduce pollution levels, rather than reporting on the past. Members need to alert people to problems in the present as well as advise about potential problems in the future and ask for help. It is easier to predict violations of the 1-hour standard than the 8-hour standard.

With the new standard, it is likely that more days will be reported as exceeding or expecting to exceed the standard. This may resolve a credibility issue that gets created when people are asked to respond but the air quality is actually "good." A lot more communities will be covered by the new standard, the problem will be spread further and will be more newsworthy. It may be desirable to extend communication of the index to areas smaller than the present 200,000 population size.

The new forms of the standards will require changes to the ways in which the subindexes are calculated. Different types of cautionary language will need to be provided. The wording will need to be different for PM2.5 than for ozone. There is also the problem of the form of the standard to use during the interim period. Members said they need the new ozone subindex by October, or at least by spring, for use in planning.

Members discussed the difference between an episode and a few bad days spread out over many months, and how these events get communicated to the public. Washington, DC is having the highest readings since 1988 this summer, up to 185 ppm at Fort Meade. Westport, CT reported 187 ppm. On July 17, 1997, the Northeast came very close to tripping its circuits due to power usage on the third day of an episode. If it had lasted a fourth day, the region would have been in serious trouble.

The group would like to hear from Bill Hunt again in a few months.

OTC Maps

Nancy Kruger and Bruce Carhart presented the OTC maps. They acknowledged that many people in the room during the August 12, 1997 Communication and Outreach meeting played a role in the development of the OTC maps. The Internet address for the maps is http://www.epa.gov/region01/eco/ozone/index.html. The maps have had their debut on television, and the demand for them has been extensive. The EPA Region in New England volunteered to be the repository for the data, and different providers and users can access the data using the Internet.

The cooperation and work across organizations has been impressive. The software has been designed so it is not tied to the specific 14 states to which the map has already been expanded. MAPGEN is not needed to get the animated version of the maps. The system is currently based on 207 monitors around the region, and forecasters call in every day at 3 pm. Region I draws the map.

Members critiqued the maps, and asked questions about the categories, such as moderate and unhealthful. Nancy Kruger showed the web pages with cautionary language to accompany the maps, and described how they also give the weather conditions and recommended actions.

Members discussed how people respond to information about exceedances. Alice Collingwood described a survey in which 35 to 40% of the respondents said they did something different from their normal routine in response to an advisory. Members commented the response may be effective when the number of days is limited, but for a large number of days, people may no longer respond by activity changes such as taking the bus. A lot of the strategies so far have been "peak-shaving."

Alice Collingwood described the approach taken in the Seattle area, to enlist the support of businesses. Boeing became very proactive. When an employer says "work from home" and gives out free bus passes, employees pay attention. The employers announce today what the employees should do tomorrow. Now that the big employers are on board with the program, the program is approaching cities in the area about their maintenance practices.

Transport of pollutants was identified as a key concern, since the boundary conditions for the region are already sitting at 60 ppm. The map meshes different peak values, even if they occur at different times of the day. The high values in Maine occur at 8, 9, or 10 pm.

Nancy Kruger gave an 800 number to contact: 1-800-821-1237, which is listed on the web page. WSI is the weather service, and it feeds the data to the TV stations as well as the website. It is possible that next year there will be more than one weather provider for this service, as states would not sign an exclusive agreement with any one provider.

Now that people are accustomed to dopplar radar, they will expect to be able to watch the ozone plumes building. People in suburban areas have called in to say they did not realize they were part of the ozone problem. This shows the possibility of taking the PSI into smaller and more rural areas.

The group discussed how the approach might be extended to PMfine. Continuous data would be needed.

Updated Meeting Schedule and Other Business

The FACA Subcommittee will meet in Chicago in October 1997 and New Orleans in December 1997.

The next teleconference will take place on September 11, 1997, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, EDT. The call-in number is 919-541-4557.