In May 2024 the National Emissions Collaborative worked with U.S. EPA to release a 2022v1 emissions modeling platform. This platform will be used to support regulatory air quality modeling for next 2-3 years. Applications of this platform will likely include ozone NAAQS attainment demonstrations, PM2.5 NAAQS transport and attainment modeling, and regional haze progress demonstrations.

LADCO created an interactive industrial point source emissions app to help state planners working on industrial decarbonization projects for Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) applications.

App Description

The R-Shiny web app allows the filtering of 2022 stationary point source inventory data by state, county, and pollutant. The analysis app can display emissions by either NAICS or Source Classification Code (SCC). The NAICS codes organize the emissions generally by industry classification. SCC codes are more granular and generally organize the emissions by emissions technology (e.g., reciprocating internal combustion engine) and fuel type (e.g., natural gas or coal). Once the user selects the data to display in the table, the top 25 sources in the selected dimensions (e.g. state, CO2, and NAICS) are show. Clicking on a row in the table displays a bubble plot of the emissions in a map below the table, with the bubbles scaled by the size of the emissions (tons/year). Finally, clicking on a bubble on the map displays details about the industrial source.

Data Source

The data in these charts are from the U.S. EPA 2022v1 draft emissions modeling platform. The specific data file behind these charts is the industrial point (non-IPM) flat file (FF10) inventory file (nonegu_norail_2022_POINT_20240615_stackfix2_23jul2024_v0.csv) located on the EPA FTP site for the 2022v1 platform. Only data for the six LADCO member states is available in this app.

The figure below shows the daily fine particle pollution (PM2.5) concentrations average across all monitors in the Great Lakes region for the year 2019-2023. Each colored line represents the daily average for each year. The particle concentrations in 2023 are shown by the blue line, with several high pollution events between June and September. The late June 2023 event was historic and led some media outlets to declare that cities in the region had the “worst air pollution in the world” during that period.

LADCO supports air quality planners in the region

LADCO works with our member states to track and understand the impacts of fire smoke on air quality in the region. Wildfire smoke poses a challenge for state and local air quality planning agencies in the Great Lakes region because it falls outside of their regulatory jurisdictions. There is nothing a state planning agency can do about controlling pollution from fire smoke, particularly if the fires are located far away, like Canada or the western U.S.

LADCO uses data science and computer modeling to quantify the amount of pollution entering the region from wildfires, and to identify the days during which smoke-influenced pollution is the worst. We work with our member states and U.S. EPA to account for pollution periods caused by transported wildfire smoke.

LADCO in the news discussing fire smoke and air quality

LADCO’s Executive Director has been in the news quite a bit since summer 2023 talking about wildfire smoke and air quality in Chicago.

The health of effects of Chicago’s Air Pollution (NPR, July 11, 2023)

To facilitate review of the draft 2022v1 data, LADCO developed a web application to compare emissions across recent inventories (2016-2022) for different pollutants. A description of the two apps are below, followed by a description of the data sources.

App Descriptions

The R-Shiny web apps generate stacked bar charts of inventory data. The segments in each bar show the annual emissions (tons/year) for different inventory sectors. The user interface of the charts allows the selection of multiple inventory pollutants, a single state, and multiple inventory years. Click on each link below to launch the apps.

State Bar Charts and Tables (click to launch)

Each bar shows the total annual emissions for the selected pollutant, state, and inventory year. Users can select multiple pollutants, a single state, and multiple inventory years to populate the chart. A table of data in each chart is included below the charts. The table can be filtered using the “Search” box or sorted by clicking on the header of each column.

State Difference Charts (click to launch)

Each bar shows the difference in annual emissions for the selected pollutant, state, and two inventory years. Users can select multiple pollutants, a single state, and two inventory years to populate the chart. The top chart shows the absolute difference between the inventory years (e.g., 2022 – 2016) and the second chart shows the percent difference between the years (e.g., (2022 – 2016)/2016 * 100). To interpret these difference charts, find the zero line on the y-axis to identify the sectors that increased or decreased across the two selected years.

Data Sources

The data in these charts are from the U.S. EPA 2022v1 draft emissions modeling platform. The specific data file behind these charts is the state-EISSectorGroup-trends spreadsheet that is available from the 2022v1 draft data files and summaries.

Our new address will be:

4415 West Harrison Street, Suite 548

Hillside, Illinois 60162

Kindly make a note of the new address and update your records accordingly.  Our phone/fax numbers, emails and web site will remain the same.

In 2019 all of the states in the LADCO region are meeting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particles (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Great strides have been made in meeting the lead, ozone, and SO2 NAAQS. While the progress resulted primarily from the hard work of our dedicated colleagues in our member state air programs, LADCO has provided critical technical support on regional air quality modeling, ambient monitoring, and emissions inventories in pursuit of these gains. Further, through our partnerships with U.S. EPA, both at the national and regional levels, we have facilitated communication, knowledge exchange, and training to enable our membership to do their jobs effectively. Finally, as a liaison between our member states and air pollution stakeholders in the Great Lakes region, LADCO helps to create transparency in the processes through which air pollution is studied and controlled.

LADCO has been at the sides of our member states for the past 30 years. While we’ve made great progress, air quality challenges continue in our region and LADCO is continuously adapting and expanding our capabilities to meet current and emerging air pollution issues. I feel confident moving forward because I know that the LADCO team has the skills and experience to meet any new air quality challenges that come our way.

[1] US EPA Air Pollutant Emissions Trends Data

Back in 2005-2006 during the first Regional Haze implementation period, on behalf our member states, LADCO contracted projects to review candidate emissions control measures for particulate matter (PM) and PM precursors, including VOC and SO2. The white papers and reports from these projects are available on the Reports -> Policy Support section of the LADCO website. Some of these rules were adopted by some of the LADCO states at the time. The Phase II Final Report in this archive is linked to on several industry websites in reference to LADCO VOC limits.

A list of state contacts to whom inquires about current state VOC limits should be directed are provided on the LADCO Policy Support page. If you have questions about VOC rules for a particular solvent or chemical, use those contacts to directly contact the state agency.

All of the features that I wanted in our new site are now part of LADCO.org:

• Content Management – we’re running a WordPress Content Management System (CMS) hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Super flexible, easy to edit, and the sky’s the limit for future site additions.
• Responsive – our layout works across a range of devices, from mobile screens to large, multi-panel desktop displays
• ADA Compliant – we chose a bootstrapped WordPress template, Public Institutions, that is accessible for all levels of physical ability; check out the Accessibility Options on the top right of the page to configure the content for accessibility
• Public Outreach – the Public Issues section of the site presents the major air quality issues in our region in terms that are understandable by the general public
• Technical Portal – the Technical section of the site presents detailed information on our work on air quality science. The Modeling Results page provides easy access to pre-generated plots of model results and data. The GIS and Mapping page includes interactive, GIS maps and data to support geospatial analysis of air quality issues
• Reports Library – the Reports section of the site present our latest technical documents and an archive of LADCO reports dating back to the early 1990’s.
• Training Portal – our new Training portal provides access to the LADCO region training calendar, details on the National Air Pollution Training Program curriculum, and for our members a web-based form for submitting travel reimbursement requests
• Cool and Modern – I just generally wanted a site with an aesthetic that reflected the awesome, cutting-edge work that we do at LADCO on improving the air quality in our region…I think we got it, but I’m clearly biased

We’ve also got a sweet new logo! Thanks to the great design talents of Snackbox for putting together a concept that reflects our modeling work, environmental focus, and our commitment to collaboration.

I hope you find our new website as exciting as I do.  Please let me know if you have any comments, requests, or suggestions.

– Zac