Improving Air Quality in Overburdened Communities Initiative

The federal Clean Air Act requires EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six common Criteria Air Pollutants. We monitor these pollutants and take action if levels become unhealthy. The pollutants are: Carbon monoxide (CO); Lead (Pb); Nitrogen dioxide (NO2); Ozone (O3); Particle (or particulate matter) (PM); Sulfur dioxide (SO2).

First, we need to identify which communities qualify as overburdened. We are developing, with public input, a clear and objective set of criteria for identifying those communities.

We will start with three sources of data:

• Washington Environmental Health Disparities Map integrates a variety of socioeconomic, health, and environmental data
• Locations of Tribal land
• Pollutant concentration maps based on a combination of air monitoring data and modeling results

We will overlay these three maps to identify areas where air pollution concentrations are elevated, and communities face other environmental and socioeconomic risk factors.

Within these areas, we plan to supplement these statewide datasets with information from local clean air agencies and Tribes to refine the boundaries of these communities. This local scale information includes:

• Emissions from individual facilities or specific sources
• Traffic volumes
• Complaints from residents
• Neighborhood-level demographic data
• Other air pollution modeling or monitoring studies that have been conducted in these areas

Finally, Ecology will be talking to local residents and organizations about data, information, and perspectives they may have that would help inform the criteria for identifying overburdened communities, and about the best ways to prioritize the different factors Ecology is considering.