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Air Deposition Models and Web Sites
Air Deposition Models
An oft-cited example of an application of a large air quality model (RADM)
was performed for the Chesapeake Bay airshed by Dr. Robin Dennis with NOAA/ARL (Air
Resources Laboratory) in Research Triangle Park, and provides an estimate of the emission
region accounting for about three-fourths of the airshed impacting the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Additional models such as the Regulatory Modeling System for Aerosols
and Depositions (REMSAD) are also available to perform similar tasks for nitrogen
deposition and other chemicals of concern.
Web sites on atmospheric deposition
include:
The Clean Air Act Great Waters Program
(http://www.epa.gov/owowwtr1/BODIES/)
The Great Waters program originated in response to mounting evidence
that air pollution contributes to water pollution. Congress included in the 1990 Clean Air Act
Amendments a provision that mandated the establishment of a program to examine the
deposition of air pollutants to the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Lake Champlain and coastal waters.
Under Section 112(m), referred to as the "Great Waters
Program," the program is required to prepare a report to Congress every two years. The report will address
three scientific issues: (1) the contribution of air pollution to total pollution loading to the
water bodies; (2) the adverse effects of that loading on human health, the environment, and water
quality standards; and (3) the sources of those pollutants. This characterization of the problem
will then be followed up with recommendations and actions to address the sources of the deposited
pollutants.
With the essential goal of assuring protection of human health and
the environment, the Act provides authority to promulgate any necessary changes to regulations
under Title III, the toxics title, and mandates recommendations for regulatory changes under any
other applicable federal legislation.
EPA Office of Air Quality, Planning and Standards
(http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/)
(Richard Artz, Deputy Director, Air Resources Lab,
NOAA. 1999.
Personal Communication)
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