New Air Quality Practice Standards Under Review

The Air Quality and Atmospheric Change (AQAC) National Technology Development Team at the West National Technology Support Center and the NRCS AQAC Practice Standards Working Group have developed four new conservation practice standards that are in Agency review -- Dust Control on Unpaved Roads and Surfaces, Stationary Engine Replacement/Upgrade, Precision Pest Control Application, and Airflow Filtration and Scrubbing.  Three of these standards (Dust Control on Unpaved Roads and Surfaces, Stationary Engine Replacement/Upgrade, and Precision Pest Control Application) are currently in use in California as interim standards.  These new conservation practice standards meet emerging agency needs in addressing Air resource concerns.

The Dust Control on Unpaved Roads and Surfaces standard was developed based partly on needs from Alaska in addressing summer dust in villages throughout the State.  The purpose of this standard is to reduce particulate matter emissions from vehicle and machinery traffic on unpaved roads and other areas by applying a palliative (a dust-reducing material) on the surface.  The standard discusses appropriate palliative technology and the conditions under which the technology should be applied, along with considerations for other resource concerns such as water quality issues associated with potential runoff.

The Stationary Engine Replacement/Upgrade standard is designed to reduce emissions of ozone precursor gases and particulate matter from engines. Engine replacement has been highly successful in the California San Joaquin Valley where over 2,000 diesel engines have been replaced with electric engines, reducing ozone precursor and particulate matter emissions by 20-90 percent depending on the age and horsepower rating of the original engine.  This exemplifies how agriculture can be a valuable partner in helping a region that has not met Federal air quality standards achieve its air quality goals.  This conservation practice standard includes additional Energy benefits if the engine replacements can be powered by a non-combustion energy source such as wind, solar, or hydro.

The Precision Pest Control Application standard is designed to benefit both air quality and water quality resource concerns.  It involves the use of sensing and control systems on pest control application equipment to adjust spray output to focus deposition on targets, compensate for variable environmental conditions, alter the application rate in accordance with prior knowledge of the crop or other target, and utilize non-chemical pest control.  The purpose is to reduce the amount of chemical applied, improve air quality by reducing volatilization of ozone precursor gases, and minimize chemical drift and water quality impacts.

The Airflow Filtration and Scrubbing standard provides specifications for systems that filter air emissions from vented airflows.  The practice standard includes traditional biofilters, as well as wet and dry scrubbers, bioscrubbers, and other air filtration technologies. This standard can be used to manage emissions of volatile organic compounds, ammonia, odorous sulfur-containing compounds, and particulate matter.

The AQAC National Technology Development Team and the NRCS AQAC Practice Standards Working Group are also continuing efforts to improve the technological capabilities of NRCS to address air quality resource concerns by revising CPS 370, Atmospheric Resource Quality Management, which is due for its five-year review.  Work is ongoing to review and update all conservation practice standards to address air quality resource concerns where appropriate, implementing new and fine-tuning existing agency technologies.
Your contact is NRCS air quality engineer Susan O’Neill at 503-273-2438.