ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY'S
MONITORING
PROGRAMS
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Office of Research and Development
Washington, D.C. 20460
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ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY'S
MONITORING
PROGRAMS
S. M. BLACKER
J. S. BURTON
AUGUST 1973
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Office of Research and Development
Washington, D.C. 20460
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The preparation of this document was a joint effort between S. M. Blacker,
Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency and J. S.
Burton, The MITRE Corporation.
The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperation of the following EPA
personnel:
N. J. Berg, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
R. B. Faoro, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
F. P. Kapinos, Office of Water Planning and Standards
J. E. Logsdon, Office of Radiation Programs
W. T. Sayers, Office of Monitoring Systems
G. B. Wiersma, Office of Pesticides Programs
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ill
INTRODUCTION 1
OBJECTIVES OF EPA ' S MONITORING PROGRAMS 2
ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONAL COMPONENTS OF EPA'S MONITORING PROGRAMS 2
OVERVIEW DESCRIPTION OF ONGOING MONITORING PROGRAMS 12
LONG-TERM AMBIENT MONITORING 12
Air 13
Water 16
Pesticides 16
Radiation 19
LONG-TERM SOURCE MONITORING 21
ENFORCEMENT (CASE-PREPARATION) MONITORING 24
MONITORING IN SUPPORT OF RESEARCH „ 24
MISCELLANEOUS SHORT-TERM MONITORING ACTIVITIES 26
OTHER DATA ACQUISITION EFFORTS OF A CONTINUING NATURE 26
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED)
Page
RESEARCH ON AND RELATED SUPPORT OF MONITORING 29
FUTURE MONITORING REQUIREMENTS 29
SUMMARY. 31
11
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURE NUMBER
1
TABLE NUMBER
I
II
III
IV
V
Page
ORGANIZATION CHART OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY OFFICES WITH SIGNIFICANT MONITORING ACTIVITIES... 6
FY74 RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY'S MONITORING ACTIVITIES 7
EPA LABORATORIES PERFORMING SIGNIFICANT MONITORING
ACTIVITIES 10
Page
MONITORING EFFORTS AND ALLOCATED RESOURCES OF EPA
OFFICES 8
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF ACTIVE LONG-TERM EPA AND STATE
MONITORING STATIONS—FY73 11
POLLUTANTS MEASURED IN AMBIENT AIR AND NUMBER OF EPA-
OPERATED MEASURING STATIONS 14
POLLUTANTS MEASURED IN AMBIENT AIR AND NUMBER OF
STATE-OPE RATED MEASURING STATIONS 15
SUMMARY OF LONG-TERM ACTIVE WATER QUALITY MONITORING
STATIONS SUPPORTED BY EPA 17
ill
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (CONTINUED)
TABLE NUMBER Page
VI ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS MEASURED IN WATER AND
NUMBER OF EPA-SUPPORTED MEASURING STATIONS—1972 18
VII PESTICIDE RESIDUES MONITORING SITES SUPPORTED
BY EPA 20
VIII EPA'S ENVIRONMENTAL RADIATION AMBIENT MONITORING
SYSTEM—FY74 22
IX MEDIA SAMPLED FOR RADIONUCLIDES AND NUMBER OF STATE-
OPERATED MONITORING PROGRAMS 23
X EPA ENFORCEMENT (CASE-PREPARATION) MONITORING
ACTIVITIES 25
XI MAJOR EPA MONITORING ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING RESEARCH 27
XII DATA ACQUISITION EFFORTS OF A CONTINUING NATURE -
MAJOR EPA PROGRAMS 28
XIII RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES REQUIRED TO SUPPORT
MONITORING PROGRAMS 30
IV
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S MONITORING PROGRAMS
INTRODUCTION
This report presents an overview of the Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) monitoring activities and discusses the involvement of State and local
agencies in this effort. The following aspects of this effort are presented:
• objectives of EPA's monitoring programs
• organization of EPA's monitoring programs
• approximate EPA resources assigned to monitoring-related
activities for FY73 and FY74
• an overview description of the ongoing long-term, short-
term, enforcement, research, and miscellaneous monitoring
programs
• a description of the monitoring efforts projected for
the future.
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OBJECTIVES OF EPA'S MONITORING PROGRAMS
The objectives of EPA's monitoring programs are to provide data necessary
to evaluate the state of the environment and to make management decisions on
controlling pollution. More specifically the data are needed to determine the
current state of pollution in all media - air/ water, land, and biological
matter, and in all categories - noise, pesticides, toxic substances, and
radiation; to establish standards for pollutant concentrations; to determine
long- and short-term trends in environmental quality; to ascertain the extent
to which man, animals, vegetation, and all other elements of the environment
are affected by present and potential pollutants; to develop strategies for
the control of pollution; to define the degree of compliance with ambient or
source standards; and to obtain evidence in standards or source compliance
violation cases. Simply, monitoring can be defined as the systematic collection
and evaluation of physical, chemical, biological, and related data for the
purpose of acquiring knowledge about the state of the environment.
ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONAL COMPONENTS OF EPA'S MONITORING PROGRAMS
Although not specifically required in most of EPA's legislative authorities,
monitoring is necessary in carrying out EPA's many responsibilities. The Agency's
monitoring operations are directed by the specific program areas requiring
environmental data. This direction however, is, to a considerable extent, in
the form of technical and financial assistance to the State and local pollution
agencies who actually perform the monitoring activities. For example, the Clean
Air Act of 1970 requires the States to demonstrate compliance by operating air
monitoring networks and supplying the data to EPA. EPA besides supplying finan-
cial and technical assistance to the States, establishes guidelines that ensure
the collection of proper data, operates the data storage, retrieval and analysis
system, and operates its own limited national surveillance network for special
studies and for assessing national pollution trends.
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To present a clear understanding of EPA's monitoring efforts, those program
areas performing significant monitoring activities are summarized below (the
descriptions include only the monitoring-related functions of these Offices):
• Office of Enforcement and General Counsel
- Office of General Enforcement (development of guidelines
to identify standards violations in air and for pesticides;
provision of technical support to EPA Regional Offices in
conduct of enforcement monitoring)
- Office of Water Enforcement (development of guidelines to
identify water standards and effluent limitation violations;
provision of technical support to EPA Regional Offices in
the conduct of enforcement monitoring)
• Office of Air and Water Programs
- Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (establishment
of ambient and stationary source air standards; issuance
of ambient and source air monitoring guidelines; operation
of air pollution data storage, retrieval, and analysis system)
- Office of Mobile Source Pollution Control (establishment of
mobile source emission standards; operation of the motor
vehicle surveillance programs)
- Office of Water Planning and Standards (establishment of
water quality and effluent standards; issuance of ambient and
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source water monitoring guidelines; operation of water
pollution data storage, retrieval and analysis system)
Office of Hazardous Materials Control
- Office of Radiation (establishment of ambient radiation
standards; monitoring of radiation throughout the
environment)
- Office of Pesticides (establishment of standards and
criteria for pesticide usage and registration, and
residue tolerances; monitoring of pesticides throughout
the environment)
- Office of Noise (establishment of noise standards;
monitoring of noise in the ambience and from sources)
- Office of Toxic Substances (identification and
characterization of toxic substances)
Office of Research and Development
- Office of Monitoring Systems (standardization of
monitoring methodology; quality control of monitoring
operations; review and evaluation of overall Agency
monitoring approaches; implementation of advanced
monitoring techniques, development of monitoring
methodology)
4
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- Office of Environmental Sciences (study of pollutant effects
and transport; development of criteria for establishing
standards)
- National Environmental Research Centers (locations where EPA
performs research)
• Regional Offices (evaluation of State monitoring networks;
review of incoming State-collected data to determine complete-
ness and validity; assessment of compliance with applicable
standards; review of data submitted by holders of permits for
discharging into navigable water; prediction of trends in
pollutant levels; operation of monitoring programs)
The arrangement of these Offices in EPA are found in Figure 1. Monitoring resources—'
distributed among the Program Offices are shown in Figure 2 and Table I. EPA has
many field laboratories which can or do perform monitoring-related activities.
Those EPA laboratories involved in a significant amount of monitoring activities
are shown in Figure 3.
As mentioned previously, most States have or are developing monitoring programs
to support their own or EPA's legislative requirements. To ensure compatibility of
pollution data among the States, EPA is disseminating standardized sampling and
analytic methodology and is enlarging its quality control program to perhaps include
the voluntary certification of State analytical laboratories. Table II indicates
the current number of active monitoring locations.
-^Resource values based on budgetary data current to January 31, 1973.
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ADMINISTRATOR
DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR
"NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTERS
• WASHINGTON ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER
FIGURE 1
ORGANIZATION CHART OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY OFFICES WITH SIGNIFICANT MONITORING ACTIVITIES
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FIGURE 2
FY 1974 RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S
MONITORING ACTIVITIES
OFFICE OF
NOISE PROGRAMS
0.2%
FY 1974
OFFICE OF RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT*
L
OFFICE OF
PROGRAMS
AIR
OFFICE OF
PESTICIDES
PROGRAMS
OFFICE OF
ENFORCEMENT
GENERAL COUNSEL
FY 1974
DFFICE OF
NOISE PROGRAMS
0.4%
JL
OFFICE OF
PESTICIDES
PROGRAMS
OFFICE OF
RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT
OFFICEOF
ENFORCEMENT
AND GENERAL
COUNSEL
30%
OFFICE OF
AIR PROGRAMS
OFFICE OF
WATER PROGRAMS
OFFICE OF
RADIATION
PROGRAMS
MANYEARSOF EFFORT FOR
MONITORING-RELATED ACTIVITIES
FUNDING FOR MONITORING-
RELATED ACTIVITIES
The development and standardization of monitoring instrumentation and methodology are not included in the resources
"Approximately 60 percent of these resources are provided by the AEC for off-site monitoring at the Nevada test site.
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TABLE I
MONITORING EFFORTS AND ALLOCATED RESOURCES OF EPA OFFICES
Headquarters
Program Office:
Monitoring Activities—Collection of
Environmental Pollution Data to Support:
Approximate Resources
Allocated to Monitoring
FY73 FY74
MY $1000 MY $1000
Office of Research
and Development
Office of Air
Programs (GAP)
Office of Water
Programs (OWP)
Research programs on health effects, 75
pollutant transport and alteration,
and modelling for predicting pollutant
concentrations.*
Establishment and surveillance of 110
ambient air quality standards,
stationary and mobile air emissions
standards; operate NADB.
Establishment and surveillance of water 310
quality standards and effluent standards
for fresh and marine waters; operate
STORET.
5000
70
5300
5400 110
5300
6200 320
6400
Resource values based on budgetary data current to January 31, 1973
*The development and .standardization of monitoring instrumentation and methodology
are not included in the resources. Approximately 260MY and $10,300K in FY73 and
FY74 are allocated to these activities.
8
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TABLE I (CONTINUED)
Headquarters
Program Office:
Monitoring Activities--Collection of
Environmental Pollution Data to Support
Approximate Resources
Allocated to Monitoring
FY73 FY74
MY $1000 MY $1000
Office of Radiation
Programs (ORP)
Office of'Pesticides
Programs (OPP)
Office of Enforce-
ment and General
Counsel (OEGC)
Office of Noise
Programs (ONP)
Establishment of radiation standards,
special studies to quantify emissions
from ionizing and non-ionizing radia-
tion sources.
Quantification of pesticide levels in
air/ water, soil, foods, human tissues,
Enforcement cases against violators
of existing standards.
Quantification of noise levels around
large disturbance sites.
TOTAL
195
3500** 140 2800**
95 2600 100 2600
375 7700 425 9800
85
120
1162 30485 1168 32320
**Approximately 60 percent of these funds are provided by the AEC for off-site
monitoring at the Nevada test site.
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IX
> ALAMEDA
SAN FRAlttlSCO
FIGURE 3
EPA LABORATORIES PERFORMING SIGNIFICANT MONITORING ACTIVITIES
LEGEND
* REGIONAL LABS
O, NERC - RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK
O, NERC - CINCINNATI
O, NERC - LAS VEGAS
04 NERC - CORVALLIS
0,.,ASSOCIATED NERC SATELLITES
OFFICE OF PESTICIDES PROGRAMS LABS
OFFICE OF RADIATION PROGRAMS LABS
• OFFICE OF MOBILE SOURCE
POLLUTION CONTROL LAB
O NATIONAL FIELD INVESTIGATIONS CENTERS
N.DAK.
IDAHO
VII
.ROCHESTER
DENVER
NEEDHAM HTS.
IRRAGANSETT
YORK CIT1
^EDISON
GULF BREEZE
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TABLE II
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF ACTIVE LONG-TERM EPA
AND STATE MONITORING STATIONS* - FY73
Media or
Pollutant
Number of Stations
EPA State
Air
Water
Pesticides
Solid Waste
Radiation
Noise**
320
800
2298
503
4785
6000
275
7767
*In this brochure/ the terms, stations and sites are used
synonymously and refer to locations where one or more
environmental parameters are measured.
**Selected noise monitoring stations will be established
in FY74.
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OVERVIEW DESCRIPTION OF ONGOING MONITORING PROGRAMS
Besides looking at monitoring from a purely organizational standpoint/ it
is also advantageous to characterize monitoring by its functional components.
They are:
• long-term ambient monitoring
• long-term source monitoring
• enforcement (case-preparation) monitoring
• monitoring in support of research
• miscellaneous short-term monitoring
• other data acquisition efforts of a continuing nature
LONG-TERM AMBIENT MONITORING
Long-term ambient monitoring involves the collection of pollutant effects
and associated pollutant data from the atmosphere; from streams/ lakes/ estuaries,
and ground and coastal waters; from biota; and from soil/ independent of any
specific source of pollution emission. Environmental pollution data are collected
by medium-oriented monitoring networks and by pollutant specific monitoring networks,
Within EPA, long-term ambient monitoring activities are found in the air, water,
pesticides, and radiation offices.
12
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Air
The air network includes many local and State air monitoring stations ranging
in sophistication from only Hi-vol samplers for total suspended particulate to
complex automated and continuously recording instrumentation for measuring many
air pollutants. EPA has established criteria for the minimum number of sampling
stations required by States for measuring each National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS) pollutant.-' EPA is also developing guidelines on locating and operating
these sampling stations. The data from these sites are used to assess local and
State air quality and trends in air quality, to determine if the proper air pol-
lution control strategies are being employed, and to assess compliance with NAAQS.
EPA operates the National Aerometric Surveillance Network (NASN) which consists
of 275 sampling stations for total suspended particulate and 220 sampling stations
for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Data from these sites are used to define
trends in ambient air quality on a national level. NASN will be decentralized to
Regional operation by December, 1973. These data enter the Federally-operated
National Aerometric Data Bank (NADB). In many cases, the same station will serve
as an element of local, State and EPA networks, and therefore close cooperation
and exchange of information occurs.
Data in the NADB are summarized monthly.- quarterly, and annually. These
summaries contain annual and quarterly frequency distributions, arithmetic means,
geometric means, standard deviations, concentration ranges, number of observations,
and percent of year covered.
The pollutants measured in air and the number of EPA-operated stations are
shown in Table III. The number of State operated stations are shown in Table IV.
•^Federal Register, Vol. 36, No. 158, August 14, 1973,
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TABLE III
POLLUTANTS MEASURED IN AMBIENT AIR AND
NUMBER OF EPA-OPERATED MEASURING STATIONS
Pollutants Measured
Number of Monitoring Stations
Continuous Intermittent
Total Suspended Particulates-HiVol*
Total Suspended Particulates-Tape
Sulfur Dioxide
Nitrogen Dioxide
Nitrogen Oxides
Carbon Monoxide
Photochemical Oxidants
Non-Methane Hydrocarbon
Total Hydrocarbons
Respirable Particulates
Dust Fall*
Precipitation*
Membrane Filter*
Particle Size Fractionation*
-
-
15
46
9
44
40
6
7
-
-
-
-
—
316
6
246**
246**
-
14
-
-
-
35
35
17
50
10
Data obtained from "Air Monitoring Strategy," September 15, 1972, prepared by
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards and updated by OAQPS.
*Used also for trace metal analyses.
**Sulfur dioxide/nitrogen dioxide bubblers collocated.
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TABLE IV+
POLLUTANTS MEASURED IN AMBIENT AIR AND NUMBER
OF STATE-OPERATED MEASURING STATIONS
Pollutants Measured Number of Monitoring Stations
Current SIP* Recom'd Stations by 1974
Continuous Intermittent Continuous Intermittent
Total Suspended Particulate - - 1587 - 3650
Hi Vol
Total Suspended Particulate - - 500 - 904
Tape
Sulfur Dioxide 350 640 690 1434
Nitrogen Dioxide 123 463 308 834
Carbon Monoxide 198 - 455
Photochemical Oxidants 207 - 946
Hydrocarbons** ? ? ? ?
Data obtained from "Air Monitoring Strategy/" September 15, 1972, prepared by
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards and updated by OAQPS. This table
does not reflect all the State-conducted special monitoring studies in which
non-National Ambient Air Quality Standards pollutants are measured.
*State Implementation Plans
**Hydrocarbon levels in the ambient air are only to be used as a guide for the
oxidants standard and hydrocarbons do not therefore require measurement.
The number of stations measuring hydrocarbons is currently unknown.
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Water
The water network operates in much the same manner and for the same purposes
as the air network on the local and State level. However, unlike air monitoring/
where the EPA activity has been managed centrally at the National Environmental
Research Center (NERC) in Research Triangle Park, EPA water monitoring operations
are handled by each Region. The data from the local, State and Regional monitoring
operations enter a central EPA-operated computerized information system (STORET),
similar in operation and output to NADB.
As of March 1, 1973, there were some 102,000 stations (mostly inactive) in
STORET representing approximately 19,000,000 water quality observations. Of the
total stations, about one third are/were State operated and two thirds are/were
operated by EPA, U.S. Geological Survey, and other Federal and interstate agencies.
The participating States directly access, store, and retrieve data from STORET
using remote low-speed terminals.
Of the 102,000 stations having data in STORET, approximately 19,000 stations
were active in 1972. Table V shows the number of long-term active water quality
monitoring stations supported by EPA. Table VI lists the types of observations
measured in 1972 at the long-term stations and the number of long-term stations
associated with each measurement. The locations of these water quality monitoring
stations may be found by querying the STORET data bank.
Pesticides
Most pesticide monitoring is conducted at the State and Federal level. The
States generally monitor in only high pesticide usage areas, mainly collecting
and analyzing soil samples. The Federal monitoring network seeks to characterize
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TABLE V
SUMMARY OF ACTIVE LONG-TERM WATER QUALITY
MONITORING STATIONS SUPPORTED BY EPA
Type of Station
EPA funded and operated
EPA interagency cooperation
with U.S. Geological Survey
EPA cooperation with local
State, interstate, and
other Federal agencies
Number of Stations
120
400
280
TOTAL 800
Data obtained from Monitoring and Data Support Division,
Office of Water Planning and Standards.
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TABLE VI
ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS MEASURED IN WATER AND NUMBER
OF EPA-SUPPORTED MEASURING STATIONS - 1972
Environmental Parameters
Number of Monitoring Stations
(Intermittent)
Field*
Common ions
Oxygen demand
Nutrients
Metals
Pesticides
Bacteriological
740
500
400
680
440
100
560
Data obtained from Monitoring and Data Support Division,
Office of Water Planning and Standards.
*Field parameters for example include: flow, pH7 temperature,
conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity.
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the pervasiveness of pesticides and their residues throughout the environment
including: air, water, soils, estuarine fish, human tissues, and food, which
are all components of the National Pesticide Monitoring Program.
Table VII shows the type and number of pesticide monitoring sites. Samples
collected from these sites are analyzed for chlorinated hydrocarbons, organo-
phosphates, triazine herbicides, and phenoxy herbicides as well as the elements
lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium.
Data on the measurement of pesticide residues in soils, water, estuarine
fish, and human tissue are reported annually. These reports contain the mean
levels, percent of occurrence, range of detected residues, distribution frequencies,
geometric means, and 95 percent confidence intervals of all the means.
Radiation
Radiation pollution data are collected through EPA's operation of the Environ-
mental Radiation Ambient Monitoring System (ERAMS). This national system involves
the collection and analysis of samples of air, water, milk, human bone and other
biological matter to identify the levels of radioactivity throughout the environ-
ment. EPA also operates a monitoring program for the Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC) around the Nevada test site and conducts special field studies around major
sources of environmental radiation pollution. Samples in support of ERAMS are
collected by State or local agencies from sites selected to monitor either ambient
background radiation or specific sources of environmental radiation pollution.
These samples are forwarded to the Office of Radiation Programs laboratories for
analyses. Many States also operate their own environmental radiation monitoring
programs.
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TABLE VII
PESTICIDE RESIDUES MONITORING SITES SUPPORTED BY EPA
Type of Sampling Site
Number of Monitoring Sites
FY73 FY74
Cropland Soils
Urban Soils
Non-Cropland Soils
Air*
Water
Estuarine Fish
Human Tissue
1533
500
265
-
-
-
275
1533
500
-
15
161
200
75
TOTAL
2573
2469
Data obtained from "EPA Selected Statistics," January, 1972,
page 64 and updated by Office of Pesticides Programs.
*May not be funded in FY74.
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The ERAMS consists of several programs as summarized in Table VIII. State-
operated programs are summarized in Table IX. The air program measures gross
beta radioactivity in particulates and deposition with selected samples being
analyzed for plutonium, uranium, and fission products. Other samples are analyzed
for krypton-85. The water program monitors drinking water/ surface water, and
precipitation. The milk program monitors the concentration of selected radio-
nuclides in the nation's milk supply. The human bone program monitors the
plutonium and strontium content in relation to calcium from selected geographical
areas. In the State-operated diet programs, foods obtained from selected pop-
ulations are analyzed for radionuclides. Soil, vegetation, fish, silt, thyroid
(beef), fodder, sargassum, turtle grass, and animal feed meals grouped under
miscellaneous are also analyzed by the States for radionuclides.
LONG-TERM SOURCE MONITORING
Source monitoring is used to collect pollutant data directly from the emitting
point. In air this includes stationary sources such as processing and manufacturing
plants and mobile sources such as automobiles; in water, effluents from industrial,
municipal and other sources; in pesticides, from production, formulation and
packaging operations; in radiation, from radioactive materials mining and processing
installations and radioactive materials usage locations and from radio towers and
other sources of nonionizing radiation; in solid waste, from sanitary landfills;
and in noise, from any noise emitters. Presently most of the long-term source
monitoring is carried out by the municipal and private sectors which supply the
results to the appropriate local, State and Federal pollution authorities. These
groups in turn perform their own source monitoring to validate the incoming
privately-collected pollutant data.
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TABLE VIII+
EPA'S ENVIRONMENTAL RADIATION AMBIENT MONITORING SYSTEM-FY74
Program Number of Stations
Air 85
Milk 65
Water 133
Intersate Carrier Maximum of 220
Drinking Water samples per year
Component
Human Bone Variable*
Data obtained from "EPA Selected Statistics," January, 1972,
page 65, and updated by Office of Radiation Programs.
*Changes are currently being made to vary the sampling frequency
and composition of samples by age and geographical area.
Sampling is to be expanded to include specimens of lung tissue
and respiratory lymph nodes.
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TABLE IX+
MEDIA SAMPLES FOR RADIONUCLIDES AND NUMBER
OF STATE OPERATED MONITORING PROGRAMS
Media Samples Number of Stations
Air 543
Milk 544
Water 5474
Diet* 20
Miscellaneous* 1186
TOTAL 7767
Data obtained from the report on "State Environmental
Radioactivity Surveillance Programs," Radiation Data
and Reports, 14: 145-173 (1973).
*See text for explanation.
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ENFORCEMENT (CASE-PREPARATION) MONITORING
This activity can involve ambient and/or source monitoring for the specific
purpose of collecting data to document violations of environmental quality
standards or emission/effluent standards. In most cases, the sampling duration
is less than three months. The degree of local or State activity in this
monitoring category depends on the applicable ordinances. On the Federal level,
EPA has enforcement power only for air and water pollutants and pesticides.
All radiation monitoring for enforcement is normally performed by the Atomic
Energy Commission.
EPA Headquarters provides the technical guidelines used by the Regions in
the collection of pollution samples. Upon requests from the Regional Offices or
Headquarters, the National Field Investigation Centers, in Denver and Cincinnati,
provide additional technical support for water quality and effluent enforcement
actions. Chain of custody procedures along with precise sampling and analytical
methodology must be strictly followed to ensure that pollution data are legally
valid.
The environmental areas covered by enforcement (case-preparation) monitoring
are summarized in Table X.
MONITORING IN SUPPORT OF RESEARCH
Many research experiments for identifying and quantifying the causes and
effects of pollution require extensive monitoring networks to provide the
necessary data. These networks can employ standard monitoring methodology or
can resort to a mixture of standard and prototype methodology. Both ambient
and source monitoring can be employed with the time duration dependent on the
data requirements. In all cases, these monitoring activities are directed
from the National Environmental Research Centers of EPA.
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TABLE X
EPA ENFORCEMENT (CASE-PREPARATION) MONITORING ACTIVITIES
Media and Categories
Description of Monitorinq-Related Activities*
Air
Mobile Source
Stationary Source
Water
Pesticides
Enforcement of standards and regulations for air
and noise pollution from mobile sources. Respond
to violations of (a) engine and engine family
certification program/ (b) vehicle recalls, and
(c) tampering with emission control devices.
Enforcement of New Source Performance Standards/
National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants, and violations of State Implementation
Plans compliance schedules.
Enforcement of water quality standards and discharge
permit requirements principally by the Regional
Offices and the two National Field Investigation
Centers.
Enforcement of pesticides registration, labelling,
use, and import regulations.
*A11 activities develop guidelines, procedures, criteria, and policy for the
enforcement of EPA standards and regulations. Most enforcement activities are
conducted from the Regional Offices and National Field Investigation Centers.
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The research programs requiring a significant portion of monitoring support
are: the Regional Air Pollution Study (RAPS), the Community Health Effects
Surveillance Studies (CHESS), the National Eutrophication Survey, and the special
air monitoring studies.
Table XI shows the major monitoring activities supporting research.
MISCELLANEOUS SHORT-TERM MONITORING ACTIVITIES
This category of monitoring includes all types of monitoring: ambient or
source, operated by the NERC's, Program Offices, or Regional Offices for the
specific purpose of collecting data on a specific isolated phenomenon of interest.
The data collection period is short (generally less than two years). State and
local pollution agencies and EPA regions are constantly performing these monitoring
activities in support of their needs for specific information. Examples of these
activities are: development and testing of mathematical simulation models for
air or water pollution prediction, collection of specific environmental data to
support standards setting, investigation of the level of phosphate reduction after
the establishment of a ban on phosphate detergent use, and measurement of the
efficiency of pollution control devices to remove particulates from a normally-
operating basic oxygen furnace.
OTHER DATA ACQUISITION EFFORTS OF A CONTINUING NATURE
Monitoring activities in this category involve the collecting of pollution
data by indirect methods. No actual field sampling is performed. The data are
obtained by questionnaires, surveys, inventorying, and engineering calculations.
The local and State pollution agencies perform this data acquisition effort to
varying degrees. It is only possible to identify specific programs at the Federal
level. The significant activities associated with this effort are summarized in
Table XII.
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TABLE XI
MAJOR EPA MONITORING ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING RESEARCH
Media and Categories
Air
Regional Air Pollution
Study (RAPS)
Community Health and
Environmental Surveil-
lance Studies (CHESS)
Special Air Monitoring
Studies
Water
National Eutrophication
Survey
Description of Monitorinq-Related Activities
Comprehensive evaluation of air pollution/ its
causes and effects; methods development for
predicting air pollution levels in metropolitan
areas.
Determination of the relationships between human
health and continuous exposure to air pollution
in selected neighborhoods of metropolitan areas.
Collection of specific data to support standards
setting in air.
Characterization of the eutrophic levels in
selected lakes and other impounded bodies of
water.
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TABLE XII
DATA ACQUISITION EFFORTS OF A CONTINUING NATURE - MAJOR EPA PROGRAMS
Data Acquisition Efforts
Description of Monitorinq-Related Activities
Air
Fuel and Fuel Additive
Registration
Emission Inventories
Water
Industrial and Municipal
Inventories
Oil and Hazardous
Materials Spills
Fish Kill Inventory
Pesticides
Pesticide Accidents
Pesticide Market Sample
Analysis
Registration of all fuels and fuel additives.
Identification of point and area sources of air
pollution and calculation of their emissions.
Compilation of effluent sources and characteriza-
tion of their wastewaters.
Investigations of oil and hazardous materials
spills with associated surveillance of clean up
procedures.
Compilation of information gathered by State
agencies on the location and cause of fish kills
and the number of fish involved.
Investigations of pesticides usage resulting in
health or environmental hazards.
Examination of pesticide products for proper
labelling of ingredients and use.
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RESEARCH ON AMD' RELATED SUPPORT OF MONITORING
Besides these six monitoring categories discussed above, there are five
activities of a research and related nature that directly support monitoring
operations. They are:
• Development and evaluation of monitoring instrumentation
and methodology
o Development and demonstration of criteria for design of
monitoring networks
• Development of techniques for analysis of monitoring data
• Standardization of sampling procedures and analytical methods
• Development and implementation of quality control programs for
monitoring
These activities provide the special measurement instrumentation and procedures
for collecting and analyzing environmental samples. After the instrumentation
and procedures have been standardized and field tested, they become EPA reference
methods to be employed in field and laboratory monitoring operations. Table XIII
describes the type of monitoring support provided by each of these activities.
FUTURE MONITORING REQUIREMENTS
In the area of research support for monitoring, one of the foremost
priorities is the development of inexpensive, easy-to-operate, and low-maintenance
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TABLE XIII
RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES REQUIRED TO SUPPORT MONITORING PROGRAMS
Activity
Development and evaluation of
monitoring instrumentation and
methodology
Development and demonstration
of criteria for design of
monitoring networks
Development of techniques for
analysis of monitoring data
Standardization of sampling
procedures and analytical methods
Development and implementation
of quality control programs
for monitoring
Description
To assess more accurately pollutant levels
in the environment/ modified and new
instrumentation is needed to replace less
accurate, higher cost and/or higher main-
tenance field and laboratory monitoring
equipment.
To identify what to collect, how often to
collect, and where to collect pollutant
samples, guidelines must be developed and
demonstrated to ensure that representative
data are collected.
Develop modelling techniques which reduce
the collected data to more meaningful and
interpretable results and which predict
pollutant levels, given raw data and
selected conditions.
After instrumentation has been developed,
the specific procedures used in operating
the instrumentation must be developed to
ensure that comparable data are obtained.
To ensure that standardized procedures are
followed and valid results are obtained in
the collection and analyses of pollutant
samples, instrumentation is calibrated and
analyses are performed using duplicate,
split, spiked and/or reference samples.
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field collection and laboratory analytical instrumentation. This instrumentation
must also be capable of measuring pollutant levels in the environment more ac-
curately than currently applied methods. Methodology must also be developed and
employed to ensure that those environmental samples collected are truly repre-
sentative of the area requiring quantification.
To ensure the optimal selection of sampling sites, parameter coverage and
measurement frequency, new monitoring techniques and operating procedures need to
be developed. These will permit more adequate monitoring of the environment
with the limited available resources. Possible feasible techniques of operating
procedures that could be employed to a greater extent are: (a) use of biological
accumulators, sentinels, and indicators which can provide additional information
on pollutants and their effects, (b) identification of specific pollutants whose
measured concentrations in the environment could be used to accurately predict
other pollutants which are also present, and (c) application of remote sensing
from ground and airborne platforms for more rapid and encompassing assessments
of environmental pollution problems.
SUMMARY
The EPA and State-operated monitoring programs are designed to characterize
on a continuing basis the quality of the environment at the local, State, Regional,
and national level. The data obtained from these programs are used to:
• evaluate trends in environmental quality as necessary to
assess the effectiveness of pollution abatement programs,
• identify problem areas requiring stricter pollution control
regulations and other remedial actions,
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• identify compliance with and violations of ambient environ-
mental quality standards and source emissions standards,
• characterize the health, ecological and economic effects of
specific pollutants entering and in the environment; trace
the interaction/ movement, and fate of specific pollutants
entering and in the environment (i.e., research monitoring)
Through monitoring of pollutants in air and water and for pesticides, noise, and
radioactive materials throughout the environment, EPA and the States are jointly
collecting the data essential to their needs. The types of monitoring networks
operated depend on the specific data required. Each network type has been
described along with those research activities which directly support monitoring
operations.
Monitoring is complex and requires much coordination and continued improvement
in order to be responsive to changing data needs. As programs are implemented to
satisfy the identified future monitoring requirements, better, more representative
data will be available for environmental assessments.
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