2013 AIR QUALITY SUMMARY
This annual report provides information on the air quality in Santa Barbara County for 2013.
In 2013, Santa Barbara County met the federal standards for all measured pollutants except for the 8-hour ozone standard and the 1-hour sulfur dioxide standard. The 8-hour ozone standard of 0.075 ppm (75 ppb) was exceeded on 1 day and the 1-hour sulfur dioxide standard was exceeded on 1 day.
Santa Barbara County also met the California state standards for all pollutants except for the 8-hour ozone standard, the 24-hour particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10), and the annual arithmetic mean for particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10).
The state 8-hour ozone standard of 0.070 ppm (70 ppb) was exceeded on 3 days. The California state PM10 standard of 50 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) was exceeded on 18 days.
The California state arithmetic mean PM10 standard of 20 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) was exceeded at 5 of the 7 stations collecting PM10 data.
Detailed information about the ozone and particulate matter exceedances in Santa Barbara County can be found at: Summary of Days Exceeding Standards.
National and State Ambient Air Quality Standards
The Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) (Title 1, Section 109) requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prescribe national primary ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for certain air pollutants where public health criteria (protecting sensitive populations such as asthmatics) have been established. These pollutant levels were chosen to protect the health of the most susceptible individuals in a population, including children, the elderly and those with chronic respiratory ailments. A secondary standard is also prescribed to protect human welfare (visibility, crop damage, building damage). These pollutants are known as criteria pollutants.
The EPA currently has NAAQS for six criteria pollutants: ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), lead (Pb), and particulate matter including (PM10) and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5).
In addition to the EPA standards, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has set air quality standards for the same criteria pollutants and four others: sulfates, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), vinyl chloride (chloroethene, C2H3Cl), and visibility reducing particles.
Table 1 lists the Federal and California standards applicable in 2013.
Figure 1 shows the locations of all monitoring stations in Santa Barbara County operating in 2013.
Air Quality Monitoring Station Status for 2013
In 2013, there were 18 monitoring stations operating in Santa Barbara County, of which eight were operated by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD.) The remaining stations were operated by the CARB, and private industry. Table 2 lists the monitoring stations operating in Santa Barbara County during 2013 and the pollutants and parameters measured at each station.
Criteria Pollutant Summary
The pollutant data collected in Santa Barbara County during 2013 has been summarized and can be downloaded here (PDF file): Santa Barbara County 2013 Pollutant Summary. This summary contains tables of the following data:
- The four highest 1-hour ozone concentrations measured during 2013.
- The four highest 8-hour ozone concentrations measured during 2013.
- The four highest 1-hour concentrations for NO2 for 2013.
- The four highest 1-hour concentrations for SO2 for 2013.
- The four highest 1-hour concentrations for CO for 2013.
Particulate Matter monitoring
As of January 1, 2013 the district completed a transition in the way we collect particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) information. All 2013 particulate data was collected on a continuous basis providing 365 24-hour concentrations from all particle monitors in operation.
Seven stations collected PM10 data in 2013. The seven stations used a PM10 Beta Attenuation Monitor (BAM) sampler running 24 hours a day and calculating real time hourly values for ambient PM concentrations. Four stations collected PM2.5 data using a PM2.5 BAM, collecting continuous hourly data throughout the year.
The particulate data collected in Santa Barbara County during 2013 has been summarized and can be downloaded here (PDF file): Santa Barbara County 2013 Particulate Summary. This summary contains tables of the data listed below.
- The two highest 24-hour PM10 (Local Temperature and Pressure) concentrations measured during 2013 and the annual 24- hour average.
- The two highest 24-hour PM10 (Standard Temperature and Pressure) concentrations measured during 2013 and the annual 24-hour average.
- The two highest 24-hour PM2.5 concentrations measured during 2013 and the annual 24- hour average.
Table 3 provides a summary of particulate monitoring by type and location.
This includes:
- PM10 for continuous sampling to State standards
- PM10 for continuous sampling to Federal standards
- PM2.5 for continuous sampling to State and Federal standards using a FEM (Federal Equivalent Method)
- PM2.5 for continuous sampling to State and Federal standards using a non-FEM method
There were no stations in 2013 with measurements over the federal 24-hour standard of 150 µg/m3. There were 6 stations that measured a particulate level over the state 24-hour California standard of 50 µg/m3 during the year. The highest value for 2013 (109 µg/m3) was recorded at the Santa Maria station. There were also 5 stations that measured a particulate level over the California state annual arithmetic mean standard of 20 µg/m3 for the year. The highest annual arithmetic mean was at the Santa Barbara station with a value of 27 µg/m3.
New in 2013
EPA changes to the NAAQS:
No major changes
Monitoring station changes in 2013:
The Santa Ynez station could no longer meet EPA’s siting requirements because of matured trees located around the station. The new Santa Ynez 2 site was installed and began sampling on July 1, 2013, with parallel monitoring occurring at both sites from August 1 through October 2013. The Santa Ynez station gathers Ozone data solely. Daily maximum 1 hour and the daily maximum 8 hour average ozone readings for both sites correlated closely during the concurrent sampling period. The Santa Ynez 2 became the data of record on October 1, 2013 under the same station ID as the original site.
