Update on the NADP Atmospheric Mercury Initiative Developing

Update on the NADP Atmospheric Mercury Initiative Developing a new coordinated and collaborative approach to atmospheric mercury monitoring A Briefing for: Ambient Monitoring Steering Committee June 21, 2007 Washington D. C.

Outline • Atmospheric mercury initiative strategy • Planning/community-building • Update on technical aspects • Update on funding opportunities • Summary

Atmospheric mercury initiative planning • • EPA is leading the planning effort with NADP to establish a new network for monitoring atmospheric mercury species Scientific and policy communities have shown strong support for this network –Data needed for model evaluation and for assessment of Hg control programs EPA is working with NADP because they have a proven 25+ year track record of distributing high-quality data in a scientifically credible, transparent manner –Voluntary, broad participation The goals of this atmospheric mercury initiative are to: –Build a data set for analyzing spatial and temporal trends –Provide data for evaluating models and assessing sourcereceptor relationships –Facilitate the calculation of wet, dry, and total deposition

Proposed Atmospheric Mercury Initiative Sites Provisional, coordinated network of 8 -10 sites expected to operate this year

Update on technical aspects • Developing standard operating procedures for atmospheric Hg species (initial SOPs Summer 2007) – Drafting based on a best management practices survey and from QA/QC documents from states, Hg researchers, and Environment Canada • NADP technical workshop – Chicago, IL – September 2007 – Experts who know how to run a Tekran system – Consensus on the automated Hg monitoring SOP among Hg monitoring experts – Draft SOP sent out for comment in advance of the meeting • Developing capacity to electronically collect and share atmospheric Hg data from 3 initial monitoring sites – Network infrastructure for data sharing (i. e. , using data loggers, internet, or floppy disks) – Standardized data transfer protocols (i. e. , transferring data from field site to office computer)

Update on technical aspects (cont. ) NADP SOP Development Process Write and Distribute Best Practices (BP) Questionnaire Compile BP Questionnaire Results & Draft an SOP Atm. Hg Scientist, States Response + SOP/QA Documents Atm. Hg Scientist, States Review Final Draft SOP Created from Final BP Doc Final SOP & Published Method Atm. Hg Scientist, States Workshop Input and collaboration in each step forward

Community-building meetings Emphasis on ensuring this is an inclusive, multistakeholder initiative: • May 2006 - Riverside, CA – NADP Spring Meeting • June 2006 - Chicago, IL – NADP Atmospheric Mercury Scientists Workshop • October 2006 - Norfolk, VA – NADP Fall Meeting – Two people from state air groups participated • January & March 2007 – Conference Calls – NACAA Briefings • April 2007 - Burlington, VT – NADP Spring Meeting – Eleven people from state air groups participated

Funding opportunities • • • Limited EPA funding available this year to support existing speciated ambient mercury sites participating in the monitoring effort – Site operators/PI’s agreeing to conform to network requirements – Limited funding designated for site operations and/or to upgrade equipment (e. g. , for how a site can interface with the network) Near-term plan for a competitive acquisition process (i. e. , contracts) – An efficient way to make a small amount of resources available for monitoring services and existing data collection efforts Exploring possibility of supplying Tekran “maintenance” kits – Repair parts and supply kits to site operators participating in the NADP Atmospheric Mercury Initiative – Limit down time of instruments

Summary • • This is a voluntary effort looking for partners to collaborate This effort focuses on coordinating existing sites due to funding limitations Patchwork funding expected over the next couple of years – Limited resources will go to site operators to supplement existing operations of Tekran speciation systems September 2007 methods workshop next major milestone NADP Atmospheric Mercury Initiative Website http: //nadp. sws. uiuc. edu/mtn/