Tag: PM2.5 (Particulate Matter)

  • Understanding Great Salt Lake Dust and Air Quality

    The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, fed by the Bear, Jordan, and Weber rivers. The lake is a terminal lake, meaning pollutants build up within it rather than flushing downstream. Sediments in the lakebed contain elevated levels of natural and human-caused compounds, such as arsenic. As the lake…

  • WestSide AirSense: Empowering communities through enhanced PM monitoring

    We want to learn more about the air pollution in underserved neighborhoods on the west side of Salt Lake Valley. To do this, we’re using affordable air quality sensors in those areas to measure levels of PM2.5 and PM10 particles. We are developing air quality maps and alerts to provide instant, local air quality information.…

  • PM2.5 Logan, Utah Maintenance Plan: Technical Support Documents

    Technical documentation supporting the PM2.5 Logan, Utah Maintenance Plan for maintaining healthy air quality levels after achieving federal standards.

  • PM2.5 Salt Lake City Maintenance Plans: Technical Support Documents

    Technical documentation supporting the PM2.5 Salt Lake City Maintenance Plans for maintaining healthy PM2.5 air quality levels after achieving federal standards.

  • PM2.5 Provo, Utah Maintenance Plans: Technical Support Documents

    Technical documentation supporting the PM2.5 Provo, Utah Maintenance Plans for maintaining healthy PM2.5 air quality levels after achieving federal standards.

  • Consumer Products and PM2.5

    While it might not seem like hair spray, carpet cleaner, or air fresheners contribute to Utah’s PM2.5 problem, they do.

  • Particulate Matter Overview

    Particulate matter (PM), also known as particle pollution, is a complex mixture of small solid particles and liquid droplets in the air. Some particulate matter, like soot, smoke, dust, or dirt, is large enough to see. Fine particulate matter is so small that it can only be seen through an electron microscope. Particle pollution is…

  • Inversions

    Find out how Utah’s unique geography traps pollution during inversions and what it means for winter air quality. Under normal atmospheric conditions, air is warmer near the ground and colder at higher altitudes. In a temperature inversion, the situation “inverts,” and cold air at the surface gets trapped under a layer of warmer air. During…

  • Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) Overview

    PM2.5 particulates are fine, inhalable particles or droplets with a diameter of 2.5 microns or smaller. These fine particulates, which are about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair, can travel deeply into the lungs and cause both short-term and long-term health effects. While larger PM10 particulates can compromise respiratory and cardiac…

  • PM2.5 Moderate Area State Implementation Plans (SIPs)(2009-2014)

    Review Utah’s early strategies and regulatory plans to tackle PM2.5 pollution in moderate-level areas across the state. In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tightened the 24-hour PM2.5 standard from 65µg/m3 (microgram per cubic meter) to 35µg/m3. While the state was in attainment under the previous 24-hour standard, all or parts of seven Utah counties…

  • PM2.5 Area Designations: State Implementation Plan Development

    Understand PM2.5 area designations planning and how that shapes Utah’s air quality policies. Nonattainment designation is determined by the EPA when an area or areas within a state persistently exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The EPA has designated “nonattainment areas” for Particulate Matter having an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microns (μm) or less…

  • Public Comment: PM2.5 State Implementation Plan Development

    See how public input helps shape Utah’s PM2.5 air quality plans and ensures transparency in the process. Public comments are a critical part of the decision making process. The Department of Environmental Quality and its divisions and boards are committed to using the public notice and comment process to improve the decisions they make. The…

  • Area Source Rules for PM2.5 Moderate SIP

    Explore the area source rules for PM2.5 that target smaller pollution sources—like homes and businesses—critical to PM2.5 reductions. The following rules were adopted as part of the overall emissions control strategy for the PM2.5 SIPs. The rules themselves can be accessed online.

  • PM2.5 Air Trend Plots

    PM2.5 air trend plots show PM2.5 pollution level tracking over time in graph format. PM2.5 data has been collected at most monitoring stations since 2000. Like PM10, maximum values also tend to occur during wintertime inversions. Also like PM10, trends are somewhat difficult to evaluate because weather plays such a large role in the data…

  • Serious Area PM2.5 State Implementation Plan (SIP) Development (2017-2019)

    The Serious PM2.5 SIP Development is very much an iterative process. The technical foundation of any SIP involves numerous emissions inventories, air quality modeling assumptions, potential emission controls, and ever-fluctuating design values recorded throughout the air monitoring network. The PM2.5 Implementation Rule is very prescriptive about how these numbers must fit together to comprise an…

  • Control Strategies for Serious Area PM2.5 SIP

    Discover the specific policies and technologies Utah implemented as part of its control strategies for its serious area PM2.5 SIP, drastically cutting PM2.5 emissions in serious nonattainment areas. Disclaimer The Serious PM2.5 SIP Development is very much an iterative process. The technical foundation of any SIP involves numerous emissions inventories, air quality modeling assumptions, potential…

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