Analysis of Policy Factors Impacting the Use of Low-Cost Air Monitoring Networks in Washington, D.C.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for six criteria pollutants and monitors attainment to these standards through a system of federally accepted analytical methods (FEMs or FRMs). Due to their cost and technical sophistication, FEM monitoring networks may be good for measuring air pollution at a regional spatial resolution but may not be appropriate for monitoring neighborhood-level resolution. While FEM networks are effective at monitoring regional scale pollution, literature indicates that pollution varies considerably at sub-regional and even neighborhood-or block-level spatial scales. Therefore, while a region may be in attainment with the NAAQS, local communities’ air quality may not be represented by the data collected through the FEM network. In fact, public health trends, uneven distribution of tree canopy, and socioeconomic data indicate that particular communities in Washington, DC may have a high risk for nonattainment despite the District being in compliance with federal measures of air quality. With the overarching goal of mitigating this potential environmental and public health issue, the George Washington University Sustainability living lab project, Fresh Air DC, is working to deploy low-cost high-density air monitoring systems with at least one sensor in each advisory neighborhood council (ANC) throughout the District. In this paper, we formulate the elements of a policy framework that can support the establishment of this system. Our research will involve a comparative analysis between two existing low-cost high-density systems, one deployed in California and brought forth by state legislation, and the Breathe London hyperlocal air quality monitoring network. This comparative analysis will demonstrate the role of effective policy systems in supporting the development and implementation of a low-cost high-density system in DC. Moreover, this analysis demonstrates the role of the proposed policy framework in supporting the new DC Sustainability Plan.