| Abstract: | The Air Quality Control Program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has developed an implementation plan for the Metropolitan Boston Intrastate Air Quality Control Region as required by PL 90-148. An essential part of the plan was a set of control regulations designed to achieve and maintain an air quality compatible with adopted standards. Control strategy modeling was used as a tool in selecting the most appropriate regulations to achieve this goal. The body of information presented in this paper is directed to those state and county air pollution control officials concerned with the formulation and evaluation of regulations. The paper details the procedures developed and presents a case history of their use in the region. The system is a synthesis of generally-available software and newly-developed computer programs to provide ahighly automated computational structure. It permits rapid simulation of the emissions resulting from the application of various control regulations. Predictions on the changes expected in ambient air quality levels are then made by the use of the Air Quality Display Model (AQDM). The initial step in the application was a calibration of the system using predicted and measured annual concentrations. This step yielded correlation coefficients of 0.92 for sulfur dioxide and 0.85 for particulates. Subsequently, the system was used to evaluate the baseline case of uncontrolled sulfur in fuel use. Alternative sulfur control strategies were tested for compatibility with air quality standards. The principal strategies tested were: (a) 1% sulfur uniformly throughout the region; (6) 1% sulfur in core area of region, 2.2% sulfur elsewhere; (c) 0.5% sulfur in core area of region, 2.2% sulfur elsewhere; (d) 0.5% sulfur in core area of region, 1.0% sulfur elsewhere. Strategies (b) and (d) were implemented into a time phased set of control regulations for the region. Experience with the system has shown it to be a convenient and rapid method for simulating the effects of control regulations. Furthermore, the utility of this initial model warrants expansion of its application to the other air quality control regions in the Commonwealth. |
