Identify Opportunities to Create Emission Credits in Phoenix, AZ
In order to regulate Ozone, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focuses on the precursors to Ozone, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx). The EPA also recently revised the Ozone standard from 75 to 70 ppb which impacts many areas in Western States based on climate and topography, including the Phoenix area. The Phoenix Area is currently not in attainment to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter less than 10 microns (PM10) and Ground Level Ozone (O3). Since Phoenix is in non-attainment, any existing Major Sources of air pollutants that want to expand and add capacity or new manufacturing factories that want to locate in the Phoenix Area will need to “Offset” any adverse air quality impacts to the local airshed by using Emission Credits of the same pollutant.
The Arizona Environmental Strategic Alliance is a non-profit organization that focuses on improving the environment through partnerships and mentoring. There are a limited number of Emission Credits for the three non-attainment pollutants in the Arizona Emission Bank. The low amount of NOx, and PM10 emission credits, and the fact that one company (Intel) owns 95% of the VOC credits, could prevent any manufacturer from expanding or locating a new manufacturing plant in the Phoenix Area. On May 1, 2017 the State successfully passed through legislation that promoted the use of “non-traditional” offsets to create emission credits for manufacturers to purchase and use the credits to locate or expand. However tough EPA approval of emission credits has resulted in no non-traditional credits being created so far. Phoenix Manufacturers have spent a lot of resources searching for ways to create some non-traditional credits. The students will be crafting an approach that is innovative enough to generate emission credits that meet all the regulatory constraints and also creates enough credits to allow companies to locate or expand in the Phoenix area.
UPDATE
The AZ Air Quality Senior Design team is currently working with manufacturers, utilities, government officials, and economic experts in the greater-Phoenix community to gain insight into the unique challenges and perspectives of the local industries. Additionally, the team is consulting with regulatory professionals across the United States to gain a deeper understanding of nonattainment and emissions banking systems, identify similarities across the nation in problems and solutions relating to nonattainment, and provide perspectives that may be applicable both to Arizona and other communities in the United States. The team is seeking to provide the Arizona Environmental Strategic Alliance with a portfolio of opportunities to generate non-traditional credits and expand their operations.