Pima County Department of Environmental Quality monitors ambient (outdoor) air pollutants throughout eastern Pima County, including the Tucson metropolitan area and Green Valley. There are six principal pollutants, called “criteria” pollutants that are monitored in accordance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with the Federal Clean Air Act. These standards were established to protect public health and the environment from harmful levels of air pollution.

The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality has prepared this document to be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX. The purpose of the Ambient Air Monitoring Network Plan is to determine if the network is achieving the air monitoring objectives specified in 40 CFR Part 58 Appendix D, which mandate adherence to certain number, type and location requirements of monitoring sites and specific site criteria such as monitoring inlet height. The review should also determine if modifications should be made to the network (e.g. through the termination or relocation of unnecessary stations or addition of new stations). In addition, the review is necessary in order to ensure that the residents of Pima County are provided adequate, representative and useful air quality data, and to provide adequate protection to public health.

The Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) Program enables drug addicted criminal defendants to plead guilty to an offense and then enter a residential, therapeutic community treatment system for three years as an alternative to a prison sentence. The Program begins with three months of in-patient, residential drug treatment followed by wraparound recovery support services managed by a resources specialist, including transitional housing, literacy services, higher education, job training and placement services, and counseling, accompanied by drug testing, probation monitoring, and regular court hearings.

The result of an application to the Arizona Department of Transportation Planning Assistance for Rural Areas (PARA) Program to conduct a multimodal transportation study to address transportation issues in the community. The purpose of the study is to identify the most critical multimodal transportation infrastructure and service needs within the Picture Rocks study area and recommend a program of short-range (0-5 years), mid-range (6-10 years), and long-range (11-20 years) improvements.

Flooding and erosion within the Ranch Estates subdivision during the 2007 summer monsoon season raised the concerns of homeowners. This study addresses the impact of recent improvements in the drainage area upstream; provides updated flood-hazard mapping for the area, and identifies mitigation measures that could be implemented by the affected homeowners to address their flood/erosion hazards.

The revision is a separate document to the Arizona Regional Haze State Implementation Plan submitted December 2003. The Revision meets specific commitments outlined in the December 2003 SIP (Enclosures 2 through 7) as well as a correction to the authorizing regional haze statutes. The submittal contains a SIP completeness checklist and seven enclosures.

This document includes an attainment demonstration and formal request to the United States Environmental Agency to redesignate the San Manuel, Arizona area, a nonattainment area for sulfur dioxide (SO2), to attainment for the health-based 24-hour average and annual average SO2 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). It summarizes the progress of the area in attaining the SO2 standard, demonstrates that all Clean Air Act requirements for attainment have been adopted, and includes a maintenance plan to assure continued attainment after redesignation.

In a rule published July 2, 2002, EPA found the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s "Plan for Attainment of the 24-Hour PM10 Standard – Maricopa County PM10 Nonattainment Area" (May 1997), inadequate to achieve attainment of the 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter 10 microns or fewer in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) at the Salt River monitoring site. The 1997 ADEQ SIP revision included attainment and Reasonable Further Progress demonstrations for the 24-hour NAAQS at the Salt River air quality monitoring site of the Maricopa County PM10 Serious Nonattainment Area, as well as at three other monitoring sites in the Phoenix area, - the Maryvale, Gilbert, and West Chandler sites. On August 4, 1997, EPA approved ADEQ’s attainment and RFP demonstrations for the Salt River monitoring area, which showed that the 24-hour PM10 NAAQS would reach attainment in the area by May 1998. Due to continuing violations of the 24-hour PM10 NAAQS at the Salt River air quality monitoring site since May 1998, EPA subsequently required Arizona to submit a revision to correct SIP inadequacies. This document consists of Arizona’s revisions to the state implementation plan for the Maricopa County PM10 Serious Nonattainment Area as described by EPA in its Federal Register notice of disapproval.

The Clean Air Act states that an area designated as nonattainment due to a violation of the NAAQS may be redesignated to attainment if the State submits and EPA approves a plan demonstrating that permanent emission controls that resulted in attainment will remain in place. This plan demonstrates that all CAA requirements for attainment and maintenance have been met and summarizes the progress of the area in attaining the PM10 standard. This document includes a formal request to EPA to redesignate the Rillito, Arizona PM10 nonattainment area to attainment for the health-based 24-hour average PM10 NAAQS.