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SPECIAL NOTICES
New Federal Standards
In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revised the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) by publishing new one-hour standards. The new standards are intended to protect the public from short-term exposures. EPA also retained the annual national standard for NO2 and revoked the 24-hour and annual standards for SO2. Beginning in fall 2010, these changes will be reflected in the information presented on the West Oahu Air Quality Monitoring website. The changes in the national standards are summarized in the table below:
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Air Quality Parameter |
New One-Hour Standard |
Retained Annual Standard |
Revoked Standards |
|
Nitrogen Dioxide |
100 parts per billion |
53 parts per billion |
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Sulfur Dioxide |
75 parts per billion |
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140 parts per billion/24 hours 30 parts per billion/annual |
Previously, the West Oahu Air website reported the Air Quality Index (AQI) for the 24-hour SO2 concentration. It also reported the one-hour NO2 concentration, but not a corresponding AQI value for this because there was no one-hour standard. Beginning in late August 2010, AQI values will be reported for both NO2 and SO2 one-hour concentrations based on the new standards.