The report describes the options for reducing the number of criteria pollutant monitors in operation at any given time in a State network. The authors consider reductions in monitoring for five of the six criteria pollutants: Total Suspended Particles (TSP), SO2, O3, NO2, and CO. Section 2 of the report describes the current nationwide criteria pollutant monitoring network and the data base used to evaluate the monitoring reduction options. The following two sections discuss the three options for reducing the effective number of monitors: shutting down monitors permanently, rotating monitors, and seasonal monitoring. In Section 5 the authors demonstrate the potential cost savings for an example network of 100 monitoring sites after implementation of some of the suggested options. Finally, Section 6 discusses how statistics on statewide trends can be adjusted after one or more of the suggested options are implemented and how cost-effectiveness can be optimized.

Project officer: David Lutz, Monitoring and Reports Branch. Prepared by Systems Applications, Inc. under subcontract to Radian Corporation, under Contract Number 68-02-3889. "EPA 450-4-86-014." "October 1986." "SYSAPP-86/106." Includes bibliographical references (page 63).