TRI-NATA Explorer 2008 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Training Conference Washington, DC February 12, 2008 Ted Palma - EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Kim Balassiano - EPA OEI/OIAA Information Access Division

2 Development of TRI-NATA Explorer Goal - Put TRI air emissions into risk context OEI has developed TRI database OAQPS has developed NATA database OAQPS had initially developed NATA- explorer tool (unfunded!) OEI Staff have begun enhancing the tool

3 What is NATA? Characterization of air toxics risks across the nation Modeling assessment performed by the USEPA to characterize chronic cancer and noncancer risk estimates for the 133 HAPs Includes many sources of outdoor origin Inhalation only Tools for State/Local/Tribal Agencies (and EPA) to prioritize pollutants, emission sources and locations of interest Provides a starting point for local-scale assessments Focuses on community efforts Informs monitoring programs Results are available in database on NATA website

4 NATA History 1996 NATA Based on 1996 NTI Release May HAPs 1999 NATA Based on 1999 NEI Released Feb HAPs 2002 NATA Will be based on 2002 NEI Expected Release Early 2008

5 Who currently uses NATA? EPA Data for standard setting Risk and Technology Review Area source rulemaking MSAT Rule used NATA for current and projected risk levels Air Toxics monitoring NATTS Priority HAPs/Site locations Support Urban monitoring efforts Accountability Measures GPRA, 112(k), PART AQM Phase 1 ( Recommendation 1.5 Framework for Accountability) Used to link Air Toxic to Criteria Program Overlay “Hot Spots” with nonattainment areas (e.g. Detroit) Evaluate the toxic components of PM States Many State Air Toxic Program set air toxic priorities using NATA Identify gaps in emissions inventories and encourages inventory improvements Communities Serves as a starting point Information and priority setting

6 Improvements in the 2002 NATA Inventory Improvements Cr speciation More tribal data RTR review Integration of HAPs and CAPs QA/QC Improved point source characterization Model at census block using HEM3 (AERMOD) Retain individual source contributions Will group into source categories Improved non-point source characterization Area sources - grouped into 27 area source bins Mobile sectors - grouped into 9 source bins Updated exposure characterization approach Using exposure ratios in lieu of running HAPEM Allows us to retain individual facility and areas source category contribution to risk Improved Background Characterization Updated monitoring data (NATTS) Improved regional representation

1999 NATA - National Scale Assessment Predicted County Level Cancer Risk – County Medians Spatially, most of country predicted to have risk between 1 and 25 in a million Most urban locations greater than 25 in a million Transportation corridors and some locations greater than 50 in a million Several counties greater than 100 in a million

TRINATA GIS TRI-NATA Explorer ++= The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

11 Getting the Right Information How can TRI-NATA Explorer better provide information community audiences are interested in? How can we make the risk information presented by TRI-NATA Explorer more understandable and useful? How can we help people better understand the uncertainty associated with the information provided by TRI-NATA Explorer? How can TRI-NATA Explorer be made easier to use?

12 Putting Risk Info into Context Feedback from focus group was that people want to know: What does a cancer risk of 25 in a million actually mean? Should I be concerned? Risk ladder is a visual tool that depicts magnitude of risk. Risk in question compared against more familiar types of risk

1 in 1 — person 1 in 10 — family 1 in 100 — street 1 in 1,000 — village 1 in 10,000 — small town 1 in 100,000 — large town 1 in 1 million — city 1 in 10 million — small country 1 in 100 million — large country Community Risk Scale Risk Magnitude

14 Putting Risk Info into Context OEI and OAQPS considering other possible risk ladders Examples Risks of daily life: car, plane, bike accidents Other health risks: smoking, dietary habits Risk associated with EPA decisions: residual drinking water and air risks

15 What does the tool look like?

Select Geography & Data

Get Map

Zoom into area of concern

Query NATA Data

Query TRI Data

Generate Envirofacts Report

Directly Import Data into Google Earth

Generate Demographic Information of Area

24 Planned Application Enhancements Replace or add 1999 NATA data with 2002 NATA data Retool for public consumption by adding explanatory text (i.e., risk ladder) Standardize the map controls (pan, zoom, identify) to be consistent with today's mapping applications

25 TRI-NATA Explorer Tentative Schedule Internal EPA Focus Group Review – September 2007 Initial Software Enhancements - Fall 2007 External Focus Group Review – Spring/Summer 2008 Final Enhancements – Summer 2008 Update with 2002 NATA – Summer 2008 Public Release – Late 2008

26 TRI-NATA Explorer Development Team Ted Palma – OAQPS Kim Balassiano – OEI Art Koines - OEI Dave Wolf – OEI Mike Petruska - OEI