Chapter 403 Florida Statutes (F.S.), entitled "Environmental Control," provides the legal authority for most of the activities of the air resource management program within the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The principal sections of Chapter 403, F.S., which grant this authority are as follows:
A Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Air Quality Analysis sometimes requires a cumulative modeling analysis. In a cumulative analysis, nearby sources of air pollutants must be included in the model. Appendix W to Part 51 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Guideline on Air Quality Models, explains this requirement in more detail along with a variety of guidance documents found on the U.S.
The AMS/EPA Regulatory Modeling System (AERMOD) is a steady-state, Gaussian plume dispersion model used to predict the ambient concentrations of air pollutants in the near-field (within 50 kilometers) for a variety of regulatory purposes. One of the main inputs to this model is meteorological data. This data is generally derived from National Weather Service Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) stations.
The Division of Air Resource Management’s Office of Permitting and Compliance manages DEP's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) air permitting program. When a major stationary source of emissions is constructed or modified and it is projected to emit more than a certain amount of air pollutants, the facility must perform an air quality impact analysis to ensure that the project’s future emissions will not cause or contribute to an exceedance of an established air quality standard.
The Air Modeling and Data Analysis Group supports a variety of technical work for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of Air Resource Management.
Air modeling is used to estimate and predict the concentrations of pollutants in the air by simulating the physical and chemical processes of the atmosphere and is generally performed for three different purposes:
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