Florida's statewide air quality monitoring network is operated by both
state and local environmental programs. The air is monitored for
carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter and sulfur
dioxide. The monitors tend to be concentrated in areas with the largest
population densities. Not all pollutants are monitored in all areas.
The department's Florida's Air Quality System provides
the public and units of local, state, and federal government
with measurements of pollutant concentration levels in the
ambient air – ambient air being generally
defined as that
portion of the atmosphere near ground level and external to
buildings or other structures.
Ambient air quality standards, defined as levels below
health standards, have been established
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for six
pollutants:
carbon monoxide (CO),
lead (Pb),
nitrogen dioxide
(NO2),
ozone (O3),
particulate matter,
and
sulfur
dioxide (SO2).
Since health-based criteria
have been used to establish the standards, these six
pollutants are referred to as “criteria air pollutants.”
An essential component of air quality management in the
state is the identification of (1) areas where the ambient air
quality standards are being violated and plans are needed to
reduce pollutant concentration levels to be in attainment with
the standards and (2) areas where the ambient standards are
being met but plans are needed to ensure maintenance of
acceptable levels of air quality in the face of anticipated
population or industrial growth.
The end-result of this attainment/maintenance analysis is
the development of local and statewide strategies for
controlling emissions of criteria air pollutants from
stationary and mobile sources. The first step in this
process is the annual compilation of the ambient air
monitoring results, and the second step is the analysis of the
monitoring data for general air quality, exceedances of air
quality standards, and pollutant trends.
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