May 24, 2024. Reno/Sparks, Nev. – Northern Nevada Public Health’s Air Quality Management Division (AQMD) is requesting written public comment on its draft 2024 Ambient Air Monitoring Network Plan, an annual report which provides a detailed description of how and where air pollution is monitored in Washoe County.

Currently, the air monitoring network includes seven locations within the county:  Incline Village, Lemmon Valley, Downtown Reno, South Reno, Spanish Springs, Sparks, and Toll Road (near the Virginia City foothills). One or more of the following pollutants are measured at each site:  carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, sulfur dioxide, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5.

Air Monitoring Network Plans are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and require the specific location of each monitoring station, siting criteria, monitoring methods and objectives, frequency of sampling, pollutants measured at each station, and aerial photographs showing their physical location. This plan also summarizes network modifications completed over the last 12 months and proposed network modifications over the next 18 months.

The 2024 plan is substantially similar to the 2023 Ambient Air Monitoring Network Plan, except for the AQMD request and EPA approval to discontinue carbon monoxide monitoring at the Sparks station.  A summary of all completed and proposed changes may be found on pages 9-11 of the plan.

Comments will be accepted until midnight on June 24, 2024, and may be submitted via e-mail to HealthAirQuality-Planning@nnph.org. All correspondence must include first and last name and a complete mailing address.

For more information regarding Northern Nevada Public Health’s air quality efforts, visit the Air Quality Management Division’s website at OurCleanAir.com.

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Please note the Washoe County Health District changed its name to Northern Nevada Public Health on Aug. 31, 2023. More information is here.

Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH) is nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board and has jurisdiction over all public health matters in Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County through the policy-making District Board of Health. NNPH consists of five divisions: Administrative Health Services, Air Quality Management, Community and Clinical Health Services, Environmental Health Services and Epidemiology & Public Health Preparedness. More info can be found here.