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Pollutant/Averaging <br />Time <br />*Measured <br />Background <br />Concentration <br />CAAQS <br />NAAQS <br />Allowable Incremental Increase <br />Above Legal Baseline <br />PSD Class I <br />PSD Class II <br />Sulfur dioxide (SO2) <br />3 -hour ( NAAQS) <br />24 <br />1300 <br />25 <br />512 <br />3 -hour (CAAQS) <br />24 <br />700 <br />25 <br />512 <br />24 -hour <br />(NAAQS /CAAQS) <br />13 <br />365 <br />5 <br />91 <br />Annual <br />(NAAQS /CAAQS) <br />5 <br />80 <br />2 <br />20 <br />increased accessibility, socioeconomic impacts to surrounding communities, future land -use <br />planning activities and wildlife travel corridors or seasonal use patterns. Direct effects refer to <br />tangible, on -site impacts such as disturbance to plants, soil and wetland resources. <br />Issues identified during scoping almost entirely fall within parameters set forth in the Critical <br />Elements analysis required by NEPA. The following analysis considers each of the identified <br />elements in detail. <br />3.1 AIR QUALITY <br />The majority of information contained in this section was gleaned from the Piceance <br />Development Project EA CO -110- 2005- 219 -EA (WRFO 2007) released by BLM in April 2007. <br />Affected Environment: The Colorado Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) and National <br />Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are health -based criteria for the maximum acceptable <br />concentrations of air pollutants at all locations to which the public has access. Standards are set <br />for numerous pollutants including carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (03), <br />particulate matter less than 10 microns in effective diameter (PM10), particulate matter less than <br />2.5 microns in effective diameter (PM and sulfur dioxide (SO2). <br />There are no site - specific air quality monitoring data available for the project site. However, <br />regional air quality monitoring has occurred near the study area. Background levels of these <br />pollutants have been measured at several locations in the Piceance Basin and Grand Junction <br />(CDPHE 2006) and these values are compared to CAAQS and NAAQS standards in Table 1. <br />As shown in Table 1, regional background values are far below established state and national <br />standards. The entire Piceance Basin is designated as "attainment" for all pollutants, which <br />means that air quality in an area meets the NAAQS standards as established by the <br />Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) also utilizes <br />these standards and applied them in their stand -alone EA for the road -work segment of this <br />project which crosses BLM lands in the White River Resource Area. <br />Table 1: Air Pollutant Background Concentrations, Colorado and National Ambient Air Quality <br />Standards and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Increments <br />*Background data collected by CDPHE 2006 at several locations in the Piceance Basin and Grand Junction <br />Environmental Solutions, Inc. Page 6 of 30 <br />March 09 <br />