Air Quality

PPACG works to ensure that the region remains “in attainment” for all air quality pollutants, including carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and lead. Setting goals and developing plans to improve air quality as well as monitoring compliance with state and federal regulations are an integral part of this process. PPACG also reviews any legal or regulatory changes to evaluate potential impacts to the region.

Click here to view the Air Quality in the Pikes Peak Region Monitoring and Trends Report 2008.

Key Highlights

• The Pikes Peak region is in attainment for all air quality pollutants.
• The last violation of ozone was in 1982.
• The last violation of carbon monoxide was in 1989.
• Colorado Springs does not have an emissions testing program.
• Monitoring is not required for lead, sulphur dioxide, or nitrogen dioxide.

Revised Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan

The second ten-year revision of the Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan was updated in 2009 to show continued attainment of the Carbon Monoxide Standard in Colorado Springs through 2020, as required by federal law. This revision to the attainment/maintenance plan (considered a "limited maintenance plan"):

• revises the attainment year from 1990 to 2007,
• updates the base-year emission inventory using the latest EPA-approved tools (including the MOBILE 6.2 on-road mobile sources emission model), and
• extends the maintenance year through 2020.

The plan confirms that the CO standard will be maintained for a second ten-year period after the original redesignation.

Transportation conformity is demonstrated by showing that the transportation plans are consistent with the emission budget. The guidance for limited maintenance plans state that emissions budgets may be treated as essentially nonconstraining for transportation conformity because it is unreasonable to expect that such an area will experience so much growth during the maintenance period that a violation of the CO NAQS would result.  Therefore, the “budget test” of the transportation conformity rule is met, according to the guidance.

The plan was approved by the PPACG Board in September 2009, by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission in December 2009, and by the EPA in March 2011.

Monitoring Locations