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Air Monitoring Systems Bill Spark Heated Debate

A bill defining what air monitoring systems can and can’t be used in regulatory issues and in court has garnered some spirited and extended debate in the House of Delegates.

In a public hearing last week, 16 of the 18 people speaking opposed House Bill 5018. The title reads: To provide for oversight and authority governing community air monitoring programs. The bill would set federal standards for community air pollution monitoring data that helps define local air quality.

House debates on the bill across several days this week centered on the bill stating that some air quality testing results, even if collected appropriately, could not be used for administrative penalties like fines or to bring lawsuits.

Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, and an environmental consultant, was among several House Democrats who said this bill is fundamentally about people and fairness.

“It’s about people in West Virginia who suffer the third highest rate of asthma of any state in the country,” Hansen said. “And it’s about fairness regarding whether data that’s been collected can be used by the DEP, and in a separate portion of the bill, in courts. Why is this bill coming up now? There’s more data where people live, where people work and finally, we will have some data to demonstrate whether the air is clean or dirty, where people live.”

The bill sponsor, Del. Bob Ferhenbacher, R-Wood, said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency only recognizes certain sanctioned air monitors, so regulators and the courts should do the same.

“The bill does not preclude or prevent the use of community air monitoring,” Ferhenbacher said. “Basically, it imposes some guidelines, which are very consistent with EPA guidance on the types of sampling and analytical systems that are generally used. And so if the accuracy is not there, or the instruments or the sampling systems are not consistent with EPA methods, then they should not be used for regulatory or, frankly, litigation purposes.”

However, Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, a lawyer, opposes a bill he said gives undue legal powers to the legislature that are constitutionally reserved for courtroom litigants.

“We have got to trust our courts to be able to sift through the evidence, weigh the evidence, and make decisions at the courtroom level as to what’s admissible and what’s inadmissible,” Steele said. “Not here. That’s not our role. We are not judges, we’re not prosecutors, we’re not executive branch officials, we are delegates, delegates who write broad law, and what we’re doing is we’re getting involved in the judiciary.”

Del. J.B. Akers, R-Kanawha, also a lawyer, disagreed with Steele on legislative powers dealing with courtroom procedures.

“This body, many years ago, has already governed what evidence courts may consider,” Akers said. “Such as by saying that confidential communications between the husband and wife are not admissible in court and cannot be compelled by a court unless the spouses waive that privilege. So this legislature, through a statutory process in the past, has already told the courts what they may or may not consider as evidence.”

House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, said he wasn’t a scientist, or a lawyer, and explained why he opposes the air monitoring bill in layman’s terms.

“What we’re about to do today, if you vote Green for this bill, is to take power from people, take rights away from people, your neighbors, my neighbors, everyone in the state and put all the power into the corporations and the companies,” Hornbuckle said. “This is a pro-pollution bill. What all of us here ought to be thinking about is how do we protect clean air? How do we protect our neighbors? I would urge you all to stop about what you’re about to do. Protect the people, keep the rights and the power in their hands.”

House Bill 5018 passed the House on third reading 76-10 and was sent to the Senate.

Community Air Monitoring Data Would Be Inadmissible In Proceedings Under House Bill

A bill under consideration in the West Virginia House of Delegates would disallow community air monitoring data from being used in legal or regulatory proceedings.

A bill that received committee support in the West Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday would prevent publicly sourced air pollution data from being used in lawsuits and regulatory proceedings.

House Bill 5018 was drafted in response to the rise of community air monitoring in West Virginia. This refers to pollution data collected by members of the public, as opposed to governmental agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Proponents of the bill said it would ensure that air pollution data used in legal or regulatory proceedings meet standards set by accredited state and federal agencies.

But, at a meeting of the House Committee on Energy and Manufacturing, some lawmakers voiced concerns that the legislation would limit residents’ abilities to identify and substantiate air pollution concerns.

“I’m not a massive fan of this bill,” said Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha.

“I think more community air monitoring is a good thing, not a bad thing,” she continued. “We shouldn’t be hurting our citizens and getting rid of transparency. So, I’m a no on this one.”

Young said that lawmakers have not done enough to invest in air monitoring, despite recent EPA funding allocated to the state for these projects.

Still, the bill received support from a majority of committee members, who referred it back to the House with the recommendation that it be passed.

“Community monitoring is not forbidden by this bill at all,” said Del. Mark Zatezalo, R-Hancock, who sponsored the bill. Zatezalo added that the pending legislation would simply set a standard for what quality of data is admissible to official proceedings.

“Good data and better, supportable data is important for ongoing analysis,” he said. “I have a hard time trying to figure out why that is a big, big problem.”

Bill That Would Strike Down ‘Rolling Coal’ Sparks Senate Committee Debate

A bill that would restrict “rolling coal” — a form of protest in which drivers release thick clouds of smog from there vehicles — advanced in the West Virginia Senate on Monday, but not without pushback from some lawmakers.

A controversial bill that would prohibit “rolling coal” on roadways advanced in the West Virginia Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Monday — but not without pushback from some lawmakers.

Rolling coal refers to modifying diesel fuel in a motor vehicle in order to pollute the air with thick, dark smog. For years, rolling coal on highways has served as a display of allegiance to the coal industry in spite of mounting environmentalist pushback.

Elsewhere in the United States, lawmakers have restricted the form of protest in light of environmental, health and safety concerns associated with emitting a pollutant into the air.

Now, West Virginia legislators are considering their own restrictions on the practice. The West Virginia Senate is actively reviewing Senate Bill 436, which would render the contentious form of protest a misdemeanor.

The bill reached the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Monday, where discussions focused on the safety risk associated with reduced visibility on West Virginia roads.

Sponsored by Sen. Jack Woodrum, R-Summers, the bill penalizes deliberately selling, making or using diesel additives to produce “visible smoke emissions.” It would apply to all motorized vehicles on public roadways, but not on private land.

The bill passed through the committee Monday but drew pushback from senators who described it as a crackdown on pro-coal West Virginians, or an unnecessary piece of legislation to focus on.

Rolling coal refers to the deliberate emission of thick, black smog from a motor vehicle.
*Credit: toa555/Adobe Stock*

Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Randolph, was an outspoken critic of the bill during Monday’s meeting. Karnes alleged the pending law would suppress some West Virginians’ right to protest.

“People who are doing this rolling coal are simply expressing their support for West Virginia’s coal industry,” Karnes said. “This is an attack on people who support our coal industry.”

“We may not like that particular statement,” he continued. “But they have a right to express their political views.”

Others who voted to advance the bill said that, regardless of their own perceptions of the protests, the law would not mark a clear enough suppression of coal supporters’ rights to preclude it from further consideration.

“I don’t see this as an anti-coal bill,” said Sen. Glen Jeffries, R-Putnam.

Regardless, members of the committee agreed to scale back penalties for those who violate the law.

Under an earlier draft of the bill, repeat rolling coal offenders could face up to six months imprisonment. The committee deemed this excessive, and amended the bill so that violators would only incur fines up to $500.

With the committee’s approval, the amended bill will now return to the Senate where lawmakers will determine whether to send it to the House of Delegates.

Air Monitoring In W.Va. Limited But Accurate

Air quality monitoring in the U.S. is often focused on cities and centers of population density, but rural areas like West Virginia keep people informed.

Since smoke from Canadian wildfires first descended on West Virginia in early June, residents have become accustomed to AirNow.gov, home of the U.S. Air Quality Index. The site provides up to date information and maps about where wildfire smoke and other pollutants are affecting air quality across the country.

However, often when a West Virginia zip code is entered directly into the search bar at the top of the page, the results can contradict measurements elsewhere on the site and user’s own observations.

Christina Fernandez is the Air and Radiation Division director for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region Three, which covers West Virginia, as well as Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

“When we talk about air quality, there are multiple pollutants,” she said. “We have what we call criteria pollutants, air pollutants, which are for example, particulate matter (PM), ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and lead. And then we have air toxics, we have thousands. We have standards and regulations to reduce these pollutants.”

Monitoring for all of these pollutants is ongoing, and each pollutant requires a different type of monitor. Fernandez said that one of the criteria for where to place monitors is population. For the monitoring of particulate matter, which is the primary pollutant being produced by the wildfires, the minimum population criteria is between 500,000 to one million people. On top of low population density, air quality in West Virginia is normally very good, and as a result the state only has 13 monitors that detect particulate matter.

“What’s happening is West Virginia is meeting the PM standard,” Fernandez said. “When a state or an area is meeting the standards, and they’re not under what we call a maintenance plan, the state can remove a monitor, it doesn’t have to have it.”

A screenshot of the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map taken Thursday afternoon shows the limited number of monitors in West Virginia compared to in larger cities in surrounding areas.

Renu Chakrabarty is the assistant director for the air monitoring laboratory and air toxics at the Division of Air Quality at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. She said the DEP doesn’t just rely on its own monitors, and works with other departments and states to ensure complete, up-to-date information is available.

“We have a limited budget, and we have to allocate our resources appropriately,” she said. “What we’re looking at is based on what our monitors are actually reading and what monitors in nearby states and bordering areas are reading. We also look at some of the weather forecasts and see how the wind is kind of coming through and impacting.”

Chakrabarty said the incongruous results users may get is an artifact of the way the AirNow system defaults in searches, giving green results based on ozone readings.

“What we are advising folks to do is use the AirNow website, but make sure that you’re using the contours feature from the interactive maps page,” she said. “That will provide you a better picture of what’s going on.”

Chakrabarty advises that like the weather, air quality can change from hour to hour and recommends checking AirNow.gov before going outside.

Canadian Wildfire Smoke Lingers Over W.Va.

According to the Air Now Fire and Smoke Map, West Virginia’s panhandles are experiencing the majority of particle pollution in the state, especially in the Eastern Panhandle, where Shepherdstown has been issued a code red warning for “unhealthy” air quality.

Officials are encouraging vigilance as smoke from intense Canadian wildfires makes its way south on changing wind patterns.

The smoke arrived in West Virginia over the past few days, as metropolitan areas like New York City and Washington D.C. experienced orange skies due to air pollution.

Wildfire smoke contains fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, which are microscopic solid or liquid droplets that can be inhaled and cause serious health problems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

PM2.5 is considered unhealthy for “Code Orange” and sensitive groups once the Air Quality Index surpasses 100, according to AirNow, a website that publishes air quality data. The chart measures from green to maroon with green being good and maroon being hazardous for all.

Director of Environmental Health with the American Lung Association (ALA), Kevin Stewart called this “an extensive event.”

“There are more than 150 wildfires, most of which are out of control in Quebec, that are leading to this event,” Stewart said. “And we do know that there are air pollution plumes that are coming out of Canada, affecting states, the whole way from the Ohio Valley to New England to the Carolinas. So this is not a small event.”

The ALA and the EPA have been tracking the pollution plumes from Quebec, Canada.

The above image is a screenshot of the Fire and Smoke Map taken at 12:35 p.m., June 8, 2023. Click here to view the map in real time.

“I’ve seen a succession of events where New England and New York City were affected first, then Pennsylvania, New Jersey, then Maryland and D.C. and I think West Virginia is bringing up the rear here in terms of this part of the country, especially probably more than the north, the Morgantown area,” Steward said.

Stewart said air pollution levels can change just 50 miles away, or a couple of zip codes away. She said it is important to pay attention to local air quality by checking resources like Airnow.gov to check the air quality in your particular zip code.

“We want people to pay attention to the air quality,” Stewart said. “We also want people to pay attention to members of their families, their loved ones who are in sensitive groups. That includes children, senior citizens, people who have chronic lung disease or heart disease. If anyone’s experiencing, you know, any minor symptoms, it’s important to be in touch with a physician to make sure that you’re getting the proper care and treatment.”

The Canadian smoke is a complex mixture of “piny fine particles” that can get into the deepest parts of the lungs and cross into the bloodstream.

“But we also are aware that there are chemicals in the smoke that are air toxins, it’s just not good to be breathing them. It’s not that they’re necessarily going to cause an immediate health effect,” Stewart said. “But it’s also true that any type of air pollution that includes air toxins from burning things isn’t a good idea to be breathing, it adds to your lifetime cancer risk and other problems like that.”

Dr. Albert Rizzo, the chief medical officer for the American Lung Association, said his association and the EPA are tracking two particles of particular respiratory health concern: the particle matter itself and ozone.

“The particle matter is the one that really goes up when we have wildfires, such as we are having in Canada, and those wildfires send these small particles about maybe a 30th of the size of a hair throughout the air hundreds of miles away, so it can affect large populations of individuals,” Rizzo said. “It tells us that the particle matter now is at a level where not only will people who have underlying lung conditions like asthma or COPD may notice that they’re having a harder time outside coughing, feeling some chest tightness or wheezing.”

Much like air quality on a day-to-day basis, winds and temperatures also change, sending particles with them. Dr. Rizzo said according to multiple reports the smoke could be around for a few weeks.

“It depends on the winds, the temperatures, things of that nature,” Dr. Rizzo said. “You have a lot of mountains in West Virginia, so that can make a difference as well. I think the important thing it tells us is, you got to be on guard, you got to be aware of what’s changing on a daily basis, especially if you’re one of those patients who are at risk because of your lung condition.”

Dr. Rizzo said the best course of action for those with underlying conditions is to limit exposure to the outdoors until the air quality improves. They can do that by limiting outdoor activities and keeping air conditioners on to recirculate air so that particles do not enter the home.

“Individuals who have this should try to make sure they have enough of their medication on hand, especially what we call rescue inhalers if they can get to a mask and are able to use them during times when they’re outdoors,” Rizzo said.

According to Stewart, West Virginia sits on the edge of the main pollution plume, but varying wind patterns could change that. To check the air particle pollution in your area, visit Fire.airnow.gov.

“So far, thank God, West Virginia isn’t in that area, but at the same time, it doesn’t mean you’re not affected by it, you know. There’s still some increase in air pollution as a consequence of it,” Stewart said. “And it might not be this week, but as long as those wildfires continue, in Quebec, you know, all it will take is another different weather system, and you might be at the brunt of it, depending on which way the wind flows.”

For more information, visit lung.org/wildfires or call 1-800-586-4872 or 1-800-LUNG USA.

Increasing Electricity Costs And Air Pollution On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, electricity costs in West Virginia have grown faster than any surrounding state, according to a report by environmental consulting firm Downstream Strategies. Curtis Tate spoke with one of the authors of the report, Joey James, about what’s driving those increases, and what other states are doing differently.

On this West Virginia Morning, electricity costs in West Virginia have grown faster than any surrounding state, according to a report by environmental consulting firm Downstream Strategies. Curtis Tate spoke with one of the authors of the report, Joey James, about what’s driving those increases, and what other states are doing differently.

Also, in this show, the Allegheny Front, based in Pittsburgh, is a public radio program that reports on environmental issues in the region. We listen to their story about air pollution and misinformation around it.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Chuck Anziulewicz hosted this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning