Overview

Air Regulations & Requirements Overview

Laboratory operations must comply with state and federal laws protecting the environment. The specific requirements of these laws are published in the Code of Federal Regulations and the New Mexico Administrative Code. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces the federal regulations and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) enforces the state requirements. For most of the Clean Air Act, the state of New Mexico has adopted the federal regulations into the state Administrative Code and has been delegated authority for enforcing the rules at the state level.

Federal

Federal Requirements

There are two major Clean Air Act programs, applicable to Los Alamos National Laboratory, that continue to be regulated by the EPA. One is 40 CFR 61 Subpart H, radionuclide NESHAP standard for DOE facilities. These regulations specify the requirements for monitoring radionuclide air emissions and establish a limit of 10 mrem per year dose to the Maximum Exposed Individual in the public. The other program is Title VI - protection of stratospheric ozone. These regulations specify the use/phase-out of ozone-depleting substances and the technical requirements for maintaining refrigeration equipment.

• General
• Clean Air Act
• Code of Federal Regulations
• Search Tool
• Federal Register
• DOE Orders & Directives
  The DOE Directives are official communications of policies, requirements, and procedures and include written policies, orders, notices, manuals, and guides. The following DOE directives are applicable to meteorology and air quality programs.
• DOE Dose and Risk Resources
• DOE Order 436.1 - "Departmental Sustainability"
• DOE Order 5400.5 - "Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment" (pdf)
• DOE/EH-0173T - "Environmental Regulatory Guide for Radiological Effluent Monitoring and Environmental Surveillance"
• DOE Order 151.1B - "Comprehensive Emergency Management System" (pdf)
• Federal Executive Orders
• EO 13423 - Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management
• Federally Regulated Chemicals
• Criteria Pollutants
• Current List of Hazardous Air Pollutants
• Hazardous Air Pollutant Modifications
• Toxic or Flammable Substances
• Toxic or Flammable Substances - Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions
• Toxic or Flammable Substances - Title III Consolidated List of Lists (pdf)
• Ozone-Depleting Substances
• Radioactive NESHAP Regulations
• 40 CFR 61 Subpart H, 2003 Revision (pdf)
• 40 CFR 61 Appendix B, Method 114, 2003 Revision (pdf)

State

New Mexico Requirements

NMED regulations apply to almost all non-radioactive air emissions for the Laboratory. These regulations apply to combustion equipment (boilers, generators), asphalt production, asbestos removal, use of volatile organic compounds, carpenter shops, beryllium machining, etc.

• NMED Regulations

Oversight

LANL Air Quality Oversight

Below are links to the agencies having oversight and/or regulatory authority for LANL sources of air emissions.

• Environmental Protection Agency
• EPA Homepage
• EPA - Air & Radiation
• EPA Region VI
• New Mexico Environment Department
• NMED Homepage
• NMED DOE Oversight Office
• U.S. Department of Energy
• DOE Homepage
• DOE Environmental Policy
• DOE Citizen's Advisory Board

LANL

LANL Air Requirements

Air Quality permits must be obtained from the NMED and/or EPA for sources of air pollution that have applicable permitting requirements.