The Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA), via the NOX and SO2 Management Working Group (NSMWG) and the Trace Metals and Air Contaminants (TMAC) Working Group, has developed the following air quality management framework/plan documents for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB):
• Acid Deposition Management Framework (ADMF)
• Ozone Management Framework (OMF)
• Interim Nitrogen (Eutrophication) Management Recommendations and Work Plan (NEP)
• Air Contaminants Management Framework (ACMF)
The successful implementation of these frameworks/plans requires ambient air quality and deposition modelling to assess historical, current and future environmental exposures due to emission from the oil sands industry and other sources in and around the RMWB.
To that end, CEMA contracted ENVIRON International Corporation (ENVIRON), and their subcontractor Stantec Consulting Limited (Stantec), to perform a two phase study entitled: “Development of a Protocol for the Establishment and Updating of a Modelling Emission Inventory Database and a Protocol for Application of Models in the Implementation of Emissions Management Frameworks”. The companion document by ENVIRON and Stantec titled “Protocol for the Establishment and Updating of a Modelling Emission Inventory Database” addressed Phase 1 of this study. This document compares two commonly used air quality modelling systems, CALPUFF and CMAQ (the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model), and their appropriateness for addressing the CEMA management frameworks, and comprises Phase 2 of the study.
As in the Phase 1 study, the spatial focus of the Phase 2 study is the Lower Athabasca Region (LAR) that includes the RMWB, the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) airshed and the northern portion of the Lakeland Industry and Community Association (LICA) airshed. This results in models that can address a nominal 300 km by 700 km region.