How is an AERA conducted?
A facility or their consultant submits an AERA for review and a team at the MPCA reviews the AERA, including a permit engineer, an air dispersion modeler, a risk assessor, and possibly an environmental review staff person. A permit engineer reviews the facility’s processes and emission factors. An air dispersion modeler then uses meteorological, spatial, topographical and other data to determine air toxic’s concentrations surrounding the facility boundary. The risk assessor for the project assesses data provided by the engineer and air modeler and looks at chemical and exposure scenarios to determine what the potential risks could be to public health. If environmental review is involved in the project, environmental review staff summarizes the information from the AERA in the environmental review documents. A section manager oversees the project and answers policy questions when they arise. At the completion of the AERA process, the risk assessor summarizes the results of the analysis
