Regulatory personnel having air quality inspector, compliance officer or stack tester assignments are required to be certified if their reports will be used to justify enforcement action for alleged violations of opacity standards. Some air quality control permits require the permit holder to conduct periodic visible emission observations as a permit condition. Permit holders should assign one or more employees to obtain the EPA Method 9 certification and be recertified every six months. Facility or construction site personnel who control any part of the operation where visible emissions may be generated should also become certified so that they can properly judge the opacity of emissions and take action before any violations of air quality rules occur. Dust Control Coordinators and Dust Control Supervisors at construction sites in Maricopa County should be certified. Persons conducting training of construction site, asphalt/concrete batch plant, and non-metallic mineral mining site employees should also have the certification.

Method 9 certification is a two-part process. The first part is a two hour classroom learning experience, and the second part is the field activity where 25 black smoke and 25 white smoke plumes must be evaluated. Individuals who have never been certified in reading opacities or who have not attended the classroom part of the training within the past two years are required to attend both the classroom and field parts. Once certification is obtained, it must be renewed by attending the field certification part every six months if the person’s job assignment requires visual emissions evaluation of air pollution sources.

No. If you attended the classroom part within the last two years, you are only required to demonstrate current smoke reading ability. You may attend the field activity part starting at 10:30 AM on the first day or starting at 8:30 AM on the second day. If you pass on the first day, you don’t need to return the second day.

Approximately 5 – 10% of those attempting to become certified Method 9 visible emissions readers are unable to pass during a two day smoke school. On windy, overcast or cloudy days, it is more challenging to get certified or recertified. If you are unable to pass on the first day, you may return to try again on the second day for no additional cost. If you are unable to pass by the end of the second day, you may register and attend any remaining fall 2008 scheduled ADEQ/ASU smoke schools for no additional cost. We request registration for each smoke school because we need to know how many people are coming to each smoke school to ensure there are adequate supplies. Some facilities send two or more people so there will always be a certified person available to ensure compliance.

The smoke machine operator will make every attempt to complete as many “runs” of black and white smoke as possible regardless of weather conditions. Most rain events in Arizona are of short duration. There are sensitive electronic components on the smoke generator that cannot be exposed to rain. The smoke machine operator may declare a break and resume the testing process when the rain appears to be ceasing. However, a prolonged rain event that is likely to continue until late in the day may prompt cancellation of the class for that day. Persons who are unable to get certified at a smoke school for any reason are welcome to attend any remaining fall 2008 scheduled ADEQ/ASU smoke school for no additional cost after registering. We request registration for each smoke school because we need to know how many people are coming to each smoke school to ensure there are adequate supplies. Please contact us by phone or email if you have any questions. We are always happy to help!

Please contact us by phone or email if you have any questions. We are always happy to help!

Phone: 480-727-1322

Email: smokeschool@asu.edu