In March 2000, Governor Jane Dee Hull established the Brown Cloud Summit with Executive Order 2000-3. Its charge was to consider ways to improve visibility in the Valley of the Sun, and thus enhance the well-being of Valley residents. Chaired by former state senator and local meteorologist Ed Phillips, the Summit has drawn upon the knowledge and expertise of 32 members and represents a wide array of interests and perspectives.

The Summit met regularly throughout the summer and fall to study what is in the Valley's brown cloud, why it has become worse, how it makes people sick and even causes some people to die sooner. They looked to other programs from all over the country for examples of pollution controls that might work here to reduce the brown cloudUsing a complex Excel spreadsheet model called the Brown Cloud Assessment Tool (BCAT), the Summit was able to convert assumptions about the emission effects and costs of control option scenarios into projected improvements in visibility and cost effectiveness of the improvement. During the public comment period hundreds of comments were reviewed and considered in preparation of the Jan. 16, 2001 Final Report and Appendices.

During the 2001 Legislative Regular Session, many of the Governor's Brown Cloud Summit recommendations were included in House Bill 2538. The bill authorized ADEQ and other state and local agencies to implement several pollution control programs. For ADEQ this included developing a roadside diesel vehicle testing program, establishing a visibility index to assist the Valley in tracking visibility improvement and developing engine idling restriction ordinances for the counties in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Brown Cloud Assessment Tool (BCAT)

• BCAT Users's Guide
  
  
• Appendix A for User's Guide
  The entire BCAT worksheet configured for the control scenario entitled "voluntary replacement of airport ground support equipment." It is included to serve as an example.
  
  
• Summary Results of Assessments With the Brown Cloud Assessment Tool 335 KB self-extracting file
  File contains the control measure input sheet and output reports (three page files) for all of the scenarios in the final report.
  
  
• BCAT Worksheet Templates
  Contains the worksheet template layouts used to construct the BCAT which could be used to expand or further develop the assessment tool.
  
  
• BCAT Developer
  Developer's edition of the Excel worksheet which includes control efficiency construction worksheets.
  
  
• BCAT V1 2.84 MB self-extracting file
  Version 1 of the Excel worksheet used for routine assessment runs.

Back