Federal Equivalent Method

The US National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS, pronounced \'naks\) are standards established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under authority of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) that apply for outdoor air throughout the country. Primary standards are designed to protect human health, with an adequate margin of safety, including sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, and individuals suffering from respiratory diseases. Secondary standards are designed to protect public welfare (including effects on soils, water, crops, vegetation, man-made materials, animals, wildlife, weather, visibility, and climate), damage to property, transportation hazards, economic values, and personal comfort and well-being from any known or anticipated adverse effects of a pollutant. A district meeting a given standard is known as an "attainment area" for that standard, and otherwise a "non-attainment area".

The standards are listed in 40 C.F.R. 50.

The EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory can designate a measurement device using an established technological basis as a Federal Reference Method (FRM) to certify that the device has undergone a testing and analysis protocol, and can be used to monitor NAAQS compliance. Devices based on new technologies can be designated as a Federal Equivalent Method (FEM). FEMs are based on different sampling and/or analyzing technologies than FRMs, but are required to provide the same decision making quality when making NAAQS attainment determinations. Approved new methods are formally announced through publication in the Federal Register. A complete list of FRMs and FEMs is available.

An air quality control region is an area, designated by the federal government, where communities share a common air pollution problem.

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