Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.39
Liaison Weston Dripps
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Amherst College
OP-2: Outdoor Air Quality

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Laura Draucker
Director of Sustainability
Office of Environmental Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 

Does the institution have policies and/or guidelines in place to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources on campus?:
Yes

None
A brief description of the policies and/or guidelines to improve outdoor air quality and minimize air pollutant emissions from mobile sources:
The College will aggressively work to reduce the negative environmental impact by reviewing the types of material that we are discharging into the atmosphere and at what rate. Amherst College will try to reduce our negative environmental impact on the air by encouraging a reduction of VOC emissions, installation of Stage I and II vapor recovery systems, encouraging ride share opportunities, monitoring ambient air, and estimating and reducing emissions. Additionally, the College has a no idling policy for more than 5 minutes for all non-emergency vehicles on campus.

Part 2 

Has the institution completed an inventory of significant air emissions from stationary campus sources or else verified that no such emissions are produced?:
Yes

Weight of the following categories of air emissions from stationary sources::
Weight of Emissions
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) 44.45 Metric tons
Sulfur oxides (SOx) 89.81 Metric tons
Carbon monoxide (CO) ---
Particulate matter (PM) ---
Ozone (O3) ---
Lead (Pb) ---
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) ---
Ozone-depleting compounds (ODCs) ---
Other standard categories of air emissions identified in permits and/or regulations ---

None
A brief description of the methodology(ies) the institution used to complete its air emissions inventory:
The College undergoes a source registration process for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection every year for the on-campus power plant. This process led to the installation of a NOx scrubbing system. We are not a reporting facility and we have what is referred to restricted emissions status, so we do not quantify all emissions.

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.