Section 58.11 - Network technical requirements(a)(1) State and local governments shall follow the applicable quality assurance criteria contained in appendix A to this part when operating the SLAMS networks.(2) Beginning January 1, 2009, State and local governments shall follow the quality assurance criteria contained in appendix A to this part that apply to SPM sites when operating any SPM site which uses an FRM or an FEM and meets the requirements of appendix E to this part, unless the Regional Administrator approves an alternative to the requirements of appendix A with respect to such SPM sites because meeting those requirements would be physically and/or financially impractical due to physical conditions at the monitoring site and the requirements are not essential to achieving the intended data objectives of the SPM site. Alternatives to the requirements of appendix A may be approved for an SPM site as part of the approval of the annual monitoring plan, or separately.(3) The owner or operator of an existing or a proposed source shall follow the quality assurance criteria in appendix B to this part that apply to PSD monitoring when operating a PSD site.(b) State and local governments must follow the criteria in appendix C to this part to determine acceptable monitoring methods or instruments for use in SLAMS networks. Appendix C criteria are optional at SPM stations.(c) State and local governments must follow the network design criteria contained in appendix D to this part in designing and maintaining the SLAMS stations. The final network design and all changes in design are subject to approval of the Regional Administrator. NCore and STN network design and changes are also subject to approval of the Administrator. Changes in SPM stations do not require approvals, but a change in the designation of a monitoring site from SLAMS to SPM requires approval of the Regional Administrator.(d) State and local governments must follow the criteria contained in appendix E to this part for siting monitor inlets, paths or probes at SLAMS stations. Appendix E adherence is optional for SPM stations.(e) State and local governments must assess data from Class III PM2.5 FEM monitors operated within their network using the performance criteria described in table C-4 to subpart C of part 53 of this chapter, for cases where the data are identified as not of sufficient comparability to a collocated FRM, and the monitoring agency requests that the FEM data should not be used in comparison to the NAAQS. These assessments are required in the monitoring agency's annual monitoring network plan described in § 58.10(b) for cases where the FEM is identified as not of sufficient comparability to a collocated FRM. For these collocated PM2.5 monitors, the performance criteria apply with the following additional provisions: (1) The acceptable concentration range (Rj), [MICRO]g/m3 may include values down to 0 [MICRO]g/m3.(2) The minimum number of test sites shall be at least one; however, the number of test sites will generally include all locations within an agency's network with collocated FRMs and FEMs.(3) The minimum number of methods shall include at least one FRM and at least one FEM.(4) Since multiple FRMs and FEMs may not be present at each site, the precision statistic requirement does not apply, even if precision data are available.(5) All seasons must be covered with no more than 36 consecutive months of data in total aggregated together.(6) The key statistical metric to include in an assessment is the bias (both additive and multiplicative) of the PM2.5 continuous FEM(s) compared to a collocated FRM(s). Correlation is required to be reported in the assessment, but failure to meet the correlation criteria, by itself, is not cause to exclude data from a continuous FEM monitor. 71 FR 61298 , Oct. 17, 2006, as amended at 78 FR 3282 , Jan. 15, 2013; 80 FR 65466 , Oct. 26, 2015; 81 FR 17279 , Mar. 28, 2016 81 FR 17279 , 3/28/2016; 89 FR 16389 , 5/6/2024