Nighttime Certification

Conducting EPA Method 9 – Visible Determination of the Opacity Emissions from Stationary Sources at Night

Reference: EPA Reference Method 9

EPA does not require nighttime visible emissions smoke school certification at Night. According to EPA, poor lighting makes accurate opacity reading difficult. Poor lighting conditions for visible emissions observations usually occur early morning dawn, late afternoon dusk, and at night. Nighttime readings obviously represent the most severe of poor lighting conditions. EPA recommends that you avoid reading opacity during poor lighting conditions. If you feel like you must read opacity at night, EPA recommends that you have a light source behind the emissions that produces a very high contrasting background. For this method it is important to choose a light source of moderate strength that does not cause the iris to close. Most plants that I pass by at night are lit up like a Christmas tree.

Whitlow recommends you conduct your opacity readings from 8AM to 10AM and from 3PM to 5PM so the sun is in the correct position to your back. I repeat. EPA does not require nighttime certification at smoke school. Reading opacity at night is difficult, especially if water vapor or steam is present. During many inspections I have seen the water vapor linger and build up near ground level, thus obstructing a clear view of the plume. You should use caution if this water vapor reduces visibility on a public road. Reading opacity at night is difficult. No amount of money nor no amount of certification can make it easier. It is hard to do.

EPA does not require nighttime certification. Nevertheless, we have a few customers that request night time certification. Therefore we offer nighttime certification at West Monroe, Louisiana and Odon, Indiana. We can conduct nighttime certification by special requests for private smoke schools.  

If you plan to take the night time certification

You have two choices. Come at 8 AM, for registration, pretest lecture, practice, and daytime certification test- followed by lunch and then the full classroom- finish about 3 pm. If you take this option, you can go back to the office or go take a nap, like I do. Then come back at dark.

OR

Show up at 5:30 PM (Daylight Savings Time) or 4:30 (Standard time) and get the daytime training, classroom and night all in one trip.

 If you want to receive your nighttime certification please indicate this choice on your Registration form.

Note: EPA recommends the classroom for all new attendees and every third year thereafter.

Additional fees for nighttime certification: $250 per person for nighttime plus the standard fees for daytime and the classroom if you need it.