Missouri Department of Natural Resources/Division of Environmental Quality
April 2026 – TMOM
The Air Pollution Control Program’s State Implementation Plan (SIP) Unit has been selected as the Division of Environmental Quality Team Member of the Month for April 2026. This recognition highlights the dedication and technical expertise demonstrated by:
- Adel Alsharafi, Professional Environmental Engineer
- Aaron Basham, Environmental Engineer
- Nathan O’Neil, Environmental Specialist
- Ray Bailey, Environmental Engineer
Between May and November 2024, this team completed an exceptional event demonstration showing outdoor ozone and particulate matter air quality measurements in 2023 were influenced by the Canadian wildfires. This complex analysis set up the air program to show that St. Louis had attained compliance with the federal outdoor air quality standard for ozone, paving the way for the department to formally request redesignation of the area to attainment.
The SIP team’s work required a great level of effort. “Members of the State Implementation Plan Unit put hundreds of hours into learning new tools and developing the demonstration totaling over 800 pages of narrative and appendices,” said Mark Leath, the Air Quality Planning Section Chief who nominated the team for this award. “Many states must hire consultants to develop these types of demonstrations at a cost of upwards of $100,000.” This work led to U.S. EPA concurring with a key portion of the demonstration, enabling Missouri to move forward with its formal redesignation request, which was submitted to EPA in February 2026 after being signed by the Governor.
This achievement is historic. If approved, St. Louis will be designated attainment for all federal outdoor ozone standards for the first time since ozone standards were promulgated in 1979. The impact on Missouri’s air quality program, industry permitting, and long-term regulatory flexibility will be substantial.
Congratulations to Adel, Aaron, Nathan, and Ray on this well-deserved recognition!
