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Rutgers Air Pollution Training Program (RAPTP), Department of Environmental Sciences

Visible Emissions Evaluation Courses

Training courses in Visible Emissions Evaluation have been offered by the Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University since 1964. These courses are part of an official training program of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

These courses have been attended by New Jersey enforcement officials, EPA personnel, and representatives of private firms from throughout the region.

Visible Emissions Evaluation Certification

EPA Reference Method 9 provides for the visual estimation of smoke opacity from stationary source. Participants in this three-day course will be instructed in the proper procedures for using Method 9 in practical field situations.

A mobile smoke machine is used to generate both black and white plumes over the full range of opacities and against varying backgrounds. Field-training sessions are conducted to develop the student’s ability to visually judge smoke opacity accurately. After achieving a skill level which meets the specific requirements of accuracy, the student is qualified as a smoke reader.

Classroom instruction is also provided in the practical aspects of opacity reading, including observer viewing requirements, data recording, and report writing.

Course Agenda
  • First Day
    • Opacity and its sources
    • USEPA Method 9 and NJ Air Test Method 2
    • Basic principles of combustion
    • Observation requirements
    • Opacity based regulations
    • Opacity recording and data reduction
    • Plume types – “dry,” “wet,” attached, detached, secondarily formed
    • Practical field observation and testing techniques
  • Second Day
    • Review and Discussion
    • Field Training – Black Smoke
    • Field Training – White Smoke
    • Observer Testing and Qualification
  • Third Day (not required if passed test on second day of course)
    • Field Training – Black Smoke
    • Field Training – White Smoke
    • Observer Testing and Qualification

Visible Emissions Refresher

This 1-day course provides a half-day of classroom instruction to update and refresh observers’ knowledge of VE investigations. It is followed by field training and qualification testing. NJDEP and CEHA personnel are required to attend this course every 3 years. It is recommended for all others.

Visible Emissions Evaluation Recertification

This one-day course provides the periodic retraining necessary to maintain an observer’s qualification to read smoke under current federal and NJ State standards. It is designed for those who have been recently certified and is run concurrently with the final day of a certification course or as a stand-alone course.

Rutgers Air Pollution Training Program (RAPTP)
School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
14 College Farm Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551
Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences Bldg (ENRS) | (848) 932-5784
Questions? Contact Pamela Springard-Mayer at pspring@rutgers.edu