2024 S. Smith Griswold Outstanding Air Pollution Control Official Award
S. Smith Griswold (1909–1971) served as chief air pollution control officer for the Los Angeles Air Pollution Control District between 1954 and 1965. In 1965, he became chief of the Abatement Branch of the Division of Air Pollution Control in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and later served as associate director for abatement and control before leaving in 1967 to work as a consultant. As President of the Association in 1962, he focused international attention on air pollution control officials’ activities, problems, and achievements. The S. Smith Griswold Outstanding Air Pollution Control Official Award is presented by the Association for outstanding accomplishments in the prevention and control of air pollution. The recipient must be or have been a government agency staff member whose contributions to the prevention and control of air pollution have been widely recognized.
A&WMA presents the 2024 S. Smith Griswold Outstanding Air Pollution Control Official Award to Richard A. Wayland.
Richard A. (Chet) Wayland currently serves as Director of the Air Quality Assessment Division within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. He has been with the EPA since 1991. His current responsibilities include the overall management of national air quality modeling, source and ambient monitoring, emissions inventory development, and data analysis programs for OAQPS. In this role, Chet works closely with state, local, and tribal air agencies across the country as well as the regulated community to provide technical tools, key datasets, and innovative solutions to challenging air quality issues to aid in the successful implementation of the Clean Air Act.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia, Chet started his career in the air quality modeling field, first serving as a consultant to EPA before joining the Source Receptor Analysis Branch in EPA in 1991. As co-chair of the Emissions Inventory Workgroup, he was instrumental in developing key components of the technical analyses for the highly successful Ozone Transport Assessment Group that was a landmark effort to identify and address the ozone transport issues across the eastern United States.
In 1996, he was selected to lead the Information Transfer Group within OAQPS, where he conceived and implemented the AIRNow program, which was the first real-time national air quality program in the United States. Partnering with state, local, and tribal monitoring agencies across the country, Chet led this voluntary effort to establish a way for citizens to be informed about their current air quality and to be able to take actions to limit their exposures on poor air quality days. Using the Air Quality Index (AQI) that was established as part of the AIRNow program, he created a culture where it became common place for people to know what a code orange or code red air quality day meant. This program recently celebrated its 25th year of operation and has added enhancements over the years such as an international component and the Fire and Smoke map that has been so beneficial to communities impacted by wildfires.
After establishing and growing the AIRNow program, Chet was selected into the Senior Executive Service in 2005 to lead the Air Quality Assessment Division (AQAD) within OAQPS. In this role, he led the development of the first near-road ambient monitoring network for NO2 and PM2.5 in the United States. He was instrumental in responding to numerous environmental disasters including Hurricane Katrina and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico coasts areas. He led the expansion of the National Air Toxics Trends monitoring network and helped conceive of the analytical approach for the AirToxScreen annual reporting program that provides key data and health risk information to communities across the country.
Chet has worked closely with state, local, and tribal agencies through his partnerships with both the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) and the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA) to develop common sense approaches to air quality management needs. He facilitated the first ever joint effort to develop a common emission modeling platform that could be used by all agencies to reduce burden on individual states, and he has led numerous efforts to make environmental data more accessible to all users. As part of this effort, Chet has served on the Management Board of the E-Enterprise for the Environment and its predecessor, the Environmental Exchange Network, which is a collaborative partnership between EPA, states, and Tribes to protect the environment and human health since 1998.
In 2015, Chet received the Senior Executive Service Meritorious Executive award for his sustained superior accomplishment in the management of programs of the United States Government and noteworthy achievement of quality and efficiency in the public service. He recognizes that the achievements of his career have not been a result of his efforts alone. He is grateful for all of his colleagues in EPA, especially those in AQAD, OAQPS and the Regional Offices who he has worked with throughout his career. He became a member of the Air & Waste Management Association in 1991 and the American Meteorological Society in 1984 to be able to connect to others in his field and those relationships, along with the partnerships that he has established with his state, local and tribal partners and with the regulated community, have been invaluable. As a lifelong civil servant, his career has been about helping others and ensuring that future generations will have a clean and healthy environment in which to live.
A&WMA presents the 2024 S. Smith Griswold Outstanding Air Pollution Control Official Award to Richard A. Wayland.
Richard A. (Chet) Wayland currently serves as Director of the Air Quality Assessment Division within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. He has been with the EPA since 1991. His current responsibilities include the overall management of national air quality modeling, source and ambient monitoring, emissions inventory development, and data analysis programs for OAQPS. In this role, Chet works closely with state, local, and tribal air agencies across the country as well as the regulated community to provide technical tools, key datasets, and innovative solutions to challenging air quality issues to aid in the successful implementation of the Clean Air Act.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia, Chet started his career in the air quality modeling field, first serving as a consultant to EPA before joining the Source Receptor Analysis Branch in EPA in 1991. As co-chair of the Emissions Inventory Workgroup, he was instrumental in developing key components of the technical analyses for the highly successful Ozone Transport Assessment Group that was a landmark effort to identify and address the ozone transport issues across the eastern United States.
In 1996, he was selected to lead the Information Transfer Group within OAQPS, where he conceived and implemented the AIRNow program, which was the first real-time national air quality program in the United States. Partnering with state, local, and tribal monitoring agencies across the country, Chet led this voluntary effort to establish a way for citizens to be informed about their current air quality and to be able to take actions to limit their exposures on poor air quality days. Using the Air Quality Index (AQI) that was established as part of the AIRNow program, he created a culture where it became common place for people to know what a code orange or code red air quality day meant. This program recently celebrated its 25th year of operation and has added enhancements over the years such as an international component and the Fire and Smoke map that has been so beneficial to communities impacted by wildfires.
After establishing and growing the AIRNow program, Chet was selected into the Senior Executive Service in 2005 to lead the Air Quality Assessment Division (AQAD) within OAQPS. In this role, he led the development of the first near-road ambient monitoring network for NO2 and PM2.5 in the United States. He was instrumental in responding to numerous environmental disasters including Hurricane Katrina and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico coasts areas. He led the expansion of the National Air Toxics Trends monitoring network and helped conceive of the analytical approach for the AirToxScreen annual reporting program that provides key data and health risk information to communities across the country.
Chet has worked closely with state, local, and tribal agencies through his partnerships with both the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) and the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA) to develop common sense approaches to air quality management needs. He facilitated the first ever joint effort to develop a common emission modeling platform that could be used by all agencies to reduce burden on individual states, and he has led numerous efforts to make environmental data more accessible to all users. As part of this effort, Chet has served on the Management Board of the E-Enterprise for the Environment and its predecessor, the Environmental Exchange Network, which is a collaborative partnership between EPA, states, and Tribes to protect the environment and human health since 1998.
In 2015, Chet received the Senior Executive Service Meritorious Executive award for his sustained superior accomplishment in the management of programs of the United States Government and noteworthy achievement of quality and efficiency in the public service. He recognizes that the achievements of his career have not been a result of his efforts alone. He is grateful for all of his colleagues in EPA, especially those in AQAD, OAQPS and the Regional Offices who he has worked with throughout his career. He became a member of the Air & Waste Management Association in 1991 and the American Meteorological Society in 1984 to be able to connect to others in his field and those relationships, along with the partnerships that he has established with his state, local and tribal partners and with the regulated community, have been invaluable. As a lifelong civil servant, his career has been about helping others and ensuring that future generations will have a clean and healthy environment in which to live.
Richard A. Wayland
