2026 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 2026 S. Smith Griswold Outstanding Air Pollution Control Official Award to James Boylan.
Dr. James (Jim) Boylan is currently the Chief of the Air Protection Branch at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division with management responsibilities for over 150 full-time employees in six different programs (Ambient Monitoring Program, Planning & Support Program, Mobile and Area Sources Program, Stationary Source Permitting Program, Stationary Source Compliance Program, and Radiation Protection Program).
Jim has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, a M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His Ph.D. research included the development of the first comprehensive three-dimensional Eulerian photochemical grid model (URM-1ATM) that included full ozone chemistry, heterogeneous sulfate chemistry, aerosol thermodynamics, wet deposition and scavenging, and the decoupled direct method (DDM) for ozone and particulate matter. This model was applied as part of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative (SAMI) to simulate 1-hour maximum ozone, W126 ozone exposure index, speciated PM2.5, wet and dry acid deposition, and visibility. In 2002, Jim was awarded the “Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Award” for the best Ph.D. dissertation in the Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Later, Jim developed and published the first model performance goals and criteria for PM2.5 which has become the benchmark for most PM2.5 modeling projects both nationally and internationally. This journal paper has been referenced over 500 times. Jim has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers on ozone and PM2.5 formation, and has presented research findings at over 300 national, regional, and local conferences/meetings. In 2001, Jim was inducted into the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society.
In 2014, Jim was selected to participate in the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) review panel for the primary SO2 NAAQS. He was appointed to the seven-member Chartered CASAC by the EPA Administrator in 2017 and re-appointed in 2020. He was actively involved in the 2020 review of the PM and ozone NAAQS as well as the recent PM and ozone NAAQS reconsiderations. He was assigned as lead reviewer on multiple chapters and appendices related to ambient measurements, emissions, and modeling. Jim published several papers related to CASAC in AWMA’s EM magazine including “CASAC Review of the PM and Ozone NAAQS” (December, 2020) where he compared the traditional CASAC review approach to the newly implemented streamlined approach, “The Importance of Risk and Exposure Assessments in Setting the Ozone NAAQS” (December, 2023), and “The Need for a Balanced CASAC in the NAAQS Review Process” (June, 2024).
In 2016, EPA changed the risk value for ethylene oxide (EtO) which led to widespread public concern in 2018 when EPA released a draft national risk assessment. As Manager of the Planning and Support Program, Jim was responsible for all modeling related to EtO emissions from commercial sterilizer facilities. In 2021, Jim was promoted to Assistant Branch Chief and was responsible for ensuring that all commercial sterilizer facilities in Georgia were properly permitted with state-of-the-art emission controls years before they were required by federal regulations.
In 2024, EPA lowered the annual PM2.5 NAAQS. On February 7, 2025, Georgia EPD submitted 129 exceptional event demonstrations for days in 2021-2023 in six different cities (89 were associated with prescribed fires) and recommended all 159 counties in Georgia as attainment. This was a substantial effort given that no regulatorily significant exceptional events for prescribed fires had ever been approved by EPA. As Branch Chief of the Air Protection Branch, Jim was involved in every aspect of this project. On June 11, 2025, he flew to Washington D.C. to testify at the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce (Subcommittee on Environment) hearing on exceptional event demonstrations. On February 5, 2026, EPA officially approved five Canadian wildfire exceptional event demonstrations and two prescribed fire demonstrations for Macon, GA lowering the 2022-2024 annual PM2.5 design value from 9.4 to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter, thereby demonstrating attainment with the 2024 annual PM2.5 standard. The two prescribed fire exceptional event demonstrations that were approved by EPA were the first regulatorily significant prescribed fire exceptional event demonstrations ever approved in the country.
Over the past several years, Jim has held leadership positions within many regional and national workgroups. Currently, he serves as the president of the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA). AAPCA is a national, non-profit, consensus-driven organization which represents 21 state and 32 local air pollution control agencies.
Throughout his career, Jim has used sound science to drive policy decisions at the highest levels to support Georgia EPD’s mission to ensure clean air for the citizens of Georgia and provide a foundation for a vibrant economy and healthy communities. Since 1990, Georgia’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 509% while criteria air pollutants decreased by 65%, demonstrating that economic growth and cleaner air are compatible.
A&WMA presents the 2026 S. Smith Griswold Outstanding Air Pollution Control Official Award to James Boylan.
Dr. James (Jim) Boylan is currently the Chief of the Air Protection Branch at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division with management responsibilities for over 150 full-time employees in six different programs (Ambient Monitoring Program, Planning & Support Program, Mobile and Area Sources Program, Stationary Source Permitting Program, Stationary Source Compliance Program, and Radiation Protection Program).
Jim has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, a M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His Ph.D. research included the development of the first comprehensive three-dimensional Eulerian photochemical grid model (URM-1ATM) that included full ozone chemistry, heterogeneous sulfate chemistry, aerosol thermodynamics, wet deposition and scavenging, and the decoupled direct method (DDM) for ozone and particulate matter. This model was applied as part of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative (SAMI) to simulate 1-hour maximum ozone, W126 ozone exposure index, speciated PM2.5, wet and dry acid deposition, and visibility. In 2002, Jim was awarded the “Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Award” for the best Ph.D. dissertation in the Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Later, Jim developed and published the first model performance goals and criteria for PM2.5 which has become the benchmark for most PM2.5 modeling projects both nationally and internationally. This journal paper has been referenced over 500 times. Jim has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers on ozone and PM2.5 formation, and has presented research findings at over 300 national, regional, and local conferences/meetings. In 2001, Jim was inducted into the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society.
In 2014, Jim was selected to participate in the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) review panel for the primary SO2 NAAQS. He was appointed to the seven-member Chartered CASAC by the EPA Administrator in 2017 and re-appointed in 2020. He was actively involved in the 2020 review of the PM and ozone NAAQS as well as the recent PM and ozone NAAQS reconsiderations. He was assigned as lead reviewer on multiple chapters and appendices related to ambient measurements, emissions, and modeling. Jim published several papers related to CASAC in AWMA’s EM magazine including “CASAC Review of the PM and Ozone NAAQS” (December, 2020) where he compared the traditional CASAC review approach to the newly implemented streamlined approach, “The Importance of Risk and Exposure Assessments in Setting the Ozone NAAQS” (December, 2023), and “The Need for a Balanced CASAC in the NAAQS Review Process” (June, 2024).
In 2016, EPA changed the risk value for ethylene oxide (EtO) which led to widespread public concern in 2018 when EPA released a draft national risk assessment. As Manager of the Planning and Support Program, Jim was responsible for all modeling related to EtO emissions from commercial sterilizer facilities. In 2021, Jim was promoted to Assistant Branch Chief and was responsible for ensuring that all commercial sterilizer facilities in Georgia were properly permitted with state-of-the-art emission controls years before they were required by federal regulations.
In 2024, EPA lowered the annual PM2.5 NAAQS. On February 7, 2025, Georgia EPD submitted 129 exceptional event demonstrations for days in 2021-2023 in six different cities (89 were associated with prescribed fires) and recommended all 159 counties in Georgia as attainment. This was a substantial effort given that no regulatorily significant exceptional events for prescribed fires had ever been approved by EPA. As Branch Chief of the Air Protection Branch, Jim was involved in every aspect of this project. On June 11, 2025, he flew to Washington D.C. to testify at the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce (Subcommittee on Environment) hearing on exceptional event demonstrations. On February 5, 2026, EPA officially approved five Canadian wildfire exceptional event demonstrations and two prescribed fire demonstrations for Macon, GA lowering the 2022-2024 annual PM2.5 design value from 9.4 to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter, thereby demonstrating attainment with the 2024 annual PM2.5 standard. The two prescribed fire exceptional event demonstrations that were approved by EPA were the first regulatorily significant prescribed fire exceptional event demonstrations ever approved in the country.
Over the past several years, Jim has held leadership positions within many regional and national workgroups. Currently, he serves as the president of the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA). AAPCA is a national, non-profit, consensus-driven organization which represents 21 state and 32 local air pollution control agencies.
Throughout his career, Jim has used sound science to drive policy decisions at the highest levels to support Georgia EPD’s mission to ensure clean air for the citizens of Georgia and provide a foundation for a vibrant economy and healthy communities. Since 1990, Georgia’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 509% while criteria air pollutants decreased by 65%, demonstrating that economic growth and cleaner air are compatible.
James Boylan
