The environmental quality option focuses on the technical and administrative aspects of pollution control. This includes water pollution, air pollution, and general environmental quality control. The Program has a close affiliation with faculty in the Washington State Water Research Center, the Laboratory for Atmospheric Research and the Department in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Research topics cover surface and groundwater pollution, urban and regional air pollution, and global atmospheric chemical cycles. Specific projects include water quality assessments for Liberty Lake, WA; an evaluation of Washington State visibility guidelines; and the effects of dredging on lake species composition, lake rehabilitation and restoration, the fate and transport of hazardous materials in soils and groundwater, the role of biogenic trace gases in photochemical oxidant formation and acid deposition, measurement of hydroxyl radical concentrations in the atmosphere, and the turbulent transport and diffusion of pollutants under complex conditions.