OFFICIAL SITE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEYMobile Source Planning
The mobile source planning group within Air Quality Planning is responsible for estimating emissions of criteria air pollutants from mobile sources for State Implementation Plans (SIPs) and evaluating ways to reduce air pollution. Mobile sources consist of on-road vehicles, including cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles, and non-road vehicles and equipment, such as airplanes, locomotives, commercial marine vessels, recreational watercraft, lawn and garden equipment, forklifts, and construction equipment. The criteria air pollutants and their precursors are: carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone (formed from volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides), particulates and sulfur dioxide.
Responsibilities of the mobile source planning group include the following:
New Jersey’s State Implementation Plan (SIP) for air quality is required by the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA). It is the state’s plan for how it will attain or maintain compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for an air quality control region, and in the case of a nonattainment area, by the attainment date established for the standard. A primary purpose of the SIP is to demonstrate how emissions will be reduced to achieve attainment and subsequent maintenance of the air quality standards. The mobile source planning group is responsible for the preparation of detailed emission inventories for the various mobile sources, as well as the identification and evaluation of potential control measures to reduce emissions from mobile sources. Emission inventories are developed for New Jersey using detailed computer models issued and maintained by the US Environmental Protection Agency for on-road and non-road sources.
The Federal Clean Air Act requires that states conduct Transportation and General Conformity determinations in areas that exceed, or used to exceed, the Federal NAAQS. “Conformity” refers to conforming to, or being consistent with, the SIP. Transportation conformity is demonstrated by comparing future projections of emissions from on-road vehicles with emission budgets that were established in the SIP. Mobile source planning staff are responsible for establishing new and updated emission budgets and participating in an inter-agency group that implements the Transportation Conformity requirements. While Transportation Conformity applies to emissions from on-road vehicles, General Conformity applies to Federally-funded or Federally-permitted construction projects. General Conformity evaluations consist of a comparison of estimated project emissions to threshold levels. If project emissions exceed threshold levels the project owner or sponsor must perform emission mitigation measures that reduce emissions by the amount of estimated project emissions.
Mobile source planning staff provide technical support for the preparation of rules that control mobile source emissions. This support often includes the calculation of emission benefits for one or more control scenarios.
This task includes the performance of research and providing recommendations regarding both petroleum-based and alternative transportation fuels. Examples of transportation fuel issues include the sulfur content of gasoline and diesel, the requirements for the use of Federal Reformulated Gasoline, and the use of ethanol as a fuel.
For more information on Fuels see:
