OFFICIAL SITE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

The NJDEP is seeking comment from the public on the proposed SIP revision, and will accept written and/or oral testimony at a public hearing to be held on:

August 6, 1998 at 10:00 a.m.
New Jersey Department of Personnel
Public Hearing Room
44 South Clinton Avenue
Trenton, New Jersey 08625

This hearing is being held in accordance with the provisions of the Air Pollution Control Act, N.J.S.A. 26:2C-1et seq. and the Administrative Procedures Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B et seq.

Written comments relevant to the proposed SIP revision may be submitted to the address given in the proposed SIP revision until close of business August 13, 1998.

BACKGROUND:

The Clean Air Act requires that states with areas which are classified as “serious” nonattainment for ozone, or higher, provide a demonstration of attainment of the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by the applicable attainment date. This SIP revision provides that demonstration of attainment with the 1-hour ozone standard for the two severe non-attainment areas involving New Jersey. In this demonstration, current air quality measurements and modeled projections of air quality benefits have been employed to estimate the ozone levels in the required attainment year.

The USEPA provided certain states with serious or severe ozone problems with flexibility in their planning efforts and suggested guidance for this approach on March 2, 1995. New Jersey welcomed and accepted this approach in my letter to you dated May 30, 1995. The USEPA’s guidance segmented the planning effort in two phases. In Phase I, New Jersey was required to provide a SIP revision, any supplemental rules, inventory, modeling, or calculations as needed to satisfy the Rate of Progress Plans to achieve a 15% volatile organic compound (VOC) by 1996 and a 24% plan by 1999. On June 30, 1997, the USEPA approved New Jersey’s Phase I plan.

In Phase II, the USEPA guidance calls for:

• A Demonstration of attainment of the 1-hour ozone health standard and the necessary supporting documentation.
• Evidence that all the mandated Clean Air Act measures have been adopted and implemented or are on an expeditious schedule to be adopted and implemented.
• A list of measures, rules, and/or a strategy including technology-forcing controls to meet the rate of progress requirements and attain the 1-hour ozone health standard.
• For severe and higher classified areas, like most of New Jersey, a SIP commitment to submit its post-1999 rate of progress plans on or before the end of the year 2000.
• A SIP commitment and schedule to implement the control programs necessary to meet the rate of progress requirements and to attain the health standard.
• Evidence of a public hearing on the state submittal.

This SIP revision is intended to fulfill the State’s obligations for the Phase II requirements.

New Jersey has counties in two areas that are not currently in attainment with the 1-hour ozone air quality standard. Those areas are termed the Philadelphia and New York Regions in this document. For the Philadelphia Region, the results indicate that with further and full implementation of existing emission control measure mandates in the Federal Clean Air Act, and with implementation of a broad multi-state NOx emission cap program to reduce the ozone and its chemical precursors that are transported into the Region, the Region can be expected to come into attainment with the 1-hour ozone standard by the year 2005; its required deadline. For the New York Region, the results of the analysis indicated that with these same control measures a good number of the ozone monitoring sites in the New York Region can be expected to come into attainment with the 1-hour standard by the year 2007; the deadline for that Region. However, additional emission reductions are likely to be needed to bring the remaining monitoring sites into attainment.

Additionally, although this demonstration was required only for the 1-hour ozone standard, the NJDEP has used this opportunity to perform a preliminary assessment of attaining the new 8-hour ozone standard. The results of that effort indicate that the emission control measures which will be employed to meet the 1-hour ozone standard will also make a significant contribution toward meeting the 8-hour standard. However, it is likely that additional emission reductions will be necessary for both the Philadelphia and New York Regions to attain the 8-hour standard.