|
Attainment Areas
Status
The federal Clean Air Act requires the USEPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six common air pollutants. These commonly found air pollutants (also known as "criteria pollutants") are particle pollution (often referred to as particulate matter), ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and lead. These pollutants can harm your health and the environment, and cause property damage. The USEPA calls these pollutants "criteria" air pollutants because it regulates them by developing human health-based and/or environmentally-based criteria (science-based guidelines) for setting permissible levels. Limits based on human health are called primary standards. The USEPA also can establish a second set of limits intended to prevent environmental and property damage, which are referred to as secondary standards. In ever case except for SO2, the secondary standards established by the USEPA for the critera pollutants are identical in level and form to their respective primary standards. The Clean Air Act further requires the USEPA to review and, if appropriate, revise the NAAQS for each criteria air pollutant every five years to insure they continue to adequately protect human health and welfare.For more information on the criteria pollutants, visit USEPA's website.
When a NAAQS is established or revised, the USEPA goes through a formal process to designate all areas of the country as either in attainment or in nonattainments. The federal Clean Air Act further classify ozone, carbon monoxide, and some particulate matter nonattainment areas based on the magnitude of an area's problem. Nonattainment classifications may be used to specify what air pollution reduction measures an area must adopt, and when the area must reach attainment. The technical details underlying these classifications are discussed in the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 81 (40 CFR 81). For a historical perspective of the designations for the criteria pollutants, visit USEPA's website. States with areas designated as nonattainment for any criteria pollutant must develop plans that show how they will bring those areas into attainment of the standard by their designated attainment dates. Once an area meets its attainment date, it can be re-designated to attainment, but states must submit maintenance plans for these areas to the USEPA to insure continued attainment of the areas over a period of 10 years. These re-designated areas are referred to as “maintenance areas.”
Currently, the entire State of New Jersey is designated as nonattainment for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS and portions of the State are designated as nonattainment for the annual PM2.5 and the SO2 NAAQS. Portions of New Jersey are designated as a maintenance area for CO. The State was designated as nonattainment under the 1-hour ozone NAAQS but that standard has since been revoked because of the newer 8-hour standard. New Jersey is in attainment with the 1997 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS but is not in attainment with the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, for which the State had recently submitted the recommendation of nonattainment area designations.
For a brief description of each NAAQS, select from the following:
1-Hour Ozone NAAQS (Revoked)
Under the 1-hour ozone standard of 0.120 ppm , the entire State of New Jersey was designated as nonattainment. There were three multi-state nonattainment areas and a New Jersey only nonattainment area for the 1-hour NAAQS. The first multi-state area was the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton nonattainment area, which consisted of Burlington,
Camden, Cumberland,
Gloucester,
Mercer, and
Salem Counties of New Jersey. The second multi-state area was the New York-N. New Jersey-Long Island nonattainment area, which consisted of Bergen,
Essex,
Hudson,
Hunterdon,
Middlesex,
Morris,
Monmouth,
Ocean,
Passaic,
Somerset, Sussex,
and Union Counties of New Jersey. The third multi-state area was the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton nonattainment area, which consisted of Warren County of New Jersey. The New Jersey only nonattainmenare was Atlantic City, which consisted of Atlantic and Cape Mapy Counties.
On June 15, 2005, the 1-hour ozone standard was revoked for all areas except the 8-hour ozone nonattainment Early Action Compact Areas (EAC) areas. This happened by virtue of 40 CFR 50.9(b). Due to the revocation of the 1-hour ozone standard, effective June 15, 2005, a recent notice [70 FR 44470] removed from 40 CFR part 81 the 1-hour designations and classifications for all areas except EAC areas that have deferred effective dates for their designations under the 8-hour ozone standard. The former 1-hour ozone designations and classifications as of June 15, 2004, are being retained in subpart C of Part 81 for purposes of the anti backsliding provisions of 40 CFR 51.905. 40 CFR 51.905(c) references subpart C of part 81 for the areas affected by the anti-backsliding regulation. The anti-backsliding provision is in place to prevent areas from undoing any air quality improvement measures or to make sure areas keep their committments to improving air quality as committed to in their federally approved state implementation plans (SIP).
For a map of the nonattainment areas in New Jersey for the revoked 1-hour standard, click here. For more information on the 1-hour ozone nonattainment designation, visit USEPA's website.
8-Hour Ozone NAAQS
In 1997, the USEPA revised the NAAQS for ozone, setting it at 0.08 ppm averaged over an 8-hour time frame. The USEPA set the 8-hour ozone standard based on scientific evidence demonstrating that ozone causes adverse health effects at lower ozone concentrations, over longer periods of time, than the then-existing 1-hour ozone standard. In April 2004, the USEPA finalized its attainment/nonattainment designations for areas across the country with respect to the 8-hour ozone standard. These actions took effect on June 15, 2004. The New Jersey counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Morris, Monmouth, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren are associated with the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT 8-hour nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the Northern New Jersey/New York/Connecticut nonattainment area). The New Jersey counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, Mercer and Salem were associated with the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton, PA-NJ-DE-MD 8-hour nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the Southern New Jersey/Philadelphia nonattainment area).
For a map of the nonattainment areas in New Jersey for the 8-hour standard, click here. For a table of the above counties/municipalities designated as nonattainment for both ozone standards, click here.For more information on the 8-hour ozone nonattainment designation, visit USEPA's website.
Annual PM2.5 NAAQS
In 1997, the USEPA established annual and 24-hour NAAQS for PM2.5 for the first time. The 1997 standards were set at 15 µg/m3 for the annual and 65 µg/m3 for the 24-hour. Particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5) are referred to as "fine" particles and are believed to pose the largest health risks. Because of their small size (less than one-seventh the average width of a human hair), fine particles can lodge deeply into the lungs. Sources of fine particles include all types of combustion activities (motor vehicles, power plants, wood burning, etc.) and certain industrial processes.
13 of New Jersey’s 21 counties were designated as nonattainment for the 1997 annual standards, and are associated with two multi-state nonattainment areas (the Northern New Jersey/New York/Connecticut (NNJ/NY/CT) nonattainment area and the Southern New Jersey/Philadelphia (SNJ/Phila.) nonattainment area). New Jersey counties that are in the NNJ/NY/CT nonattainment area are Passaic, Bergen, Morris, Essex, Hudson, Union, Somerset, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Mercer Counties. New Jersey counties that are in the SNJ/Phila nonattainment area are Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties.
For a map of the nonattainment areas in New Jersey for the annual PM2.5 standard, click here. For more information on the annual PM2.5 nonattainment designation, visit USEPA's website.
24-Hour (Daily) PM2.5 NAAQS
In 2006, EPA revised the 24-hour NAAQS for PM2.5 from 65 µg/m3 to 35 µg/m3. The State submitted its recommendation of nonattainment areas in New Jersey to the USEPA on December 18, 2007. The USEPA has until December 18, 2008 to take action on the recommendation. The Department provided a 30-day comment period and held a public meetin on December 6, 2007 in Knowlton Township. For more details on this including the submission to the USEPA, click here.
The recommended nonattainment areas are: 1) NNJ/NY/CT, the same as that for the current annual PM2.5 standard, which includes Passaic, Bergen, Morris, Essex, Hudson, Union, Somerset, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Mercer Counties in New Jersey; 2)SNJ/Phila, the same as that for the current annual PM2.5 standard, which includes Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey; and 3) a new nonattainment area which would include Knowlton Township (Warren County, New Jersey) into the Northampton-Lehigh County nonattainment area in Pennsylvania.
For a map of the reccommended nonattainment areas in New Jersey for the 24-hour PM2.5 standard, click here. For more information on PM2.5, visit USEPA's website.
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) NAAQS
Ambient SO2 results largely from stationary sources such as coal and oil combustion, steel mills, refineries, pulp and paper mills and from nonferrous smelters. There are three SO2 NAAQS: 1) an annual arithmetic mean of 0.03 ppm (80 ug/m3), 2) a 24-hour level of 0.14 ppm (365 ug/m3), and 3) a 3-hour level of 0.50 ppm (1300 ug/m3). The first two standards are primary (health-related) standards, while the 3-hour NAAQS is a secondary (welfare-related) standard. The annual mean standard is not to be exceeded, while the short-term standards are not to be exceeded more than once per year.
The only area that is currently designated as nonattainment for the SO2 standard in New Jersey is Warren County (part of the Northeast Pennsylvania-Upper Delaware Valley Interstate AQCR).
For a map of the nonattainment areas in New Jersey for the SO2 NAAQS, click here. For more information on the 1-hour ozone nonattainment designation, visit USEPA's website.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) NAAQS
The National Ambient Air Quality Standards for CO are 35 ppm for a 1-hour average and 9 ppm for an 8-hour nonoverlapping average. An area meets the CO NAAQS if no more than one 8-hour value per year exceeds the threshold. (High values that occur within 8 hours of the first one are exempted. This is known as using "nonoverlapping averages.") To be in attainment, an area must meet the NAAQS for two consecutive years and carry out air quality monitoring during the entire time.
Based on prior violations of the 8-hour carbon monoxide standard, New Jersey had eleven nonattainment areas, all of which have since been redesignated to attainment and are currently considered maintenance areas (continued compliance with the CO standards). New Jersey’s three 8-hour carbon monoxide maintenance plans cover the following areas of the State: 1) Camden County – All of Camden County; 2) Nine Not-Classified Areas - the City of Atlantic City (in Atlantic County), the City of Burlington (in Burlington County), the Borough of Freehold (in Monmouth County), the Town of Morristown (in Morris County), the Borough of Penns Grove (in Salem County), the City of Perth Amboy (in Middlesex County), the Borough of Somerville (in Somerset County), the Toms River Area (in Ocean County), and the City of Trenton (in Mercer County); and 3) Northeastern New Jersey - Hudson, Essex, Bergen and Union Counties, and the municipalities of Clifton, Passaic and Paterson in Passaic County (part of the New York City/Northern New Jersey/Long Island carbon monoxide maintenance area).
For a map of the maintenance areas in New Jersey for the CO standard, click here. For a table of the above counties/municipalities designated as nonattainment for CO, click here. For more information on the CO nonattainment designation, visit USEPA's website.
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) NAAQS
The NAAQS for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an annual (arithmetic mean) standard set at 0.053 ppm (100 µg/m3), which the State of New Jersey has never exceeded.
Lead (Pb) NAAQS
The NAAQS for lead (Pb) is a quarterly average standard set at 1.5 µg/m3. The State has not exceeded this standard since the early 1970s, and currently the entire state is designated as attainment for lead. The USEPA is currently in the process of reviewing this standard to determine if it is still protective of human health and welfare. For more information on the USEPA’s review process for the lead NAAQS, click here. |
