Proposed Revisions to the New Jersey State Implementation Plan for the Attainment and Maintenance of the One-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is proposing revisions to the New Jersey State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Attainment and Maintenance of the One-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard - Update to Meeting the Requirements of the Alternative Ozone Attainment Demonstration Policy - Additional Emission Reductions, Reasonably Available Control Measure Analysis, and Mid-Course Review. These proposed revisions are now available for inspection.

A public hearing is scheduled on the proposal on July 26, 2001, at 10:00 a.m. in the War Memorial Building, John Fitch Plaza, Corner of W. Lafayette and Barracks Streets, Trenton, New Jersey 08625. This hearing is being held in accordance with the provisions of Section 110(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act, 42U.S.C.7410: the Air Pollution Control Act (1954), N.J.S.A. 26:2C-1 et seq. and the Administrative Procedures Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14 B-1 et seq. Written comments relevant to the proposal may be submitted until the close of business July 27, 2001 to Stacey Roth, Esq., NJDEP Docket Number 11-01-06, Office of Legal Affairs, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, P.O. Box 402, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0402. Fax number: (609) 984-3488 (copies sent by fax should be followed with a copy sent by mail).

Background
Ozone is a highly reactive gas formed in the lower atmosphere or troposphere from the chemical reaction involving oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight. At elevated levels, it causes a variety of human health effects as well as damage to crops and materials. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is required by the Clean Air Act to set health and welfare standards for air pollutants, such as ozone. Among the provisions of the Clean Air Act is the requirement that areas with ozone concentrations above certain levels demonstrate that their plans will meet the health standard within the time frame required by the Clean Air Act. New Jersey is required to make such a demonstration for the eighteen of its twenty-one counties that have not been designated as in attainment with the NAAQS for ozone. These counties are associated with two multi-state nonattainment areas which are designated the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Nonattainment Area and the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Nonattainment Area. Henceforth, these areas will be called the Philadelphia Nonattainment Area and the New York Nonattainment Area, respectively.

In New Jersey's Phase II Ozone SIP submittal of August 31, 1998, the State provided air quality projections demonstrating that, under certain conditions conducive to the formation of high ozone concentrations, attainment was plausible without the need for further emission reductions beyond the measures already implemented in New Jersey including those mandated in the Clean Air Act and the regional reductions of NO_x as embodied in the USEPA NO_x SIP call. The demonstration also identified and quantified uncertainties in the projections. In reviewing New Jersey's, and other states' demonstrations, the USEPA performed its own analyses and determined that additional emission reductions were necessary for attainment.

Specifically, the USEPA determined that additional emission reductions in the multi-state Philadelphia Nonattainment Area of 61.8 tons of VOC and 3.4 tons of NO_x per summer day were needed. The additional emission reductions needed in the multi-state New York Nonattainment Area were determined to be 85 tons of VOC and 7 tons of NO_x per summer day.

The USEPA required each state determined to have emission short falls, including New Jersey, to submit a commitment to adopt additional control measures to meet the level of reductions that the USEPA identified as necessary for attainment. New Jersey chose to work through the Ozone Transport Region (OTR) to develop a regional strategy regarding the measures necessary to meet the additional reductions identified. OTR states are required to submit the additional control measures developed through the regional process to the USEPA by October 31, 2001.

New Jersey worked with other states in the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) to identify potential control measures to fill the additional emission reduction requirements. The list of control measures which the OTC decided to pursue for the additional emission reduction requirements include:

Reduction of VOCs from:

1. commercial and consumer products
2. architectural and industrial maintenance coatings
3. solvent cleaning operations
4. mobile equipment repair and refinishing operations
5. portable fuel containers

Reduction of NO_x from:

1. selected stationary sources which include: industrial boilers, stationary combustion turbines, stationary internal combustion engines and cement kilns

This proposed SIP revision outlines the process by which control measures were selected which will address the additional emission reductions identified by the USEPA, and discusses the content and emission benefits of each of the measures. Implementation of the control measures outlined in this document by the involved states and jurisdictions in the Philadelphia and New York Nonattainment Areas will result in sufficient emission reductions to meet the USEPA identified emission shortfalls in these areas. Additional benefits accrue if the control measures are implemented in counties in the 100 kilometer area around the nonattainment areas.

As required by the USEPA, the State conducted a Reasonably Available Control Measure (RACM) analysis for this proposed SIP revision. Briefly, RACMs are any feasible control measures that would advance the attainment date for a particular nonattainment area. Although this analysis identified a number of Transportation Control Measures (TCM) and other control measures that were feasible, none would advance the attainment date for either nonattainment area in the State. Therefore, given the control measures already contained in New Jersey's SIP and the additional control measures in this proposed SIP revision, New Jersey is moving to attain the one-hour standard as expeditiously as practicable.

This proposed SIP revision also contains New Jersey's Mid-Course Review which the State committed to prepare in its August 31, 1998, Phase II Ozone SIP. New Jersey has concluded from this analysis that it is currently on track to attain the 1-hour ozone standard in both nonattainment areas in the State.