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2.0 General Planning Provisions

Pursuant to the requirements of 40 CFR Sections 51.308(a) and (b), New York 

submits this State Implementation Plan (SIP) to meet the requirements of the 

EPA’s Regional Haze rules under the requirements set forth in the Clean Air Act. 

Elements of this SIP address the core elements required by 40 CFR Section 

51.308(d), the Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) components of 40 CFR 

Section 50.308(e), the establishment of Reasonable Progress Goals (RPG) and 

the measures that contributing states like New York must take to take to do their 

part in meeting the RPG. In addition, this SIP addresses Regional Planning, 

State and Federal Land Manager coordination, and contains a commitment to 

provide plan revisions and adequacy determinations as necessary. 

2.1 SIP Submission Dates

Section 51.308(b) required that this SIP be submitted by December 17, 2007. As 

a result of a delay in the notification of New York of the measures needed to 

meet Class I area reasonable progress goals, it was necessary to wait to make 

the required submission until the measures had been identified by the Class I 

states. 

The State of New Hampshire notified the Department in a letter dated May 16, 

2008 of the completion of the consultation process that resulted in MANE-VU 

states agreeing to emission management strategies that would meet the 

reasonable progress goal requirements of Section 40 CFR 51.308(d)(1) of the 

Clean Air Act. While MANE-VU member states agreed to a course of action that 

included pursuing the adoption and implementation of the emission management 

strategies on a June 20, 2007 conference call, discussions and analyses 

continued into early 2008 before the level of reductions these strategies would 

attain was determined. It wasn’t until the May 16, 2008 letter that the State of 

New York was informed that this course of action was indeed final. 

Another factor seriously disrupting the haze SIP development process was the 

July 11, 2008 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 

Circuit that would vacate the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and remand the 

rule back to EPA. This disruption has resulted in the need for both Class I states 

and contributing states to reevaluate the control strategies and other elements of 

their regional haze SIPs, which caused states to delay submissions further. 

Complicating this matter was EPA’s petition for rehearing and the Court’s request 

for a briefing asking if it should stay the mandate until EPA revises the rule in 

response to the remand. On December 23, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for 

the District of Columbia Circuit decided to remand the rule back to EPA without 

vacatur of CAIR, but did not impose a particular schedule by which EPA must 

alter CAIR. 
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Section 51.308(f) requires New York to submit a revision to this SIP by July 31, 

2018 and every ten years thereafter, at which point additional adjustments to the 

strategies described in this SIP may take place. 

Section 51.308(g) requires New York to submit a report to the EPA every five 

years evaluating progress toward the reasonable progress goal for each Class I 

Federal area located outside New York that may be affected by emissions from 

within New York. The first progress report is due five years from submittal of the 

initial SIP and must be in the form of a SIP revision. At that time, a new emission 

inventory and modeling results should be available. Modifications to this SIP can 

also be done at that time. In accordance with Section 51.308(h), New York will 

also submit a formal determination of the adequacy of its existing Regional Haze 

SIP revision at the time the progress report is submitted. The first progress report 

is due five years from submittal of the initial implementation plan and must be in 

the form of an implementation plan revision or, if no changes to New York’s SIP 

are necessary, in the form of a negative declaration that further revision of the 

existing SIP is not needed. 

2.2 New York Statutory Authority 

New York is proposing this SIP in accordance with State laws and rules, and has 

the necessary authority, as described below, to adopt the SIP and other required 

rules and regulations.

Ambient Air Quality Monitoring, Compilation, Analysis and Reporting 

(110(a)(2)(B)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(B) requires SIPs to include provisions to provide for the 

establishment and operation of ambient air quality monitors, collecting and 

analyzing ambient air quality data, and making these data available to EPA upon 

request. This information is included in the various SIPs that have been 

submitted to EPA. 

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (Department) 

measures air pollutants at more than 80 sites across the state, using continuous 

and/or manual instrumentation. These sites are part of the federally-mandated 

National Air Monitoring Stations Network (NAMS) and the State and Local Air 

Monitoring Stations (SLAMS) Network. Real time direct reading measurements 

include gaseous criteria pollutants (ozone, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, 

carbon monoxide), PM2.5 (fine particulate with a diameter less than 2.5 microns), 

and meteorological data. Filter based PM2.5, lead, and acid deposition samples 

are collected manually and shipped to the laboratory for analysis. The information 
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obtained is compared to the NAAQS and is used to determine the attainment 

status of areas where these pollutants are monitored. 

The near real-time data for gaseous pollutants and PM2.5 are used for Air Quality 

Index (AQI) projection, and can be accessed by interested parties on the 

Department web site. The Department also provides real-time data to EPA for 

AIRNow live national ozone mapping. All ambient measurements undergo data 

validation and are subsequently submitted to EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) for 

public access. 

The Department commits to continue to operate an air quality monitoring network 

that complies with EPA requirements and to submit this data to EPA’s Air Quality 

System. 

Enforcement and Stationary Source Permitting (110(a)(2)(C)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(C) requires States to include a program providing for 

enforcement of all SIP measures and the regulation of construction of new or 

modified stationary sources to meet Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) 

and nonattainment new source review (NNSR) requirements. On March 12, 2009, 

New York submitted 6 NYCRR Part 231, New Source Review for New and 

Modified Facilities, to EPA for approval and inclusion in the SIP. This regulation 

meets the federal requirements for the application of PSD and New Source 

Review requirements in New York and is presently in effect in New York. The 

application of these requirements ensures that major sources of PM2.5 in the 

state meet the requirements of the federal PSD and NNSR permitting programs 

as they apply to PM2.5. With PSD and NNSR requirements for PM2.5 now in 

effect in New York, the Department meets the requirement ensuring that major 

sources in this state will not cause or contribute to air pollution in excess of the 

NAAQS in New York or other states. 

New York ensures that all applicable federal PSD requirements which are 

included in PSD permits are incorporated into Title V operating permits, and that 

all federally-enforceable requirements are applied and enforced. New York 

therefore affirms that the current NNSR and PSD permitting programs remain in 

effect and continue to apply to the state’s major stationary sources, and that the 

requirements from these programs are federally enforceable. 

Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) Section 19-0305 and Article 71 Sections 

71-2103 and 71-2105 authorizes the commissioner of the Department to enforce 

the codes, rules and regulations of the Department established in accordance with 

Article 19. The SIP is a compilation of rules and regulations that have been duly 

promulgated by the Department in accordance with its statutory authority and 
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consistent with the State Administrative Procedures Act. Therefore, the 

Department has the authority to enforce all SIP measures. 

Assurance of Adequate Resources (110(a)(2)(E)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(E) requires States to provide (i) necessary assurances 

that the State will have adequate personnel, funding and authority under State law 

to carry out its SIP, (ii) requirements that the State comply with the requirements 

respecting State boards under CAA Section 7428, and (iii) necessary assurances 

that, where the State has relied on a local or regional government, agency, or 

instrumentality for the implementation of any plan provision, the State has 

responsibility for ensuring adequate implementation of such plan provision. 

The Division of Air Resources (DAR), with a staff of 264, receives both operating 

and capital funding. Operating funds are allocated to the Division annually and are 

used for daily administrative expenses. These expenses include salaries, fringe 

benefits, indirect and non-personnel services such as travel, supply and 

equipment costs. Indirect costs are, in turn, allocated to other Departments or 

divisions that support DAR activities. DAR is allocated operating funds from five 

sources: General Fund, Utility Environmental Regulatory Account, Co-operative 

Agreements (i.e., EPA Section 103 and 105 grants) and the Clean Air Fund, 

which is comprised of the Title V and Mobile Source accounts. 

Capital funds are allocated to the Division at the discretion of the State legislature 

and are used for the financing or acquisition of capital facilities such as the 

construction of an air monitoring site. The Division is allocated Capital funds from 

three sources: General Fund, Mobile Source Account and Rehabilitation and 

Improvement. 

Section 110(a)(2)(E)(ii) requires that the state comply with the requirements 

respecting state boards under CAA Section 7428. New York’s Public Officer's 

Law (POL) satisfies these requirements. Specifically, POL Section 74(2) states 

“No officer or employee of a state agency, member of the legislature or legislative 

employee should have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or 

engage in any business or transaction or professional activity or incur any 

obligation of any nature, which is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge 

of his duties in the public interest.” POL 74(3)(e) states “No officer or employee of 

a state agency, member of the legislature or legislative employee should engage 

in any transaction as representative or agent of the state with any business entity 

in which he has a direct or indirect financial interest that might reasonably tend to 

conflict with the proper discharge of his official duties.” 

Finally, the Department confirms that where the State has relied on a local or 
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regional government, agency, or instrumentality for the implementation of any 

plan provision, the State has responsibility for ensuring adequate implementation 

of such plan provision. 

Emergency Powers and Contingency Plans (110(a)(2)(G)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(G) requires States to provide for authority to address 

activities causing imminent and substantial endangerment to public health, 

including contingency plans to implement the emergency episodes in their SIPs. 

Articles 3 and 19 of the ECL provide this authority to the Department and are 

included in the SIP. 

Among other provisions, ECL Section 3-0301 entitled “General functions, powers 

and duties of the department and the commissioner” authorizes the Department to 

prevent and control air pollution emergencies, as defined in subdivision 1 of ECL 

Section 3. In exercising such prevention and control the Department and the 

commissioner may limit the consumption of fuels and use of vehicles, curtail or 

require the cessation of industrial processes and limit or require the cessation of 

incineration and open burning, and take any other action he may deem necessary 

to prevent and/or control air pollution emergencies. The Department adopted 6 

NYCRR Part 207, Control Measures for an Air Pollution Episode, and EPA 

approved this regulation as part of the New York SIP (46 FR 55690). 

Authority for SIP Revisions for Revised NAAQS (110(a)(2)(H)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(H) requires States to have the authority to revise their 

SIPs in response to changes in the NAAQS, availability of improved methods for 

attaining the NAAQS, or in response to an EPA finding that the SIP is 

substantially inadequate. 

Revisions to the SIP are authorized by Article 19 and Sections 3-0301, 19-0103, 

19-0301, 19-0303 and 19-0305 of the ECL. Article 19 of the ECL was adopted to 

protect New York’s air resources from pollution and to effectuate the policy of the 

State to maintain a reasonable degree of purity of the air resources, consistent 

with the public health and welfare and the industrial development of the State. To 

this end, the Legislature gave the Department specific powers and duties, 

including the power to promulgate regulations for preventing, controlling, or 

prohibiting air pollution. The Department also has the specific authority to 

regulate motor vehicle exhaust and approve air contaminant control systems as 

well as regulate fuels. Section 71-2103 provides general enforcement authority 

for the air regulations. Section 71-2105 provides criminal enforcement authority. 

This general statement of authority is included in the SIP. 
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Authority for SIP Revisions for New Nonattainment Areas (110(a)(2)(I)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(I) requires States to have the authority to revise their SIPs 

in response to changes in nonattainment areas. 

Revisions to the SIP are authorized by the same citations as described in the 

above paragraph regarding SIP revisions for revised NAAQS. 

This general statement of authority is included in the SIP. 

Consultation, Public Notification and PSD/Visibility (110(a)(2)(J)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(J) requires States to meet the applicable requirements of 

CAA Section 121 relating to consultation, CAA Section 127 relating to public 

information and Part C relating to PSD and visibility protection. 

CAA Section 121 requires States to provide a satisfactory process of consultation 

with general purpose local governments, designated organizations of elected 

officials of local governments and any Federal land manager having authority over 

Federal land to which the State plan applies. On December 22, 2005, the 

Department reestablished a SIP Coordinating Council consisting of senior policy 

representatives from 19 state agencies and authorities, and a SIP Task Force 

consisting of officials from thirty-seven local governments and designated 

organizations of elected officials. Though there are no Federal lands within New 

York State to which the State plan applies, the Department has participated in the 

consultation process of the Regional Haze SIP (40 CFR 51.308) with the Federal 

Land Managers, States and Tribes of the Mid-Atlantic Northeast Visibility Union 

(MANE-VU), and other regional planning organizations where emissions from 

New York are reasonably anticipated to contribute to visibility impairment to Class 

I areas. 

CAA Section 127 requires State plans to contain measures which will be effective 

to notify the public during any calendar year, on a regular basis, of instances or 

areas in which any national primary ambient air quality standard is exceeded or 

was exceeded during any portion of the preceding calendar year to advise the 

public of the health hazards associated with such pollution, and to enhance public 

awareness of the measures which can be taken to prevent such standards from 

being exceeded and the ways in which the public can participate on regulatory 

and other efforts to improve air quality. 

The Department’s website, at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/34985.html, 

contains an Air Quality Index (AQI) for reporting daily air quality to the public. It 
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describes how clean or polluted the air is, and what associated health effects 

might be a concern. It was created as a way to correlate levels of different 

pollutants to one scale; the higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern. 

When levels of ozone and/or fine particles are expected to exceed an AQI value 

of 100, an Air Quality Health Advisory is issued alerting sensitive groups to take 

the necessary precautions. The Department, in cooperation with the New York 

State Department of Health, posts warnings on the above-referenced website if 

dangerous conditions are expected to occur. These warnings are also aired 

through the media, and are available on the toll-free Ozone Hotline at 1-800-535-

1345. The Air Quality Forecast displays the predicted AQI value for eight regions 

in New York State. It also displays the observed values for the previous day. Air 

quality measurements from New York’s statewide continuous monitoring network 

are updated hourly where available. Parameters monitored include ozone, fine 

particulate, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, 

methane/nonmethane hydrocarbons, and meteorological data. Additional ozone 

information to enhance public awareness is located at 

http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8400.html. 

Air Quality Modeling / Data (110(a)(2)(K)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(K) requires States to provide for the performance of such 

air quality modeling as the Administrator may prescribe for the purpose of 

predicting the effect on ambient air quality of any emissions of any air pollutant for 

which the Administrator has established a NAAQS. It also requires States to 

submit, upon request, data related to such air quality modeling to the 

Administrator. 

The Department certifies that the air quality modeling and analysis used in SIPs 

complies with EPA’s guidance* on the use of models in attainment 

demonstrations, and commits to continue to use air quality models in accordance 

with EPA’s approved modeling guidance and to submit data to the Administrator if 

requested. 

* US EPA 200. “Guidance on the use of models and other analyses for 

demonstrating attainment of air quality goals for ozone, PM2.5 and regional haze.” 

EPA-454/B-07-002. 

Consultation / Participation by Affected Local Entities (110(a)(2)(M)) 

CAA Section 110(a)(2)(M) requires States to provide for consultation and 

participation by local political subdivisions affected by the plan. 

The Department established an Inter-agency Consultation Group (ICG) pursuant 
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to 6 NYCRR Part 240, “Conformity to State or Federal Implementation Plans of 

Transportation Plans, Programs, and Projects Developed, Funded or Approved 

under Title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Laws.” Members of this group include 

the Federal Transit Administration, Federal Highway Administration, the New York 

State Department of Transportation, the United States Environmental Protection 

Agency, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and 

several Metropolitan Planning Organizations statewide. The ICG is central to the 

entire transportation conformity process, and serves as the underpinning for 

conformity determinations and as the primary mechanism for ensuring early 

coordination and negotiation among all parties affected by transportation 

conformity, including the general public, the business community, and other 

interested parties. 

Additional consultation and participation by local political subdivisions are 

provided through the SIP Task Force established on December 22, 2005, which 

consists of officials from thirty-seven local governments and designated 

organizations of elected officials. 

The Department commits to continue to provide for consultation and participation 

by local political subdivisions.