COPY FOR YOUR 

INFORMATION 

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 

Assistant Commissioner 

Office of Air Resources, Climate Change & Energy, 141h Floor 

625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233-1010 

Phone: (518) 402-8537 • Fax: (518) 402-9016 

Website: www.dec.ny.go Peter M. Iwanowicz 

Acting Commissioner 

December 15, 2010 

Ms. Judith Enck 

Regional Administrator 

United States Environmental Protection Agency 

290 Broadway, 26th Floor 

New York, New York 10007-1866 

Dear Regional Administrator Enck: 

On February 9,2010, EPA strengthened its National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (N02) by establishing a new, one hour primary NAAQS at the 

level of 100 parts per billion (Ppb). This revision of the NAAQS requires New York, as a 

partner with EPA in administering the Clean Air Act, to make recommendations to EPA no later 

than January 22,2011 for areas to be designated attainment, nonattainment and/or 

unclassifiable. 

As such, on behalf of Govemor David Patterson, I am submitting New York State's 

designation recommendations for the new, one hour primary NAAQS N02 standard. This new 

standard will protect the public health by limiting exposures to short-term peak concentrations of 

N02 (which primarily occur near major roads) and by limiting community-wide N02 

concentrations to levels below those that have been linked to respiratory-related emergency 

department visits and hospital admissions in the United States. 

Compliance with the standard is based on the three-year average of the 98th percentile of the 

annual distribution of daily maximum one hour average concentrations. To determine 

compliance with the new standard, EPA is establishing new ambient air monitoring and reporting 

requirements for N02. The addition of a new, one hour N02 standard and changes to the N02 

monitoring network include the following requirements: 

Community Wide Monitoring: 

A minimum of one monitor must be placed in any urban area with a population greater than 

or equal to one million people in order to access community-wide concentrations. Some N02 

monitors already in operation in New York State may meet the community-wide monitor siting 

requirement of at least one monitor within an urban area with a population greater than or equal 

to one million people. However, the siting of additional monitors would be necessary to fully 

comply with the new requirements. 
2 

Near Road Monitoring: 

New York does not, at this time, have a state-wide near-road monitoring network that meets 

the specific requirements under the new NAAQS that at least one monitor be located near a 

major road in urban areas with a population greater than or equal to 500,000 people, as well as 

have monitors located in other areas where maximum concentrations are expected. A second 

monitor is required near major roads under other specific conditions. 

Monitoring to Protect Susceptible and Vulnerable Populations: 

We expect that New York will host at least one ofthese additional monitors, which must 

begin operating no later than January 1, 2013. . 

New York intends to make the required submission of a monitoring plan for N02 by the 

June 2012 deadline, six months prior to the January 1,2013 monitoring start date. Thereafter, 

the expanded network ofN02 monitors are expected to be fully deployed in New York, and three 

years of air quality collected, enabling EPA to re-designate areas in 2016 or 2017 (depending on 

when monitoring sites become operational) based on the air quality data from the new 

monitoring network. 

EPA expects to identify, or "designate", areas as attaining or not attaining the new standard 

by January 2012, within two years of establishing the new N02 standard. These designations 

will be based on the existing community-wide monitoring network. Areas with monitors 

recording violations of the new standards will be designated "nonattainment." EPA anticipates 

designating all other areas of the country as ''unclassifiable'' to reflect the fact that there is 

insufficient data available to detennine if those areas are meeting the revised NAAQS. 

Based on an analysis of New York's metropolitan areas and a comparison to the new 

requirements under the N02NAAQS, the Department has detennined that several areas of New 

York State would be subject to the new N02monitoring requirements. Those areas, and the level 

ofmonitoring that would be required consistent with EPA requirements, are as follows: 

Designated Metropolitan 

Statistical Area Recommended Monitoring Existing Monitoring 

Buffalo-Niagara Falls 

Population: 1,124,309 

I Near-road and 1 Community-based 

required 

1 Community-based 

Monitor 

New York-Northern New 

Jersey-Long Island 

Population: 19,006,798 

2 Near-road and I Community-based 

required 

I Community-based 

Monitor 

Albany-Schenectady-Troy 

Population: 853,919 

I Near-road required None 

Poughkeepsie-NewburghMiddletown 

Population: 672,525 

I Near-road required None 

Rochester 

Population: 1,034,090 

1 Near-road required and I 

Community-based required 

None 

Syracuse 

Population: 643,794 

I Near-road required None 
3 

Prior to making any attainment designation recommendation, the Department must fully 

evaluate the existing NOz monitoring stations and the associated data that has been collected to 

determine if nonattainment has been indicated. Only two Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) 

within New York State have existing NOz monitors in place (meaning that they have been 

monitoring NOz since at least 2005): Buffalo-Niagara Falls and New York- Northern New 

Jersey - Long Island. There is also one monitor in Steuben County (western New York) that is 

outside of a designated Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). 

While these monitors do not fully satisfy the revised location criteria for monitoring, the 

Department has calculated the following design values in accordance with EPA's criteria (three 

year 98th percentile average of the annual distribution of daily maximum I-hour average 

concentrations), for the following rolling three year periods, for those monitoring locations for 

which NOz monitoring data was available beginning in 2005 (parts per billion): 

City County Location 

Three Year 

98th Percentile Average (ppb) 

2005-07 2006-08 2007-09 

New York Bronx 200th Street and Southern Blvd 70 N/A N/A 

New York Bronx IS 52, 681 Kelly St 75 70 72 

New York Bronx 200th Street and Southern Blvd N/A N/A 67 

New York New York PS 59,228 E. 57th St 78 78 N/A 

New York Queens Queens College 69 67 67 

East Meadow Nassau Eisenhower Park 60 58 58 

Amherst Erie Audubon Golf Course 49 48 44 

Buffalo Erie Trailer, I85 Dingens St 79 82 86 

Addison Steuben 8301 Ackerson Rd, Pinnacle SP N/A N/A 11 

New York - Northern New Jersey - Long Island: 

The six monitoring stations within the New York MSA all have design values below the 100 

ppb standard for the three-year rolling time periods shown. EPA would require at least two 

"near road" and one "community-wide" monitor for this MSA to fully establish attainment. Two 

of the monitoring locations within this MSA may qualify as "community-wide" monitors: 

Queens College (Queens) and 200th Street and Southern Blvd (Bronx). 

The historical record for these monitoring stations provides a perspective on how NOz design 

values have changed over time, and also provides a context for the current design values within 

the proposed one-hour standard. The following chart shows a consistent decline in the 98th 

Percentile Values over the time period shown, with a slight uptick in concentrations from 2007­

2009, with the exception ofthe monitoring station at Queens College, where concentration 

values remained nearly level during that timeframe. 
4
 

200 

180 

160 

140 

120 c: 

.S! 100 .0 

.... 

CIJ 80 Q. 

II> 

.... 

.... 

III 60 Q. 

40 

20 

0 

New York Metropolitan Area Monitoring Data 

-Eisenhower Park 

(Nassau County) 

-Holtsville 

(Suffolk County) 

-Queens College 

(Queens) 

-Harding Lab 

(Bronx) 

-KellySt 

(Bronx) 

-Pfizer Lab 

(Bronx) 

Year 

Buffalo-Niagara Falls: 

The two N02 monitoring stations within this CBSA have design values well below the 100 

ppb standard for the rtuU1ing three year design value periods begilU1ing in 2005 and ending in 

2009. EPA would require at least one "near road" and one "community-wide" monitor for this 

CBSA to fully establish attainment. The existing monitors in this CBSA do not meet these 

requirements. 

The historical record of 98th Percentile N02 concentrations in the following graph reveals a 

steep decline in concentration values at the Dingens St. monitoring station in the late seventies. 

Both monitoring stations show a slight decline in concentrations from about 1980 to the present, 

with the exception of two notable spikes for the Dingens St. station, centered around 1987 and 

2007, respectively. The monitoring data for the station located at PilU1acle State Park in Steuben 

County is included for reference purposes even though it is outside the boundaries of the CBSA 

(2005-2007 data only). 

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, Rochester, Syracuse: 

There is no active or recent (since 2005) N02 monitoring within these CBSAs, so the 

attainment status of these areas calU10t be determined and are thus unclassifiable. 
5 

Buffalo-Niagara Falls N02 Monitoring Data
 

250 .,--------------------­

200 +1--------------------­

c:: 

o 

== 150 

... 

Q) 

c.. 

III 

100 +-------\,------~r__---------___t~ III 

c. 

50 +-----------~~'-----~=Iito= __ 

0 

-Audubon Golf 

Course 

(Erie) 

-185 Dingens St. 

(Erie) 

Pinnacle State Park 

(Steuben) 

rl M Lf) 00 0 rl M Lf) r--- CJ) rl M Lf) r--- CJ) rl M Lf) r--- CJ) 

r--- r--- r--- r--- 00 00 00 00 00 00 CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) 0 0 0 0 0 CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) CJ) 0 0 0 0 0 M rl rl M M rl rl rl M rl rl rl rl rl rl N N N N N 

Year 

Adjacent States: 

In addition to assessing the existing monitoring data within New York State, the 

Department has also assessed NOz monitoring data from neighboring states Connecticut and 

New Jersey (as both are part of the New York Metropolitan Area, or "NYMA") in order to 

detennine if New York emissions contribute significantly to nonattainment in, or interfere 

with maintenance by, any other state as a result of the interstate transport of pollutants. 

The calculated 98th percentile values, and the calculated design values for 2007-09 for 

New Jersey and Connecticut are shown in the following tables (the New Jersey counties 

located within the New York Metropolitan Area are shaded grey). None of the design values 

in either state exceed the NOz primary standard of 100 ppb: 

County 

Design Values: New Jersey 

Monitoring Sites Federal 98th Percentile (ppb) 

Monitor ID 

Design Value (ppb) 

Hudson 

Morris 

Essex 

Union 

Bergen 

Cumberland 

Mercer 

MiddJlesex 

Bayonne 

Chester 

East Orange 

Elizabeth Lab 

Leona 

Millville 

Rider University 

Rutgers University 

340170006 

340273001 

340131003 

340390004 

340030006 

340110007 

340210005 

340230011 

2007 

-

36 

65 

74 

-

39. 

41 

51 

2008 

-

42 

56 

77 

66 

40 

43 

50 

2009 

63 

36 

66 

72 

68 

41 

40 

51 

2007 - 2009 

-

38 

62 

74 

-

40 

41 

51 

I 

II 
6
 

Design Values: Connecticut 

County Monitoring Sites Federal 98th Percentile (Ppb) Design Value (Ppb) 

Monitor ill 

2007 2008 2009 2007 - 2009 

Fairfield Westport 09-001-9003 57 52 48 52 

Hartford East Hartford! 09-003-1003 49 44 46 46 

McAuliffe 

Litchfield Thomaston 09-005-0004 40 32 34 35 

New Haven New Haven! 09-009-0027 64 54 52 57 

Criscuolo 

Since there are no monitors indicating non-attairunent in either state, New York State cannot, 

at this time, be deemed to contribute to, or interfere with, attairunent of the N02 NAAQS in the 

other states within the New York Metropolitan Area boundary. 

Recommendations: 

The Department lacks N02 monitoring data for New York State that meets EPA's 

monitoring requirements of "near road" and "community-wide" monitoring for the purposes of 

this NAAQS. No nonattairunent is indicated based on the remaining data, however, in either 

New York State or the other states in the New York Metropolitan Area (i.e., Connecticut and 

New Jersey). As such, the Department recommends that the following statistical areas, as well 

as the remainder of the state, be designated as ''unclassifiable'' with respect to the national 

primary ambient air quality standard for N02 

•	 New York - Northern New Jersey - Long Island, NY-Metropolitan Statistical 

Area (NYMA MSA) 

•	 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, CBSA 

•	 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, CBSA 

•	 Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, CBSA 

•	 Rochester, CBSA 

•	 Syracuse, CBSA 

We believe that each of these recommendations is consistent with Section 107(d) of the 

Clean Air Act. 
7 

Should you have any questions regarding these recommendations, please do not hesitate to 

contact me at (518) 402-8537 or David J. Shaw, Director of the Department's Division of Air 

Resources, at (518) 402-8452. 

Sincerely, 

LtL:!---­

Assistant Commissioner 

Office of Air Resources, Climate Change 

& Energy 

Enclosure 

cc: D. Shaw 

R. Sliwinski 

M. Reis 

1. Close 

C. McCarthy 

B\ :Z Wd 62 :)30 GIUI
 
PUBLIC NOTICE
 

NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION 

"NEW YORK STATE DESIGNATION RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OXIDES OF 

NITROGEN WITH RESPECT TO THE REVISED ONE-HOUR AMBIENT AIR 

QUALITY STANDARD" 

Notice is hereby given that the NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (Department) has submitted recommendations on 

the attainment status ofNew York State with respect to nitrogen dioxide (N02) to the United 

States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval. 

On February 9, 2010, EPA revised its National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS) for N02 by establishing a new, one hour primary NAAQS at the level of 100 parts 

per billion (ppb). This revision of the NAAQS requires New York, as well as other states, to 

make recommendations to EPA no later than January 22, 2011 for areas to be designated as 

attainment, nonattainment and/or unclassifiable. 

After a review of the available ambient air monitoring data for N02according to the 

requirements of the revised NAAQS rulemaking (75 FR 6474), the Department has 

detelmined that the present monitOling does not meet the requirements of the revised rule in 

al1 respects. Therefore, a designation of "unclassifiable" has been recommended to the EPA 

for the entire state. Requirements for future monitoring, however, wil1 enable the 

Department to establish the attainment status within the time required under federal rules. 

All inquiries regarding this action should be submitted to Mr. James Close, New 

York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway - 2nd Floor, Albany, 

New York, 12233-3251 or bye-mail toairsips@gw.dec.state.ny.us.Mr. Close can also be 

reached at (518) 402-8396.