Public Notice

40 CFR 51.1205(b) Report; Albany, Bronx, Erie, Kings, New York, Niagara, Orange, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk Counties; 2010 Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard; November 2024

Notice is hereby given that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) plans to submit the above referenced report to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and is providing a 30 day period for the public to comment on the proposed report.

On June 2, 2010, the US EPA strengthened the primary (health based) sulfur dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by establishing a new 1-hour standard at a level of 75 parts per billion (ppb).

The US EPA finalized the second round of designations for the 2010 primary SO2 NAAQS on July 12, 2016. In that final rule, the US EPA designated the New York counties of Erie and Niagara as "unclassifiable/attainment" for the 2010 primary SO2 NAAQS based on an assessment and characterization of air quality performed using air dispersion modeling software, i.e., AERMOD, that analyzed actual emissions in the area surrounding Huntley (Erie County) and Somerset (Niagara County) generating stations, as well as other nearby sources which may have a potential impact in the area of analysis where maximum concentrations of SO2 are expected.

The US EPA finalized the third round of designations for the 2010 primary SO2 NAAQS on January 1, 2018. In that final rule, the US EPA designated the New York counties of Albany, Orange, Suffolk, New York, Queens, Kings, Bronx, and Richmond as "unclassifiable/attainment" for the 2010 primary SO2 NAAQS based on an assessment and characterization of air quality in the area surrounding Lafarge Building Materials (Albany County), Roseton Generating Station (Orange County), Northport Power Station (Suffolk County), and several power stations in the New York City area.

Pursuant to 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 51.1205(b), "[f]or any area where modeling of actual SO2 emissions serve as the basis for designating such area as attainment for the 2010 SO2 NAAQS, the air agency shall submit an annual report to the US EPA Regional Administrator ... that documents the annual SO2 emissions of each applicable source in each such area and provides an assessment of the cause of any emissions increase from the previous year."

NYS DEC plans to submit "40 CFR 51.1205(b) Report; Albany, Bronx, Erie, Kings, New York, Niagara, Orange, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk Counties; 2010 Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard; November 2024" to the US EPA. The final report satisfies the requirements of 40 CFR 51.1205(b) for 2024 by demonstrating that all counties included in the report continue to attain the 2010 SO2 NAAQS by a significant margin and that no additional air quality modeling is needed. The proposed report can be requested from the contact listed below and on-line at: https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/air-quality/plans

Written comments should be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on December 13, 2024, to the contact listed below.