Provides that the commissioner of environmental conservation shall place and operate certain air quality monitoring systems in proximity to N.Y. city airports

* place and operate an ambient air quality monitor network within a one-mile radius of all airports in New York City.

* place and operate a photochemical assessment monitoring station and a national ambient toxic trend station within a one-mile radius of all New York City airports.

* meet periodically with site engineers, local community organizations and elected officials representing the area in which the airport is located to inform them of the results of the air quality monitoring and, if necessary, to recommend or establish programs to mitigate any adverse ambient air quality.

Section two is the effective clause.

Existing law

Currently, NYSDEC's Bureau of Air Quality Surveillance is responsible for the maintenance and operation of ambient air quality monitoring networks throughout the State. Currently there are 80+ active sites (none near New York City airports) where various parameters are measured using continuous and/or manual instrumentation. These are part of the mandated National Air Monitoring Stations Network and State and Local Air Monitoring Stations Network. NYSDEC is authorized to monitor air quality through Article 19 of Environmental Conservation Law, "The Air Pollution Control Act" and Chapter III, Subchapter A, Part 200 et seq. of Title 6, New York Codes, Rules & Regulations.

Justification

The Clean Air Act requires that the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department of Environmental Conservation take steps to ensure clean air quality by 2010. Air quality in all of New York City's counties have recently received very low clean air ratings.

Increased airplane emissions from area airports further aggravate the City's air quality, dumping additional exhaust and fume discharges on neighborhoods, especially Queens, which hosts both John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia Airports. According to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the airports are among the top producers of ground-level ozone and smog in Queens. There are no catalytic converters to minimize harmful jet fuel emissions, and the emissions from one plane are equal to that of 3,000 cars. Children in Queens suffer from asthma in disproportionate numbers, especially those living in proximity to airports.

Additionally, roadways leading to and from the airports are filled 24 hours a day with traffic, with cars, light trucks and pollution-emitting diesel trucks, thus exacerbating the situation.

The EPA's failing marks on air quality have required the state to come up with an improvement plan. Health advocates, environmentalists and elected officials agree that monitoring the air around New York City's airports will provide precise information about the presence of air pollution and show the success or failure of pollution-reduction efforts.

New monitors detect ozone and fine particle pollution. Ozone and fine particulates are only two types of air pollution, but they are considered the most deadly. Fine particulate pollution is small enough to penetrate the deeper regions of the body's respiratory system, and exposure has been associated with serious health problems, including the aggravation of asthma, the development of chronic bronchitis, heart attacks and premature death.

Legislative history

A.9574 (2006) referred to environmental conservation A6422 referred to environmental conservation in 2007-2008.

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth dayafter it shall have become a law.