DEC to Hold Community Meetings on Progress of Statewide Air Monitoring Initiative

 

Opportunities to Learn about Work Underway in the Bronx, Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Tonawanda, Capital Region, and Manhattan

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced the first slate of meetings to provide progress updates for communities participating in the  2022-23 Statewide Community Air Monitoring Initiative. Mobile air monitoring started in July 2022 in the first four of 10 areas, the Bronx, Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Tonawanda area, Capital Region and Manhattan. The initiative will help DEC identify sources of air pollution and climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions in these communities. During the year-long air monitoring initiative, DEC will work with these communities to help inform strategies to reduce these emissions.

At the meetings, DEC will provide an update on the progress of data collection to date, provide examples of how emission sources can be detected with this technology, as well as how DEC will analyze the data for each of the pollutants. The results of the statewide initiative will be shared once data is validated at the end of the year-long effort. DEC will also discuss a proposal to create community advisory committees in each area to facilitate ongoing engagement throughout the study period. 

DEC is holding quarterly meetings over the next year to update the community on the progress of the air monitoring and provide a forum for local input. Staff from DEC’s Division of Air Resources and the Office of Environmental Justice will be available to answer questions and respond to feedback.

Air monitoring began in September 2022 in six additional communities, and quarterly update meetings in these communities will be held early next year in Brooklyn, Queens, Mount Vernon/Yonkers/New Rochelle, the Hempstead/New Cassel/Roosevelt/Uniondale/Westbury area, Syracuse, and Rochester. 

Visit the DEC website for more information about the year-long community air monitoring initiative https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/125320.html.

Manhattan: Dec.6, from 6 to 8 p.m.  

Link to join meeting: https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=mfdd7159d8d7dcff0cb30892dc32f0bcc 

Meeting Number: 1615 47 0749 Meeting Password: PZiVJrXj632  

Call In Number to join by phone only: 518-549-0500 

Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Tonawanda: Dec. 7, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Link to join meeting: https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=mefd1aa559ba74c12fd319c12834931bf  

Meeting Number: 161 340 1809 Meeting Password: welcome1 

Call In Number to join by phone only: 518-549-0500 

Capital Region: Dec. 8, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Link to join meeting: https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=m4307ede6d0eb419f0d16d503df5bfd9d

Meeting Number: 161 819 3464 Meeting Password: NYSDEC2022 

Call In Number to join by phone only: 518-549-0500 

Bronx: Dec. 13, 6 to 8 p.m. 

Link to join meeting: https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=m164cb84fdd2b1d2514e9fc6452cb516a  

Meeting Number: 1617 73 2694 Meeting Password: a4cJn5pJhT2  

Call In Number to join by phone only: 518-549-0500 

Interpreter services shall be made available to deaf persons, and translator services shall be made available to persons with limited English proficiency, at no charge for either service, upon written request. Requests should be submitted 10 calendar before each meeting to enable sufficient time to arrange for an interpreter and directed to the DEC Office of Communication Services, either by mail (address: NYSDEC, Office of Communication Services, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233-4500), by telephone (518 402-8044) or by e-mail (language@dec.ny.gov). 

For more information about the Community Air Monitoring Initiative, visit the DEC website at https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/125320.html.