DEC Releases First Phase Results of Statewide Community Air Monitoring Initiative

 

New Online Mapping Data and Tools will Help Identify Strategies to Improve Air Quality and Public Health in Communities Most Burdened by Pollution

New Anti-Idling Enforcement Blitz to Jumpstart Emissions-Reduction Efforts

Community Meetings and Stakeholder Collaboration Underway to Help Target Investments to Benefit Communities Most Impacted by Pollution

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar announced the release of results from the first phase of the State’s historic effort to monitor air quality in 10 disadvantaged communities using local data collected through mobile and stationary monitoring. Through the initiative, DEC collaborated with local residents and community stakeholders to collect data that will help develop strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other sources of air pollution in areas with high air pollution burdens. The study is a crucial part of the State’s ongoing implementation of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). To complement the initiative’s findings and jumpstart efforts to reduce air pollution, DEC is launching a new anti-idling enforcement blitz to reduce harmful pollution known to negatively impact air quality in neighborhoods with concentrations of idling trucks.

 

“New York’s overall air quality has never been better, but historic inequities continue to create challenges that directly affect the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged community residents statewide,” Interim Commissioner Mahar said. “The results from this exceptional monitoring effort, the largest ever conducted in New York state, will inform ongoing collaborations with community leaders to help DEC and our partners develop policies and direct investments that prioritize equity and justice. DEC looks forward to continuing to engage with communities to build upon this significant scientific achievement and help make a difference in the lives of millions of New Yorkers.”

 

First announced by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2021, the statewide Community Air Monitoring Initiative led by DEC is one of the largest air monitoring initiatives nationally and the largest ever undertaken in New York. The year-long study, supported with funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), provides a comprehensive picture of air quality in 10 disadvantaged communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution and home to approximately five million New Yorkers.

Hyperlocal Data Collection

DEC’s Community Air Monitoring Initiative data collection began in the summer of 2022 with cars fitted with sensors by DEC’s contractor, Aclima, Inc., to measure air pollutants from local sources while driving along neighborhood streets block by block. A total of 10 communities – six more than required by the Climate Act - were selected for monitoring based on local air quality burdens and the disadvantaged communities criteria set by the State’s Climate Justice Working Group.

 

Monitoring was conducted in the Bronx; Brooklyn; Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Tonawanda; Capital Region; Hempstead/New Cassel/Roosevelt/Uniondale/Westbury; Manhattan; Mount Vernon/Yonkers/New Rochelle; Queens; Rochester; and Syracuse. Sensors tracked climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions including carbon dioxide, methane, and ethane as well as co-pollutants that directly affect health or contribute to the formation of other pollutants including carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, fine particulate matter, and black carbon. DEC worked closely with community residents and local leaders as part of community advisory committees established across the state through the initiative and is using the mobile monitoring data, community input, and other information to help identify higher pollutant levels and sources for air pollution reductions.

"Exposure to pollution is a justice issue," said Davida Herzl, Aclima's CEO and Co-Founder. “If you live in a community in proximity to a major source of emissions, whether a stationary source like a facility or freeway corridor with a lot of trucks, you're going to experience higher levels of pollution that can have lifelong health impacts. This historic data is unlocking action at the speed that communities deserve and need. I hope every state follows this nation-leading example.”

Maps and Data Help Tell Each Community’s Story

DEC created an overview of the initiative and detailed interactive “story maps” of the 10 communities using the monitoring results, including mapping tools to display the mobile monitoring findings, air pollution sources, and locations of sensitive populations like schools and nursing homes. The Community Air Monitoring Initiative website includes links to the story maps, short videos demonstrating how to use the embedded interactive maps, other technical information, and a survey to receive input on community air quality concerns. The mapping tools allow DEC and community members to objectively see patterns in the data, identify areas for further investigation, and target sources for air pollution reduction that can have the greatest impact on local air quality. DEC’s data are presented to help New Yorkers better see the local impacts, particularly where the disadvantaged communities studied have a higher air pollution burden.  

 

Overall Findings

Air quality has improved in many areas statewide and modeled annual pollutant levels along most road segments indicate better air quality for fine particulate matter. However, people living in disadvantaged communities may experience higher pollution levels for multiple pollutants in some areas. To help identify local sources of air pollution, DEC’s analysis tools focus on areas with higher levels in each study area. DEC’s analysis detected higher pollution along and near roads with higher traffic volumes and greater diesel truck and bus traffic and in busy commercial retail centers and areas with construction, rail yards, waste management, and manufacturing and industrial facilities. These findings validated some community air quality concerns expressed during the public presentations for the initiative. Higher levels of pollution were sometimes measured near sensitive locations like schools, childcare and health care facilities, and nursing homes. Typically, these locations were near busy highways and roads and some areas with multiple commercial and industrial sources. Higher levels of methane were measured near landfills and wastewater treatment facilities.

Ongoing Community Engagement

To support this effort and engage directly with affected communities, DEC held 50 community meetings to provide updates on the progress of the initiative and hear concerns from community members and other stakeholders. DEC is planning in-person community meetings in each of the 10 communities to review the data and story maps, share findings with the public, and provide an opportunity for questions and answers.

 

DEC will hold a Community Air Monitoring Results webinar on Thursday, Aug. 15, at 3 p.m. to discuss the Community Story Maps and answer questions. To register, visit DEC’s Community Air Monitoring Initiative webpage. In addition, DEC’s Division of Air Resources staff will hold virtual office hours to answer questions about the Community Story Maps. For additional information, visit DEC’s Community Air Monitoring Initiative webpage.

 

Meetings currently scheduled include:

• Sept. 12, 5 p.m. – Bausch and Lomb Public Library Building, 115 South Ave., Rochester
• Sept. 19, 6 p.m. – Albany Housing Authority, 200 S. Pearl St., Albany
• Sept. 23, 6:30 p.m. – Manhattan Sixth Street Community Center, 1^st floor event space, 638 East 6^th St., New York
• Sept. 24, 3 p.m. -- Borough President Donovan Richards’ Office, Queens Borough Hall Room 200, 120-55 Queens Blvd., Queens
• Sept. 25, 6 p.m. -- Doles Recreation Center, 250 S 6th Ave., Mount Vernon
• Sept. 26, 6 p.m. -- Bronx Borough Hall, Veterans Memorial Hall, 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx
• Oct. 15, 5:30 p.m. -- Buffalo Museum of Science, 1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo

Additional meetings in the remaining communities will be announced soon. Information about each meeting and how to register can be found on DEC’s website.

New Anti-Idling Enforcement

To complement the release of the study findings, DEC is launching a new anti-idling enforcement blitz in communities significantly impacted by emissions from noncompliant trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles. State law prohibits most heavy-duty vehicles from idling for more than five minutes at a time to protect air quality, reduce noise, and improve fuel economy. The idling regulation is enforced by DEC Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) and fines can range from $500 to $18,000 in the case of a first violation. Using the initiative’s data, ECOs will patrol neighborhoods known to have large concentrations of idling vehicles to help prevent harmful health and environmental impacts.

 

To further accelerate the improvement of air quality in communities statewide, Governor Kathy Hochul yesterday announced an additional $200 million is available from the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 to fund zero-emission school buses and associated infrastructure through the New York School Bus Incentive Program administered by NYSERDA. The funding is on top of $100 million announced by the Governor in November 2023 and will help make clean buses and the associated charging infrastructure more affordable for school districts and bus operators.

 

New York State's climate agenda calls for an orderly and just transition that creates family-sustaining jobs, continues to foster a green economy across all sectors, and ensures that at least 35 percent, with a goal of 40 percent, of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities. The Community Air Monitoring Initiative bolsters the ways all New Yorkers will benefit from emission-reduction strategies under the Climate Act and supports New York’s requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels. Improving air quality and realizing clean energy and efficiency benefits in disadvantaged communities is an important aspect of the Climate Act to help communities that are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and air pollution. Both the Climate Act and the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 ensure that at least 35 percent, with a goal of 40 percent, of the benefits of clean energy and Bond Act investments are directed to disadvantaged communities. Through the Bond Act and the New York Cap-and-Invest Program currently under development, the State will continue to invest in programs and initiatives to improve air quality and climate resilience.