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EPA Approves NY and NJ Plans to Reduce Smog-Forming Chemicals

Release Date: 05/17/2001
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(#01054) New York, New York -- In an effort to make smoggy summer days a thing of the past, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given final approval to New York and New Jersey’s plans to reduce nitrogen oxide pollution. Nitrogen oxides are a key ingredient of smog, the murky, steamy and unhealthy air that can cause some to reach for their inhalers or take a trip to the hospital. EPA’s approvals of the New York and New Jersey plans are part of an overall strategy to curb the transport of harmful pollutants across state borders. Under the strategy, commonly called the NOx SIP Call, EPA is requiring 19 states in the midwest, south and northeast and the District of Columbia to place further controls on nitrogen oxides, which are primarily emitted by large industrial boilers and power plants. Each of these states and the District must meet a set "budget" that limits nitrogen oxide emissions. The budgets were calculated based on what would be emitted in that state if all of its power plants and boilers were clean. These budgets will generally require large reductions in nitrogen oxide emission in the midwest and south, with more modest reductions in the northeast, where nitrogen oxide pollution is already stringently controlled. The NOx SIP Call will help the entire eastern portion of the country meet federal health-based standards for smog, the most persistent and serious air pollution problem in the northeast. This plan will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions a total of about one million tons per ozone season. For their parts, New York is reducing its seasonal nitrogen oxide emissions by 16,000 tons and New Jersey is reducing its emissions by 9,000 tons. The plans that EPA has approved lay out these reductions and meet the requirements of EPA’s overall plan.   For a copy of the Federal Register notice announcing EPA’s approval of the two states’ programs, go to https://www.epa.gov/region02/air