For Release: Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Commissioner Crotty: DEC Adopts Emergency Rules For Acid Rain
Action Will Ensure Timely Reductions of Harmful Pollutants
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty today announced that DEC has adopted emergency regulations to ensure that emission reductions contained in the Acid Deposition Reduction Program (ADRP) proposed by Governor George E. Pataki are implemented without delay.
"New York State is fully committed to achieving the objectives of Governor Pataki's Acid Rain Initiative which will result in a significant decrease of harmful acid rain pollutants," Commissioner Crotty said. "Any delay in implementing these critical regulations will result in more than 40,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide being pumped into New York's air. These regulations are critical in order to further protect public health and New York's precious natural resources."
On May 26, 2004, the Albany County Supreme Court invalidated the State's ADRP regulations. While the Court took issue with the regulations based on technicalities, it upheld DEC's authority to promulgate the regulations and rejected the majority of the petitioners' arguments. In addition to implementing the emergency regulations, DEC is appealing the Court's decision and is simultaneously moving forward with a regular rulemaking.
The ADRP requires certain electric generators in the State to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) to protect sensitive areas, including the Adirondack and Catskill mountains, from the devastation of acid rain. Specifically, the generators are required to reduce SO2 emissions to 50 percent below Phase 2 levels of the federal acid rain program. The SO2 reductions are phased in beginning January 1, 2005 through January 1, 2008. In addition, current ozone season reductions in NOx emissions are extended year-round beginning October 1, 2004.
DEC estimates that the ADRP's first control periods (October 1, 2004 for NOx and January 1, 2005 for SO2) will prevent the emission of 35,000 tons of SO2 and 6,000 tons of NOx throughout the next year. The NOx emission reductions are equivalent to removing 300,000 cars from New York roads, and the SO2 emission reductions are slightly greater than all of the SO2 emitted from New York's 2.3 million households heated with oil. When fully implemented in 2008, DEC estimates SO2 emissions will decrease by more than 100,000 tons annually.
DEC's emergency regulation is warranted since any delay in implementation of the ADRP would have negative impacts on public health, the environment, and New York's general welfare. Failure to obtain the reductions from the first control periods will have negative impacts on public health from the secondary formation of fine particulate matter, and will result in the continued degradation of the State's water bodies as a result of acid rain, mercury, nitrates and sulfate deposition. The emissions will also continue to negatively impact regional haze, high elevation forests, and New York's coastal waters and estuaries.
"Governor Pataki's proposal to cut harmful air pollutants will provide New Yorkers with a safer, healthier environment,"said State Health Commissioner Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. P.H. "Improved air quality will help protect and enhance the health of all our residents, especially young children, the elderly and those individuals with respiratory and heart conditions who may be more sensitive to fine particulates."
Environmental Defense General Counsel James T.B. Tripp said, "Sulfur and nitrogen acid deposition continues to be a scourge of Adirondack, as well as Catskill, forests and water quality even with the progress in emission reductions reflected in the federal program. The new State regulations represent an important advance in further reductions in State utility sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions that are crucial for forest ecosystem integrity and public health. We applaud Governor Pataki's leadership and the State's willingness to move ahead expeditiously with this emergency rule and an appeal of the lower court's decision."
Audubon New York Executive Director David J. Miller said, "New York State is a leader in fighting the battle against acid rain and once again has stepped up to the plate to protect birds, wildlife, and their habitats from the insidious impacts of acid rain. Acid rain impacts all New Yorkers, from our urban areas to the mountains of the Adirondacks, and the actions today by the Pataki administration will ensure we continue to move forward in reducing these pollution sources."
Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian Houseal said, "These emergency regulations reflect the determination by Commissioner Crotty and Governor Pataki to do all they can to stop acid rain. The Adirondack Council strongly supports this effort. The State of New York is sending a powerful message to the polluters - we will prevail."
Adirondack Mountain Club Executive Director and New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Counsel Neil F. Woodworth said, "Time is of the essence. Each day that goes by without strong regulations to reduce acid rain-causing sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides means more damage to the lakes, trees and soils of the Adirondacks, Catskills and Hudson Highlands. We applaud this swift and prompt action by Governor Pataki and DEC Commissioner Crotty in adopting emergency regulations to ensure that the emission reductions contained in the Acid Deposition Reduction Program are swiftly implemented."
Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Attorney Katherine Kennedy said, "We're pleased that Commissioner Crotty is moving forward quickly to reissue the air pollution reduction requirements of the ADRP acid rain program that are crucial to protecting the environment and public health in New York. We look forward to continuing to work with DEC to further reduce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and other air pollution emissions from New York's coal burning power plants."
Acid rain forms in clouds when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides chemically react with water, oxygen and oxidants to form a mild solution of sulfuric acid, known as wet deposition. Acidic deposition, or acid rain, occurs when either wet deposition or dry deposition (gases and particles) falls to the earth.
Acidic deposition causes lower pH levels in lakes, ponds and streams, and also impacts air quality and soil. When water bodies become very acidic, they are often unable to sustain plant and/or aquatic life, and this damage may also affect the surrounding ecosystem in the area. Many water bodies in the Northeast are especially sensitive to the effects of acid rain since their surrounding soils do not have strong buffering capacity, or the ability to neutralize acid rain. In addition, acid rain also damages high-elevation soils and forests, like red spruce trees above 2,000 feet, and is a contributing factor to visibility degradation.
New York's Adirondacks, Catskill Mountains, the Rensselaer Plateau, the Hudson Highlands and parts of Long Island Sound suffer from the impacts of acid rain. New York's six million-acre Adirondack Park, the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River, is one of the areas in the country most severely affected by acid rain. Approximately 26 percent of Adirondack lakes surveyed have completely lost their ability to neutralize acid and more than 70 percent of the sensitive lakes are at risk of episodic acidification. Based on the best available computer model projections, and assuming full implementation of the federal acid rain program, the number of acidic waters in the Adirondacks is predicted to increase rather than decrease.
Fine particulate matter consists of tiny solid particles or liquid droplets in the air that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter (PM2.5). SO2 and NOx react in the atmosphere to create sulfates and nitrates, a secondary form of PM, including PM2.5. Exposure to elevated levels of fine particulate matter can adversely impact medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease. People with heart or breathing problems, children and the elderly may be particularly sensitive to PM2.5. More than 12.4 million New Yorkers, 65 percent of the entire population, reside within counties that EPA proposes to designate as out of compliance with the national health-based standard for PM2.5. Implementation of the ADRP will have immediate positive impacts on public health due to the reduction in the formation of PM2.5.
In addition, by requiring new pollution controls on power plants, the ADRP is expected to reduce mercury emissions, further protecting New York's residents and critical water resources. Mercury emissions from coal power plants in New York represent 33 percent of emissions from stationary sources. When mercury is released into the air, it is transported and eventually deposited back onto the earth. In aquatic ecosystems, inorganic mercury is transformed into methylmercury, an extremely toxic organic form of mercury. Methylmercury bioaccumulates in the food chain as humans and other mammals consume mercury tainted organisms, particularly fish. DEC has identified 23 waterbodies as impaired by mercury from acid deposition. In addition, the Department of Health has issued fish consumption advisories for 51 waterbodies due to mercury levels in fish. Many of the waterbodies sampled are in the Adirondacks and Catskills that do not have any known mercury inputs other than atmospheric deposition.
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