Air Quality in the SJTPO Region

Based on the Federal Clean Air Act, first passed in 1963, but overhauled in 1970 and amended in 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) sets health standards to protect the public from the negative consequences of breathing polluted air.  These standards are known as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).   There are currently six criteria pollutants that are regulated by US EPA.  With respect to compliance with the NAAQS, ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) are the pollutants of most concern to the SJTPO region.

Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight.   Because of this, high ozone levels occur most frequently on hot summer afternoons.  Emissions from mobile sources—(i.e., motor vehicle exhaust and gasoline vapors), constitute some of the major sources of NOx and VOC.

The entire SJTPO region is classified as a moderate “non-attainment” area for the 8-hour ozone standard, meaning that the region has not attained the 8-hour ozone NAAQS.  It is part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City Moderate Ozone Non-attainment area and is depicted in the Figure below.

People with lung disease, children, older adults, and people who are active can be affected when ozone levels are unhealthy. Numerous scientific studies have linked ground-level ozone exposure to a variety of problems, including:

• Airway irritation, coughing, and pain when taking a deep breath;
• Wheezing and breathing difficulties during exercise or outdoor activities;
• Aggravation of asthma and increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and bronchitis; and,
• Permanent lung damage with repeated exposures.

A portion of the region, defined as Atlantic City, Atlantic County and Penns Grove, Salem County, is also part of a carbon monoxide (CO) “not classified” maintenance area.  While attainment for the CO standard was achieved in 1995, the State must prove to the US EPA that it can “maintain” the CO standards until 2017 before it can officially be deemed “attainment.”

Link: SJTPO 8-Hour Ozone Non-attainment Area

Transportation/Air Quality Conformity

The Federal Clean Air Act and the transportation planning provisions of Title 23 (Highways) and Title 49 (Transportation) of the United States Code are intended to ensure that integrated transportation and air quality planning occurs in the areas that do not or previously have not met NAAQS.

Transportation conformity is the federally mandated, analytical process, through which Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) demonstrate that the transportation investments, strategies, and programs, included in the Regional Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs) are consistent with air quality goals established in the State Implementation Plans (SIP) for achieving the NAAQS.  Conformity demonstrations show that emissions from planned projects in transportation plans and programs do not exceed the SIP targets, also known as emissions “budgets” for emissions from mobile sources.

The USEPA promulgated the transportation conformity rule (at 40 CFR Part 93) initially in 1993, and established major revisions to the rule in 1997, 2004, 2005, and 2008.

Link: ADOPTED Conformity Determination Document

Global Warming/Climate Change/Greenhouse Gas Efforts

Another significant environmental challenge facing the SJTPO region (as well as the entire planet) is climate change and more specifically, global warming. Recent modeling work predicts that temperatures in the Northeastern United States are likely to rise 2.5 to 4 degrees (Fahrenheit) in the winter and 1 to 3 degrees in the summer over the next several decades. In fact, the summer of 2010 was the warmest on record for the State of New Jersey.  A majority of “actively-publishing” climate scientists believe that rising concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere are contributing to a warming of the planet, as evidenced by increases in global air and ocean temperatures, melting of polar snow and ice, and rising global sea levels.  They believe that elevated GHG concentrations, if not curtailed, will lead to altered weather patterns, including heavier precipitation events, hotter summertime temperatures, elevated summertime ozone levels, and increased drought.  These weather-related impacts, as well as rising sea levels, may severely impact the region’s transportation infrastructure during storm events and inundate low-lying populations within the region.

The world's heavy reliance on and rapid consumption of fossil-based fuels, especially for transportation-related activities, is the largest contributor to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations.  In recent years, transportation has been the fastest growing source of GHG emissions in New Jersey. Moreover, this dependence on fossil-based fuels in the transportation system has raised concern among scientists, policy-makers, and citizens that this energy supply is unsustainable.  There is a need to start planning now to address these issues so that the region is best prepared for potential and likely consequences.

This is a burgeoning area for the SJTPO.  Recently, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJ DOT) received a $150,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to conduct a pilot project to build a Conceptual Model for conducting Climate Change Vulnerability and Risk Assessments of Transportation Infrastructure.  The SJTPO is part of the Oversight Committee, (along with the State’s two other MPOs) that will help develop the work plan, as well as oversee consultant efforts.

The SJTPO is also an active participant in the Climate Change Working Group, an effort being spearheaded by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, (NJTPA).  The NJTPA Climate Change Working Group is a forum for concerned stakeholders to identify, support, and coordinate efforts in North Jersey to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to prepare the transportation system for the impacts of climate change on the environment. 

For more information, see:  http://www.njtpa.org/Plan/Element/Climate/default.aspx

For additional information on what the State of New Jersey is doing to combat global warming and climate change, see:  http://www.state.nj.us/globalwarming/index.shtml.

For more information, see:  http://www.epa.gov/air/ozonepollution/health.html.