Proposed Revisions to the New Jersey State Implementation Plan for the Enhanced Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) Program for the State of New Jersey

Final National Highway Systems Designation Act (NHSDA) Submittal and Revised Performance Standard Modelling

A public hearing is scheduled on the proposal on June 6, 2001 at 10:00 a.m. at the War Memorial Building, Late Comers Room (Meeting Room #1), Lafayette and Barrack Streets, Trenton, New Jersey. This hearing is being held in accordance with the provisions of Section 110(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §7410; the Air Pollution Control Act (1954), N.J.S.A. 26:2C-1 et seq., and the Administrative Procedure Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14 B-1 et seq. Written comments relevant to the proposal may be submitted until the close of business, June 13, 2001, to Stacey P. Roth, Esq., DEP Docket Number 10-01-04, Office of Legal Affairs, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, P.O. Box 402, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0402, fax number: (609) 984-3488. Comments sent by fax should be followed up with a copy sent by mail.

Background
In accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the State of New Jersey implemented an enhanced inspection and maintenance (I/M) program on December 13, 1999. The implementation of this program was an integral part of New Jersey's plan to attain and maintain compliance with the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and for carbon monoxide (CO). Reducing the emissions of these pollutants and their precursors will help the State in its efforts to improve its air quality and protect the health and welfare of its citizens.

Enhanced I/M SIP Revision
New Jersey is proposing to revise its enhanced I/M SIP to include the following: 1) the State's final submittal for compliance with the National Highway Systems Designation Act (NHSDA), and 2) a revision to New Jersey's performance standard modeling.

The first section of this submittal deals with the State's National Highway Systems Designation Act (NHSDA) submittal. This analysis is designed to support the claim New Jersey made in its March 27, 1996 enhanced I/M SIP revision in accordance with the NHSDA, that its decentralized network (the private inspection facilities, or PIFs) is at least 80 percent as effective as its centralized network (the centralized inspection facilities, or CIFs). This NHSDA report analyzes six months of data from the enhanced program and includes a trigger-type analysis (i.e., an analysis which checks various results throughout the inspection process that might be symptomatic of program-compromising behavior), to lend greater validity the to State's original conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the I/M program. That is, both the centralized test-only and decentralized test-and-repair program networks are effectively identifying vehicles with unacceptably high levels of emissions, and the State-registered Emission Repair Facilities (ERFs) are significantly reducing vehicle emissions through effective repairs. As such, there appear to be uniform emissions reductions attributable to both network types of New Jersey's enhanced I/M program. Therefore, the NHSDA analyses show that the PIFs are clearly 80 percent as effective as the CIFs, and in fact demonstrates that the State was conservative in this estimation.

The second section of this submittal addresses the State's performance standard modeling for its enhanced I/M program. The State originally submitted its performance standard modeling to the USEPA on January 30, 1998, to satisfy a condition of the USEPA's conditional interim approval of New Jersey's enhanced I/M program SIP⁽¹⁾. At that time, the State had not yet implemented its enhanced I/M program, requiring the NJDEP to make certain assumptions about the program parameters, such the expected date for the implementation of final cutpoints. Since the State has now implemented its enhanced I/M program, the USEPA has requested that the State update its performance standard modeling to more accurately reflect the program as it has been implemented. This performance standard modeling demonstrates that for an evaluation date of January 1, 2002, the State exceeds the low enhanced performance standard. However, this modeling does not reflect full enhanced I/M program implementation, as assumed in the State's ozone attainment demonstration.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS:  For additional help in getting access to the DEP's proposals or for information about what they mean, call the NJDEP, Bureau of Air Quality Planning at (609) 292-6722.