Chapter
190
2007 -- H 6208 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/02/07
A N A C T
RELATING TO
AERONAUTICS - AIR QUALITY MONITORING ACT
Introduced By: Representatives Naughton, McNamara, Ginaitt, Gemma, and Lewiss
Date Introduced: March 28, 2007
It is
enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Section 1-7-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 1-7 entitled "The
Permanent
Air
Quality Monitoring Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:
1-7-1.
Permanent air quality monitors. – Long-term
air quality monitoring
program.
-- (a) The Rhode Island Airport
Corporation (RIAC) is authorized and directed to shall
design, acquire, and install, operate and
maintain a permanent long-term air quality monitoring
system program in the vicinity of T.F. Green Airport.
The corporation may hire a consultant to
perform
these tasks.
(b) The permanent air quality monitors will be capable of monitoring all of
the
following:
(1) Criteria air pollutants: particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
oxides, carbon
monoxide;
(2) Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including, but not limited to: benzene,
1-3-
butadien,
and carbonyls such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.
(3) Semivolatile organics like polycyclic organic matter, and toxic particulate
species,
diesel
particulate.
(c) Permanent air quality monitors will be used to augment and update air
quality
monitoring
data collected by the department of environmental management.
(d) The Rhode Island economic development corporation will fund an independent
air
toxins
study in accord with the department of environmental management and the Rhode
Island
department
of health to determine whether air pollution from the airport affects the
health of area
residents.
The report will use actual upwind-downwind monitoring at the airport to
evaluate
potential
public health implications of emissions.
(e) Air quality monitors will be procured and in effect by January 1, 2007.
(b) The monitoring program shall provide for the monitoring of all of the
following:
(1) Particulate matter, including PM 2.5, particles less than 0.1 microns,
and black
carbon;
and
(2)
Volatile organic compounds (VOC's), including, but not limited to: benzene, 1,
3
butadiene,
and naphthalene; and carbonyls including, but not limited to, formaldehyde and
acetaldehyde;
and
(3)
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including those that are particulate bound
and
semivolatiles.
(c)(1)
The design of the monitoring program shall:
(i)
include an implementation schedule for the components of the monitoring program
set
forth
in subsection (b); and
(ii)
assure the quality and meaningfulness of the monitoring data; and
(iii)
be set forth in a draft work plan developed, in consultation with the
department of
environmental
management and the department of health.
(2)
The consultation with the department of environmental management and the
department
of health shall include, but not limited to:
(i)
ensuring that peer review is employed in the development of an air quality
monitoring
strategy;
(ii)
providing the corporation with unbiased reviews of current, validated
scientific
knowledge
relevant to air quality monitoring and public health impacts;
(iii)
assisting with the review of work plans and reports;
(iv)
evaluating and comparing the corporation's proposed methodologies, quality
assurance
procedures and monitoring criteria, with other relevant monitoring efforts
mandated by
either
state or federal law in order to ensure consistency and comparability among the
methodologies
and criteria.
(d)
The draft work plan and the final work plan shall describe and justify with
reasonable
specificity
all significant aspects of the monitoring program, including, but not limited
to, quality
assurance
procedures and a description and justification of the number, type, and
location of the
ambient
air quality monitors to be installed as part of the long-term monitoring
program, provided
that
there shall be at a minimum, one monitor placed at each of the following
locations: North,
South,
East and West of the airport.
(e)
Notwithstanding the consultation requirement, the draft work plan shall be
submitted
to
the department of environmental management and the department of health within
the thirty
(30)
days of the effective date of this section for review and comment, pursuant to
chapter 35 of
title
42 of the general laws. The departments shall provide comments within thirty
(30) days of
receipt
of the draft work plan. Following the departments' review and comment period,
the draft
work
plan shall be made available for review and comment by members of the general
public,
and
the air quality monitoring public advisory committee, established by this
chapter, pursuant to
chapter
35 of title 42 of the general laws. Adoption of the final work plan by the
corporation shall
be in
accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 of the general laws. The final work plan
shall be
submitted
to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives and the president
of the
senate
by the corporation no later than October 30, 2007.
(f)
The final work plan and all revised final work plans shall include a reasonable
evaluation
of funding sources, such as federal grants, that may be available to the
corporation to
cover
some or all of the costs of the air quality monitoring.
(g)
Amendments to the final work plan may be proposed by the corporation in
consultation
with the department of environmental management and the department of health on
or
before March 30, 2009 and every March 30, thereafter. Amendments to the final
work plan
may also
be proposed by the department of environmental management, the department of
health
and/or
the air quality monitoring public advisory committee on or before January 31,
2009 and
every
January 31, thereafter. Any proposed amendments to the final work plan shall be
available
for
review and comment by members of the general public, and the air quality
monitoring public
advisory
committee established by this chapter, pursuant to chapter 35 of title 42 of
the general
laws.
The purposes of proposed amendments to the final work plan are: (1) to allow
the
corporation,
in consultation with the department of environmental management and the
department
of health to consider any adaptations that may be indicated by the data collected
from
the
pervious year, including whether new monitoring technologies, methodologies, or
criteria are
necessary;
and (2) to make necessary adjustments to the program based on changes to state
and/or
federal
regulations. Any proposed amendments to the final work plan shall be
incorporated into a
"revised
[as of this date] final work plan" document, upon approval of the
corporation, and shall
be
submitted to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
president of the
senate
by the corporation no later than January 1 of each year.
(h)
Long-term air quality monitors will be procured and in effect by December 30,
2007.
Interim
monitoring shall be performed until such time as the long-term monitoring
program is in
place,
and the use of all data generated therefrom shall conform with the reporting
requirements
set
forth in section 1-7-6(b).
SECTION
2. Chapter 1-7 of the General Laws entitled "The Permanent Air Quality
Monitoring
Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following sections:
1-7-2.
Legislative findings. -- The general assembly hereby finds and
declares as
follows:
(a)
T.F. Green Airport is located in a densely populated, primarily residential
area of the
city
of Warwick.
(b)
Many of the airport operations and activities result in emissions of a number
of air
pollutants,
which may be harmful to public health.
(c)
Emissions of concern include, but are not limited to, those associated with
"take-off"
and
"landing" activities of aircraft and emissions associated with the
use of diesel engine ground
support
equipment.
(d)
A long-term air quality monitoring program is necessary to collect the data
needed to
evaluate
the impact of the airport emissions on air quality and public health.
1-7-3.
Definitions. -- The following words and phrases, for the purposes of
this chapter,
have
the following meanings:
(1)
"Corporation" means the Rhode Island Airport Corporation as
established in section
1-2-1.1.
(2)
"Monitoring program" means the long-term air quality monitoring
program as
established
by this chapter.
1-7-4.
Air quality monitoring public advisory committee. -- An "air
quality monitoring
public
advisory committee" shall be established to advise the corporation on the
development and
implementation
of the long-term air quality monitoring program, and the preparation of annual
work
plans. The public advisory committee shall be made up of at least nine (9)
public members
appointed
by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. In making those
appointments
the governor shall give due consideration to include representatives from
environmental
advocacy organizations, health advocacy organizations, economic advocacy
organizations,
neighborhood organizations, academic institutions and the city of Warwick.
Members
of the public advisory committee shall serve for terms of two (2) years. The
governor
shall
convene the public advisory committee with sufficient time to enable it to
perform its
responsibilities
under this chapter. The members of the public advisory committee shall receive
no
compensation for their services to the committee. The public advisory committee
shall elect
annually
from among their members a chair, a vice chair, and any to other officers it
deems
appropriate.
1-7-5.
Health study. -- (a) The corporation shall provide the department of
health with
funding
in an amount not to exceed two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000), half to be
paid in
fiscal
year 2008 and the other half to be paid in fiscal year 2009, which funds the
department of
health
will use for an independent health study developed in consultation with the
department of
environmental
management, and the air quality monitoring public advisory committee. The
purpose
of the study will be to determine whether and to what extent air pollution
generated by
airport
activities affects the health of area residents based, to the extent feasible,
on established
health
benchmarks.
(b)
The study shall use the data collected from the first year of long-term air
quality
monitoring
at the airport described in the previous sections to evaluate potential public
health
implications
of emissions based, to the extent feasible, on established health benchmarks,
and
shall
be completed and submitted to the governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives and
the
president of the senate no later than May 30, 2009.
1-7-6.
Reporting. -- (a) The corporation shall provide the department of
environmental
management
with an inventory of greenhouse gas pollutants, including, but not limited to,
carbon
dioxide
and methane, and an annual inventory of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and
carbon
monoxide.
The inventories of data generated in the prior calendar year shall be reported
to the
department
of environmental management on or before March 30, 2009 and every March 30,
thereafter.
(b)
Data generated from the permanent air quality monitors shall be reported to the
department
of environmental management, and the department of health on at least a
quarterly
basis
and shall be used by the departments to continuously augment and update air
quality
monitoring
studies conducted by the departments.
1-7-7.
Regulation and enforcement. -- Powers of the department of health
and the
department
of environmental management –
(a) Nothing contained in this chapter shall
diminish
or abrogate the powers granted to the department of environmental management
and
the department
of health pursuant to chapters 23 and 1 of title 23 as amended, respectively.
(b)
Any facilities under the jurisdiction of the corporation shall be subject, as
otherwise
provided
in law, to the regulatory and enforcement requirements of the department of
environmental
management.
1-7-8.
Violations. -- Violations – Sanctions – Injunctive relief. –
(a)(1)
Willful noncompliance of this chapter that impairs the monitoring program
herein
established
shall be considered a violation of a program requirement as described in
section 23-
23-14.
(2)
The attorney general of the state shall have the power to bring an action in
the name
of
the state, in any court of competent jurisdiction for restraining orders and
injunctive relief to
restrain
and enjoin willful noncompliance of this chapter, or for specific performance
of the
obligations
of the corporation under this chapter.
(3)
Such willful noncompliance shall be punishable by a penalty as provided for in
subsection
23-23-14(a).
(b)
Proceedings under this chapter shall be instituted and prosecuted by the
attorney
general.
The superior court shall have the jurisdiction in equity to enforce the provisions
of this
chapter
and any rules or regulations of the corporation under the provisions of this
chapter.
1-7-9.
Sunset provisions. -- On or before January 31, 2015, the department
of
environmental
management, the department of health and the attorney general shall submit to
the
governor,
the speaker of the house and the president of the senate, recommendations as to
the
continuation
of the air monitoring required in this act and unless extended by the general
assembly
the corporation's obligation to operate and maintain the air monitoring system
will
cease
on July 31, 2015.
SECTION
3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
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LC02684/SUB A/4
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