§ 19-0321 — Permits to construct and operate certain municipally sponsored major facilities

§ 19-0321. Permits to construct and operate certain municipally\n sponsored major facilities.\n 1. For the purposes of this section only:\n a. "Major facility" means an air contamination source which directly\nemits, or has the potential to emit, twenty-five tons per year of either\noxides of nitrogen or volatile organic compounds.\n b. "Municipally sponsored facility" means a facility for which a city\nwith a population of one million or more or a political subdivision or\nagency thereof was an applicant or co-applicant as of November\nfifteenth, nineteen hundred ninety-two.\n c. "Emission offset" means an emission reduction credit, as\nestablished by the commissioner, required to be obtained from a severe\nnonattainment area by an air contamination source prior to the issuance\nof a permit to construct, at a ratio of 1.3 tons of reductions for each\nton of new emissions of oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic\ncompounds; provided that the emission offset requirement for oxides of\nnitrogen may be met by oxides of nitrogen or an equivalent number of\ntons of volatile organic compounds.\n 2. The provisions of this section shall apply only to permits to\nconstruct and operate issued on or after November fifteenth, nineteen\nhundred ninety-two for a municipally sponsored major facility located in\na city with a population of more than one million for which the permit\napplication was deemed complete by the department before November\nfifteenth, nineteen hundred ninety-two.\n 3. No permit to construct shall be issued or shall be valid for a new\nor modified major facility until after the applicant has obtained\nemission offsets for such facility. For purposes of this section, in\naddition to any other available emission offsets, emission reductions\nfrom the following sources shall be eligible as emission offsets:\n a. emission reductions that result from the closure or modification of\nany solid waste incineration facilities within such city which were\noperating in nineteen hundred ninety-one; and\n b. emission reductions that result from the cessation of operation,\nremoval or sealing of any refuse burning equipment in such city pursuant\nto any local law which took effect in nineteen hundred ninety-three.\n Provided, that the commissioner shall have authority to establish the\namount of credit attributed to any emission reduction used to create an\nemission offset to satisfy the requirements of this section.\n 4. Prior to the operation of a facility which as been issued a permit\nto which subdivision three of this section applies, such city shall\nconduct a base-line health study on a statistically representative\nsample of residents within the areas most affected by the facility. No\nlater than one hundred eighty days after the commencement of operation\nof such facility, the city shall, in conjunction with the department,\nconduct stack tests of the facility and assess the health risks from\nexpose to such emissions; such stack tests shall be performed in\naccordance with the department's rules and the results of such\nassessment shall be delivered to the department within thirty days after\ncompletion of the health risk assessment report for appropriate action.\nAfter operation of such facility is commenced, such city shall implement\na follow-up health study that monitors on a regular basis the health\nimpacts from such facility with an emphasis on at-risk populations. Such\nstudy and monitoring shall be conducted in consultation with an advisory\ncommittee appointed by the commissioner of health which shall include\nrepresentatives of the parties to the permit proceeding for such\nfacility. Such study and monitoring shall be designed to avoid\nduplication of efforts otherwise required by permit or by law.\n 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision two of this section,\nany action deemed to have a significant impact on the environment\npursuant to article eight of this chapter, if such action involves a\nmunicipally sponsored facility within a three-mile radius of a permitted\nfacility for which emission offsets were required pursuant to this\nsection, shall require an environmental impact statement which shall\ninclude an analysis of the cumulative air impacts of such action in\nconjunction with other actions involving facilities that have been\nconstructed or are planned within such three-mile radius.\n