Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:
The state is proposing a series of new rules to clamp down on pollution from small turbines and stationary engines, as well as commercial products that contribute to the formation of smog.
In a rule published Monday, the state Department of Environmental Protection is hoping to limit emissions from industrial cleaning solvents; film, paper and foil coatings; and materials used in fiberglass boat manufacturing, among other things.
The proposal is designed to curb pollution that leads to the formation of ground-level ozone, or smog, the state’s most ubiquitous air pollutant. In New Jersey last summer, there were 24 days when smog exceeded the national air-quality health standard for ozone.
If adopted, the department said the reductions in pollution could help the state achieve the national standard for smog and maintain the state’s attainment for another pollutant, fine particulate matter. More commonly known as soot, the pollutant causes thousands of premature deaths each year across the nation.
The proposed regulations are highly technical in nature and based largely on guidelines established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for curbing pollution from volatile organic compounds in commercial products and industrial cleaning solvents. The rules also aim to reduce nitrogen oxide pollution from single-cycle turbines and stationary engines, both of which contribute to smog.
In its proposal, the DEP said the new rules will improve public health by reducing air pollution and cutting medical costs. According to the state, the rules could eliminate 40,000 asthma attacks if adopted.
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