ALBANY - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will be holding public hearings on proposed amendments and revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP).

DEC proposes to amend Part 248, Use of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel and Best Available Retrofit Technology for Heavy Duty Vehicles.  These amendments will continue to implement the Diesel Emission Reduction Act of 2006 (DERA) and conform Part 248 to the recent ECL Section 19-0323 changes.  The amended regulation will continue to generally mitigate a potential threat to the health and wellbeing of New Yorkers posed by diesel exhaust emissions by providing emissions reductions.

DEC also proposes to amend Part 219, Incinerators, to adopt a new Subpart 219-9, which would apply statewide to existing sewage sludge incineration (SSI) units constructed on or before October 14, 2010.  Part 219 will also be amended to include new regulatory limits for nine air pollutants, an opacity limit, requirements for performance testing, operator training, recordkeeping and reporting and compliance monitoring. DEC is undertaking this rulemaking to comply with federal requirements pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA) and federal SSI guidelines.  Part 200, general provisions, will also be amended to incorporate the federal requirements.

DEC is also proposing an infrastructure assessment as a SIP revision for the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for lead, as required under the CAA.  Pursuant to the CAA, states are required to submit infrastructure demonstrations to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), showing that their air programs address basic SIP requirements related to the attainment of a new or revised NAAQS. 

The hearings for the proposed amendments and SIP revisions will be held as follows:

• Date:  Tuesday, January 17,  Time:  2:00 p.m.
  Location: NYSDEC Annex, Region 2, 11-15 47th Ave., Hearing Room 106, Long Island City,
• Date:  Wednesday, January 18, Time:  2:00 p.m.
  Location:  NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Public Assembly Room 129A, Albany
• Date:  Thursday, January 19, Time:  2:00 p.m.
  Location: NYSDEC Region 8 Office Conference Room, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road       (Rts. 5 and 20), Avon

The proposed regulations, SIP revisions and associated supporting information may be obtained from the DEC Web site at www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/26402.html or from any of the following DEC offices: