Results of NY Community Air Monitoring Released

The DEC has released the results from the first phase of what is called the state’s historic effort to monitor air quality in 10 disadvantaged communities using local data collected through mobile and stationary monitoring.

DEC Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar said the study is a crucial part of the State’s ongoing implementation of its Climate Act. The results showed air quality has improved in many areas statewide and modeled annual pollutant levels along most road segments indicate better air quality for fine particulate matter. However, people living in disadvantaged communities may experience higher pollution levels for multiple pollutants in some areas.

Hyperlocal Data Collection
DEC’s Community Air Monitoring Initiative data collection began in the summer of 2022 with cars fitted with sensors by DEC’s contractor, Aclima, Inc., to measure air pollutants from local sources while driving along neighborhood streets block by block. A total of 10 communities – six more than required by the Climate Act – were selected for monitoring based on local air quality burdens and the disadvantaged communities criteria set by the State’s Climate Justice Working Group.

Monitoring was conducted in the Bronx; Brooklyn; Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Tonawanda; Capital Region; Hempstead/New Cassel/Roosevelt/Uniondale/Westbury; Manhattan; Mount Vernon/Yonkers/New Rochelle; Queens; Rochester; and Syracuse. Sensors tracked climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions including carbon dioxide, methane, and ethane as well as co-pollutants that directly affect health or contribute to the formation of other pollutants including carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, fine particulate matter, and black carbon. DEC worked closely with community residents and local leaders as part of community advisory committees established across the state through the initiative and is using mobile monitoring data, community input, and other information to help identify higher pollutant levels and sources for air pollution reductions. 

“Exposure to pollution is a justice issue,” said Davida Herzl, Aclima’s CEO and Co-Founder. “If you live in a community in proximity to a major source of emissions, whether a stationary source like a facility or freeway corridor with a lot of trucks, you’re going to experience higher levels of pollution that can have lifelong health impacts. This historic data is unlocking action at the speed that communities deserve and need. I hope every state follows this nation-leading example.”

Maps and Data Help Tell Each Community’s Story
DEC created an overview of the initiative and detailed interactive “story maps” of the 10 communities using the monitoring results, including mapping tools to display the mobile monitoring findings, air pollution sources, and locations of sensitive populations like schools and nursing homes. The Community Air Monitoring Initiative website includes links to the story maps, short videos demonstrating how to use the embedded interactive maps, other technical information, and a survey to receive input on community air quality concerns. The mapping tools allow DEC and community members to objectively see patterns in the data, identify areas for further investigation, and target sources for air pollution reduction that can have the greatest impact on local air quality. DEC’s data are presented to help New Yorkers better see the local impacts, particularly where the disadvantaged communities studied have a higher air pollution burden.

Overall Findings
Air quality has improved in many areas statewide and modeled annual pollutant levels along most road segments indicate better air quality for fine particulate matter. However, people living in disadvantaged communities may experience higher pollution levels for multiple pollutants in some areas. To help identify local sources of air pollution, DEC’s analysis tools focus on areas with higher levels in each study area. DEC’s analysis detected higher pollution along and near roads with higher traffic volumes and greater diesel truck and bus traffic and in busy commercial retail centers and areas with construction, rail yards, waste management, and manufacturing and industrial facilities. These findings validated some community air quality concerns expressed during the public presentations for the initiative. Higher levels of pollution were sometimes measured near sensitive locations like schools, childcare and health care facilities, and nursing homes.Typically, these locations were near busy highways and roads and some areas with multiple commercial and industrial sources. Higher levels of methane were measured near landfills and wastewater treatment facilities.

Ongoing Community Engagement
To support this effort and engage directly with affected communities, DEC held 50 community meetings to provide updates on the progress of the initiative and hear concerns from community members and other stakeholders. DEC is planning in-person community meetings in each of the 10 communities to review the data and story maps, share findings with the public, and provide an opportunity for questions and answers.

DEC will hold a Community Air Monitoring Results webinar on Thursday, Aug. 15, at 3 p.m. to discuss the Community Story Maps and answer questions. To register, visit DEC’s Community Air Monitoring Initiative webpage. In addition, DEC’s Division of Air Resources staff will hold virtual office hours to answer questions about the Community Story Maps. For additional information, visit DEC’s Community Air Monitoring Initiative webpage.

Meetings currently scheduled include:

• Sept. 12, 5 p.m. – Bausch and Lomb Public Library Building, 115 South Ave., Rochester

• Sept. 19, 6 p.m. – Albany Housing Authority, 200 S. Pearl St., Albany

• Sept. 23, 6:30 p.m. – Manhattan Sixth Street Community Center, 1^st floor event space, 638 East 6^th St., New York

• Sept. 24, 3 p.m. — Borough President Donovan Richards’ Office, Queens Borough Hall Room 200, 120-55 Queens Blvd., Queens

• Sept. 25, 6 p.m. — Doles Recreation Center, 250 S 6th Ave., Mount Vernon

• Sept. 26, 6 p.m. — Bronx Borough Hall, Veterans Memorial Hall, 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx

• Oct. 15, 5:30 p.m. — Buffalo Museum of Science, 1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo