You are here:
Region 2 Port-area Investigation of Emissions Reduction (R2PIER)
Citation:
Hagler, G. Region 2 Port-area Investigation of Emissions Reduction (R2PIER). US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
This is a project communication fyler for the R2 PIER study.
Description:
Background Region 2 is home to the Port of New York and New Jersey (Port), the largest marine port on the East Coast and third largest in the nation. The Port is a concentrated source of diesel pollution, as more than 3 million containers move each year on diesel-powered ships, trucks, locomotives and cargo handling equipment. As a result, thousands of tons of criteria pollutants and hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases are emitted into the air. Port adjacent communities in Newark, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Staten Island and Brooklyn may bear a disproportionate burden in terms of exposure to poor air quality. These communities contain large populations of low income and minority residents, raising environmental justice concerns. As such, there is a need to address the environmental impacts of the port – and verify that the initiatives underway are achieving their intended result. Region 2 collaborated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) and other partners to develop a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy (Strategy), the first of its kind on the East Coast, with the goal of reducing absolute emissions by 3 – 5 percent annually despite projected growth. The Strategy identified dozens of measures across the range of port-related sources. EPA is providing over $12 million in funding through clean diesel grants to implement some of them. In March 2010, Region 2’s Administrator signed a Statement of Intent with principles from the Port Authority and state and local agencies committing to move forward with the Strategy. Addressing the impacts of the Port is a high priority for the Region. Verifying the results of the emissions reduction programs is important and has been stressed repeatedly by community and environmental groups in stakeholder meetings. Research Measuring local scale air quality impacts and associating trends with nearby sources is an emerging field of research. In port areas, emissions can be spread over large geographic areas and other major nearby transportation sources – such as highways, rail yards, or an airport – can make it difficult to isolate local air quality impact from one source versus another. In R2PIER, EPA researchers from the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Region 2 are employing a unique hybrid measurement and modeling strategy to investigate local air quality in close proximity to the Port. High time-resolution sampling (1-5 minutes) of several gaseous and particulate species will be conducted to observe the temporal variation of air pollution and identify wind directional trends. These air quality measurements, sustained over a time horizon of approximately 2 years, will be input into new inverse modeling tools (e.g., nonparametric trajectory analysis) to assess for changes in source area contributions over time. Contact for More Information Region 2: Dan Birkett, birkett.daniel@epa.gov ORD: Gayle Hagler, hagler.gayle@epa.gov