H997 — An Act improving air quality in airport environmental justice communities

Summary

An Act improving air quality in airport environmental justice communities

Bill Text

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This bill adds new sections requiring the Authority to manage air quality and noise levels in East Boston, conduct environmental assessments related to Logan Airport, and report on compliance, while also amending the air pollution control program for the metropolitan area.

• Chapter 465 of the Acts of 1956

  Section 37. (a) Not less than every five years, the department of environmental protection shall require the Authority to promulgate standards and measurements related to air quality and noise levels in the East Boston section of the city of Boston, hereinafter referred to as East Boston. The Department shall review the standards and measurements promulgated by the Authority, and may require the Authority to update said standards and measurements should the Department deem them to be insufficient or inaccurate. (b) The department of environmental protection shall conduct air monitoring in no less than 3 locations in East Boston. Such air monitoring shall include, but not be limited to, the standards of the department’s annual Air Monitoring Network plan, which it prepares in accordance with Title 40 CFR Part 58.10. The costs of air monitoring in East Boston shall be borne by the Authority. (c) The Authority shall post air quality and noise level measurements, including, but not limited to, those from department of environmental protection air quality monitors located in East Boston, on a publicly accessible internet website as reasonably frequent as possible. The Authority shall utilize said data in all reporting on the environmental impacts of operations at Logan Airport, including, but not limited to, the report required in section 38.

  This section mandates the Authority to create and maintain air quality and noise standards in East Boston and conduct monitoring at specified locations.

• Chapter 465 of the Acts of 1956

  Section 38. (a) Not less than every five years, the Authority shall prepare and publish a report outlining its strategies and practices for the management of air quality and noise levels in East Boston. The report shall include, but shall not be limited to: (i) an assessment of current and projected future air quality and noise levels in the East Boston section of the city of Boston, hereinafter referred to as East Boston, that includes but is not limited to air quality data obtained by the department and the Massachusetts Port Authority Community Advisory Committee under Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2013; (ii) the environmental impact of the General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, hereinafter referred to as Logan Airport, on East Boston, particularly in regards to air quality and noise levels; and (iii) strategies for the management of air quality and noise levels in East Boston, including objectives for the restriction of the levels at which particular substances are present in the air and objectives for restrictions of noise levels.

  This section requires the Authority to publish a report every five years on air quality and noise management strategies in East Boston.

• Chapter 465 of the Acts of 1956

  Section 41. The Authority, in coordination with the bureau of environmental health of the department of public health, shall regularly conduct an environmental risk assessment of the health impacts of the General Lawrence Logan Airport in the East Boston section of the city of Boston and the town of Winthrop. Such assessment shall include, but not be limited to: (1) air quality monitoring, including, but not limited to, utilizing data from air quality monitoring stations operated by the department of environmental protection in the East Boston section of the city of Boston, and the total particle number concentration of both indoor and outdoor spaces; (2) air quality modeling, utilizing data from said air quality monitoring to construct high spatial resolution pollution concentration estimates for the East Boston section of the city of Boston; (3) time activity exposure analysis, utilizing data from said air quality monitoring with a time activity analysis to calculate integrated participant exposure to each pollutant; and (4) health association surveys, to associate pollutant exposure with classes of health outcomes, including, but not limited to: cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, respiratory diseases and cancers.

  This section mandates regular environmental risk assessments related to health impacts from Logan Airport operations in East Boston.

• chapter 111 of the General Laws

  The department shall maintain and operate such air sampling stations and devices; make or perform such routine and special examinations, inspections, observations, determinations, laboratory analyses, and surveys; maintain such records; and perform such other acts as it deems necessary to conduct an adequate air pollution control program within the metropolitan air pollution control district. → The department shall maintain and operate such air sampling stations and devices; make or perform such routine and special examinations, inspections, observations, determinations, laboratory analyses, and surveys; maintain such records; and perform such other acts as it deems necessary to conduct an adequate air pollution control program within the metropolitan air pollution control district. The department shall, in its annual Air Monitoring Network plan, which it prepares in accordance with Title 40 CFR Part 58.10, at each location where the department monitors for particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller in diameter, monitor and report for ultrafine particulate matter less than 100 nanometers in diameter, in addition to its other monitoring at those locations.

  This amendment requires the department to monitor and report on ultrafine particulate matter in addition to existing air quality measurements.

Sponsors

• Adrian C. Madaro · Primary

Subjects