N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 19-0107: Definitions

§ 19-0107. Definitions.

When used in this article:

1. "Person" means any individual, public or private corporation,

political subdivision, agency, board, department or bureau of the state,

municipality, partnership, association, firm, trust, estate or any other

legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject of

rights and duties.

2. "Air contaminant" means a dust, fume, gas, mist, odor, smoke,

vapor, pollen, noise or any combination thereof.

3. "Air pollution" means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one

or more air contaminants in quantities, of characteristics and of a

duration which are injurious to human, plant or animal life or to

property or which unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment

of life and property throughout the state or throughout such areas of

the state as shall be affected thereby; excluding however all conditions

subject to the requirements of the Labor Law and Industrial Code.

4. "Air contamination" means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of

one or more air contaminants which contribute or which are likely to

contribute to a condition of air pollution.

5. "Air contamination source" means any source at, from or by reason

of which there is emitted into the atmosphere any air contaminant,

regardless of who the person may be who owns or operates the building,

premises or other property in, at or on which such source is located or

the facility, equipment or other property by which the emission is

caused or from which the emission comes. Without limiting the generality

of the foregoing, this term includes all types of commercial and

industrial plants and works, heating and power plants and stations,

shops and stores; buildings and other structures of all types, including

single and multiple family residences, apartment houses, office

buildings, public buildings, hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals,

churches, and other institutional buildings; automobiles, trucks,

tractors, buses and other motor vehicles (hereinafter called "motor

vehicles"); garages; vending and service locations and stations;

railroad locomotives; ships, boats and other waterborne craft; aircraft;

portable fuel-burning equipment; incinerators of all types, indoor and

outdoor; and refuse dumps and piles.

6. "Air cleaning installation" means any method, process or equipment

which removes, reduces or renders less noxious air contaminants

discharged into the atmosphere.

7. "Area of the state" means any county, city, town, village, or other

geographical area of the state as may be designated by the department.

8. "The Act" means the Federal Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 7401

et seq., as amended by Public Law 101-549, November fifteenth, nineteen

hundred ninety.

9. "Administrator" means the administrator of the United States

environmental protection agency.

10. "Affected source" or "affected unit" shall have the meaning given

to it in the regulations promulgated under Title IV of the Act.

11. "Clean alternative fuels" means fuels, for use in motor vehicles

which meet the requirements of section 7511a(c)(4) of the Act.

12. "Clean fuel vehicle" means a vehicle in a class or category of

vehicles which has been certified to meet, for any model year, the clean

fuel vehicle standards for clean fuel vehicles specified in this article

pursuant to section 7583 of the Act.

13. "Covered fleet" means ten or more motor vehicles which are owned

or operated by a single person in an area designated as being a severe

ozone non-attainment area by the administrator pursuant to Title I of

the Act. In determining the number of motor vehicles owned or operated

by a single person for the purposes of this article, all motor vehicles

owned or operated, leased or otherwise controlled by such person, by any

person who controls such person, by any person controlled by such

person, and by any person under common control with such person shall be

treated as owned by such person. The term "covered fleet" shall not

include motor vehicles held for lease or rental to the general public,

motor vehicles held for sale by motor vehicle dealers including

demonstration vehicles, motor vehicles used for motor vehicle

manufacturer product evaluations or tests, law enforcement and other

emergency vehicles, or non-road vehicles including farm and construction

vehicles.

14. "Covered fleet vehicle" means only a motor vehicle which is (i) in

a covered fleet which is centrally fueled or is capable of being

centrally fueled and (ii) in a vehicle class for which standards are

applicable under this article.

15. "Emission offset" or "offset" means emission reductions or

emission reduction credits which are required to be obtained by an air

contamination source in order to obtain approval for a permit to

construct a new air contamination source, or modify an existing air

contamination source, in a non-attainment area pursuant to Title I of

the Act.

16. "Emission reduction" or "emission reduction credit" means the

actual decrease in emissions of a regulated air contaminant in tons per

year. Emission reductions may be created by, but not limited to,

product, process, pollution control or housekeeping changes that:

a. reduce emissions beyond that which is required by the Act;

b. are real and actually occur;

c. are quantifiable;

d. are enforceable by the commissioner or the administrator; and

e. are assured for the life of a corresponding increase.

17. "Fugitive emissions" means those emissions of regulated air

contaminants which could not reasonably pass through a stack, chimney,

vent or other functionally-equivalent openings.

18. "Operating permit" means a permit issued pursuant to section

19-0311 of this article.

19. "Major air contamination source" or "major stationary source"

means any stationary source or any group of stationary sources located

within a contiguous area and under common control and belonging to a

single major industrial grouping that:

a. emits or has the potential to emit one hundred tons per year of any

regulated air contaminant; or

b. emits or has the potential to emit ten tons per year of any air

contaminant or twenty-five tons per year of any combination of air

contaminants listed under section 7412(b) of the Act, including fugitive

emissions of such contaminants, or lesser quantities as the

administrator may establish pursuant to the Act; or

c. emits or has the potential to emit twenty-five tons per year of

volatile organic compounds or oxides of nitrogen, including fugitive

emissions of such contaminants if located in an area designated a

"severe non-attainment area" pursuant to section 7511 of the Act; or

d. emits or has the potential to emit fifty tons per year of volatile

organic compounds or one hundred tons of oxides of nitrogen if located

in an ozone transport region pursuant to section 7511(c) of the Act.

Fugitive emissions from a stationary source must be considered in

determining whether such stationary source is a major stationary source

for permit requirements if the source belongs to one of the categories

of stationary sources identified by the administrator in regulation

pursuant to section 7602(j) of the Act.

20. "Major industrial grouping" means all activities belonging to the

same major group identified in the Standard Industrial Classification

Manual (1987) published by the United States department of commerce.

21. "Potential to emit" means the maximum capacity of a stationary

source to emit any regulated air contaminant under its physical and

operational design. Any physical or operational limitation on the

capacity of such source to emit a regulated air contaminant, including

air pollution control equipment and restrictions on hours of operation

or on the type or amount of material combusted, stored, or processed,

shall be treated as part of its design if the limitation is enforceable

by the commissioner and the administrator of the United States

environmental protection agency provided, however, that physical or

operational limitations enforceable by the commissioner shall be treated

as part of a source's design, if the commissioner is given such

authorization by the administrator.

22. "Regulated air contaminant" means the following:

a. oxides of nitrogen;

b. volatile organic compounds;

c. sulfur dioxide;

d. particulate;

e. carbon monoxide;

f. any class I or II substance subject to a standard promulgated

pursuant to section 7671 of the Act;

g. any other air contaminant for which a national ambient air quality

standard has been promulgated; or

h. any air contaminant that is regulated under section 7411 or 7412

(b) and (c) of the Act and which the commissioner has listed in

regulation. The department may use emergency rulemaking pursuant to

subdivision six of section two hundred two of the state administrative

procedure act if necessary, in order to timely list such air

contaminants.

23. "State implementation plan" or "SIP" means documents prepared by

the department, and submitted to the administrator for approval, which

identify actions and programs to be undertaken by the state and its

subdivisions to implement the Act.

24. "Stationary source" means any building, structure, facility or

installation that emits or may emit any regulated air contaminant.