The Air Quality Report includes a listing of the Highest Pollutant Standards Index with the location for days that were Unhealthy (UH), Very Unhealthy (VUH), and Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG). In 2017, there were 143 “Good” days, 203 were “Moderate,” and 19 were rated “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” There were no days rated “Unhealthy” or “Very Unhealthy.” This indicates that air quality in New Jersey is mostly good or moderate, but that air pollution was still bad enough in 2019 to adversely affect sensitive people about 5% of the time. However, this is an improvement from the previous year, when 26 days were unhealthy for sensitive groups and there were two “Unhealthy” days.
Existing sources of air contaminants surrounding the site would primarily be emissions from vehicular traffic associated with surrounding roadways and development.
Existing air quality conditions in the project area reflect suburban background conditions influenced primarily by local traffic on Sams Road and nearby collector roadways, residential heating sources, and regional atmospheric conditions. The site is not located within or adjacent to any major stationary emission sources, industrial facilities, or designated air quality non attainment hot spots. Ambient air quality in Ocean County is regulated under State and federal air quality standards established by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Temporary air quality impacts associated with the project will occur primarily during construction activities and may include short term emissions of particulate matter from earthmoving operations, vehicle exhaust from construction equipment, and fugitive dust generated by material handling and exposed soils. These impacts are localized, intermittent, and limited in duration.
Operational air quality impacts following project build out are expected to be minimal. The traffic impact analysis prepared for the project evaluated weekday morning and evening peak hour conditions at the South Cooks Bridge Road and Gail Chambers Road intersection and determined that the proposed nine single family residences are expected to generate approximately twelve peak hour trips in the morning peak and approximately eleven peak hour trips in the evening peak. The study concluded that future year intersection operations will continue to function within acceptable capacity ranges and that no off-site roadway improvements are required. These findings indicate that the project will not materially increase congestion, idling, or vehicle delay that could result in localized air quality degradation (McDonough & Rea Associates).
No new stationary emission sources are proposed. Residential heating systems and typical household activities will not generate emissions at levels requiring air permitting or regulatory controls. Vehicular access will continue to utilize the existing roadway network that already serves surrounding residential subdivisions.
Based on the limited scale of development, modest traffic generation, absence of stationary emission sources, and temporary nature of construction related emissions, the project is not anticipated to result in significant adverse impacts to local or regional air quality.
Air quality impacts are minimized by limiting the scale of development to a modest number of single family