restricted by a physical barrier such as a fence or river with signage along the riverbank. If no
physical barrier exists, receptors shall be placed both on and off the facility’s property when
conducting an air quality impact analysis for compliance demonstration of a NAAQS, NJAAQS,
or a PSD increment. If a physical barrier exists, receptors shall be placed along and outside of
the physical barrier when conducting an air quality impact analysis for compliance
demonstration of a NAAQS, NJAAQS, or a PSD increment.
As a general policy when conducting modeling for risk assessment, receptors are only placed
along and outside of a facility’s property line regardless of public access. There is an exception
to this policy when there is the potential for short-term health impacts on the facility’s property
and significant public presence may occur (e.g. park or recreation structures located on the
facility’s property).
In situations involving leasing arrangements where a source is located on land leased to them by
another source, applicants should apply the guidance contained in the June 22, 2007 USEPA
memorandum entitled: Interpretation of “Ambient Air” In Situations Involving Leased Land
Under the Regulations for Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD).
9.3 Meteorological Data
The protocol should describe and justify the use of all meteorological data that will be used in
the modeling analysis. The representativeness of meteorological data is not only a function of
proximity, but other factors, such as nearby terrain.
Five years of representative National Weather Service (NWS) meteorological data, at least three
complete years of prognostic meteorological data, or at least one year of on-site meteorological
data should be used when estimating concentrations with an air quality model. When using
NWS data for air modeling, the Department prefers consecutive years from the most recent,
readily available 5-year period. The Department has processed meteorological data sets for use
by permit applicants when performing air dispersion modeling analyses. The use of standardized
meteorological data sets eliminates the need for each applicant to undertake the resource-
intensive effort of generating this meteorological data on their own. The most recent 2-minute
Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) meteorological data have been processed using
EPA’s latest meteorological processors and guidance.
The Department maintains five-year AERMET data sets for eight NWS station locations. The
stations locations are: Atlantic City, NJ. Caldwell, NJ, Mount Holly, NJ. Newark, NJ,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sussex, NJ, Trenton, NJ, and Wilmington, Delaware. Table 9-1
provides the location in decimal degrees, elevation in meters, anemometer height in meters, and
upper air data pairing for each meteorological station. Note that the Profile Base elevation that
should be input to AERMOD is the base elevation of the station as listed in Table 9-1. These
data sets are available to the general public upon request. The applicant should consult with the
Department for the proper AERMET data to use as input to the AERMOD model. Figure 9-1
shows a small-scale wind rose of the dominant wind direction for each station at its spatial
location relative to New Jersey’s borders.