Department of Environmental Conservation has adopted nation’s most stringent new regulations that will make LNG available to fuel trucks and for other purposes, New York State DEC’s Commissioner Joe Martens said.
The adopted regulations enable permits to be granted to safely site, construct and operate new LNG facilities under requirements established in a DEC permit. As a result, LNG will be available to haulers as a cleaner burning alternative to diesel fuel, said Martens.
Projections indicate that for the first five years, nearly all of the expected permit applications will be for facilities designed to supply fuel for long-haul tractor trailers and large capacity fleet trucks that use LNG as a substitute for diesel fuel.
The LNG program will include:
The rulemaking sets standards for facilities that store LNG or convert LNG back into a gas for use as fuel. Facility designs must be certified by an independent third party to be in conformance with the standards of the NFPA, stands in the statement.
DEC’s approach under the new regulations, will also require site inspections, training of local fire department personnel, the closing of out-of-service LNG storage tanks and prompt spill reporting. The regulations will not change the existing statutory moratorium which prohibits new LNG facilities within New York City.
DEC proposed the regulations in September 2013 and received over 57,000 submissions during the public comment period last year. In response to comments received, DEC issued a revised proposed rule on November 12, 2014 that limits the total amount of LNG that can be stored at a permitted LNG facility to 70,000 gallons to address concerns about the safety of large facilities. During the public comment period that followed, ending on December 4, 2014, DEC received approximately 60 comments.