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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE12-38

June 8, 2012

CONTACT:

Chris Gilbride / Corey Chambliss (718) 595-6600

DEP Launches New Online Boiler and Equipment Registration System to Streamline Compliance Processes For Building Owners

Clean Air Tracking System (CATS) Means Easier Submissions, Quicker Approvals, and Improved Tracking

Marks Major Milestone in Facilitating Compliance with 2011 Heating Oil Regulations

Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland today launched the Clean Air Tracking System (CATS), a new online program designed to expedite boiler and equipment registrations and renewals, enable online payment of fees, and consolidate registration filings for building owners and property managers. Filers can now register boilers and equipment online, saving paperwork and in-person visits to DEP offices while also reducing the costs of complying with new boiler emissions standards and other requirements of New York City's Air Pollution Control Code. In April 2011, DEP adopted new regulations that require buildings to phase out use of Nos. 4 and 6 heating oil over the next 20 years. CATS streamlines new permitting functions and simplifies interactions with DEP, allowing registrations to be completed within a matter of days instead of weeks. As the CATS program expands, it will offer online registration and permitting for additional industrial processes and materials requiring DEP compliance.

"Last year, Mayor Bloomberg took a bold step to phase out the dirtiest types of heating oils — one of the single biggest steps in years toward improving air quality and public health," said Commissioner Strickland. "CATS will ease compliance with the new rule by saving building owners time, providing an efficient, expedient online filing option.  In addition, other filers will be able to use this system, bolstering our efforts to clean the air from all local sources of air emissions and to improve public health."

"The new Clean Air Tracking System should enable apartment building owners and agents to provide their boiler information to DEP in a simplified process directly from their offices, saving valuable time and money," said Rent Stabilization Association President Joseph Strasburg. "We look forward to working with DEP to coordinate implementation of this new service with property owners and agents throughout the city."

DEP requires registration of all boilers with at least 350,000 BTUs of power. CATS allows building owners to track both current and prior registration filings, and combines multiple properties with a single owner or manager under one online account. After logging in, owners can register their email addresses to track registrations and payment histories, and can sign up to receive reminders, alerts, and other messages such as expirations of registration. Prior to the new online system, building owners and managers were required to register boilers in-person or by mail. Boilers with greater than 2.8 million BTUs of power require Certificates to Operate, which will be obtainable through CATS online by late 2012.

DEP employs more than 40 air and noise inspectors, and manages filings of roughly 30,000 registered boilers and other industrial material and equipment. Streamlined online registration will help ease compliance with new regulations adopted in April 2011, requiring that all buildings phase out use of Nos. 4 and 6 heating oil over the next 20 years. The 10,000 buildings that still burn Nos. 4 and 6 heating oil comprise just 1% of the city's building stock, but generate more annual soot pollution than all cars and trucks in the city combined. Upon full implementation, the new regulations will reduce the amount of fine particles emitted from buildings by at least 63 percent, and could lower the overall concentration of fine particles in the City's air from all sources by 5 percent. The initiative will reduce carbon dioxide by approximately one million metric tons, or over 3 percent of the total needed to meet the PlaNYC target of reducing the city's greenhouse gases 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

The initiative to update and improve DEP's air permitting database is a key component of Strategy 2011-2014, a far-reaching strategic plan that lays out 100 distinct initiatives to make DEP the safest, most efficient, cost-effective, and transparent water utility in the nation. The plan, the product of nearly one year of analysis and outreach, builds on PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg's comprehensive sustainability blueprint for New York City.

DEP manages the city's water supply, providing more than one billion gallons of water each day to more than nine million residents, including eight million in New York City. The water is delivered from a watershed that extends more than 125 miles from the city, comprising 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes. Approximately 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels and aqueducts bring water to homes and businesses throughout the five boroughs, and 7,400 miles of sewer lines and 95 pump stations take wastewater to 14 in-city treatment plants. DEP employs nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 in the upstate watershed. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nycwater, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nycwater.

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