In accordance with the applicable requirements of the General Conformity Rule (pursuant to the Clean Air Act) and given the findings that the estimated annual emission rates of two pollutants (CO and NOx) are predicted to exceed the General Conformity applicability thresholds during three years of the GBR Project’s construction period, the USCG issued its Draft General Conformity Determination (see FEIS Appendix N.4). Public notice of the Draft Determination was placed in the Staten Island Advance and the Star Ledger.  The public review period for the Draft Determination ended October 15, 2010. The Final General Conformity Determination was signed by the Coast Guard on January 14, 2011, and was published in the Record of Decision package.  Public notice of the Final Determination was placed in the Staten Island Advance and the Star Ledger on 1/31/11 and 2/01/11, respectively.

All public comments on the Draft General Conformity Determination and respective USCG responses were posted on the Federal Docket, under docket number USCG–2009–0097.