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Environment

Air Quality

Massport is committed to reducing emissions from activities across all of our properties.

Massport’s Roadmap to NetZero outlines an aggressive strategy to guide the Authority to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions across all properties and provides an overview of all of the current actions being reviewed and addressed by the Authority to achieve its target of reaching net zero by its 75th anniversary (2031). This target has numerous strategies that will improve local air quality in all of Massport’s host communities.

For the most up-to-date air quality data for Boston Logan and Hanscom Field, please see the most recent Environmental Data Report (EDR) and Environmental Status and Planning Report (ESPR) for each property.

The EDRs and ESPRs also detail specifically how all air emission data is calculated and what models are used in their development.

View Environmental Filings

Additional emission data for all properties will be provided in future net-zero reporting.

Aviation Emissions Overview (Boston Logan, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport)

Air emissions associated with aviation operations at Boston Logan come from three primary sources:

  • Aircraft
  • Ground service equipment
  • Motor vehicles

Additional sources include fuel storage and heating and cooling; however, aircraft are the largest single source of emissions at Boston Logan, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport.

Aircraft emit four principal air pollutants:

  • Carbon monoxide
  • Volatile organic compounds
  • Oxides of nitrogen 
  • Particulate matter

The U.S. Clean Air Act, which was last amended in 1990, requires the Environmental Protection Agency to establish air quality standards for outdoor (ambient) air to protect public health and the environment.

Air quality at all our aviation properties is governed by these standards as well as other federal and state regulations, including the Massachusetts State Implementation Plan and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

A computer modeling system, the FAA’s Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS), is used in accordance with FAA requirements for airport air quality analyses; it is also the U.S. EPA’s preferred model. The FAA continually improves the performance, precision, and adaptability of the EDMS, and the model is subject to regular updates and revisions.

Other Emission Sources

For additional up-to-date information on other emission sources, please refer to the Boston Logan and Hanscom Field EDRs or ESPRs, and the Roadmap to NetZero.