For Release: Friday, November 7, 2008
Aggressive Enforcement Strategy Targeting Truck/Bus Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods Goes Statewide
DEC Effort Targets High Asthma, High Traffic Areas
Expanding a clean air initiative statewide, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced the launch of a long-term enforcement strategy to cut down on the health impacts associated with smoke-spewing diesel trucks and buses, especially in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by pollution.
Under the plan, DEC will carry out regular but unannounced enforcement actions in hot spots where heavy truck traffic enters or exits a neighborhood, as well as areas where diesel trucks tend to congregate. At those hot spots, DEC will implement pullover operations that target trucks churning out plumes of visible exhaust - in violation of state air regulations. DEC will also conduct random enforcement against illegal idling.
The initiative is based on a successful pilot program in New York City; Commissioner Grannis previously committed DEC to taking the program to environmental justice neighborhoods elsewhere in the state.
This week, DEC launched the initiative upstate, with pullover operations in Albany and Newburgh. Today in Albany, DEC conducted a pullover operation on South Pearl Street near a ramp for Interstate 787 in Albany's South End neighborhood and carried out mobile patrols in other city neighborhoods that are disproportionately impacted by pollution sources. Albany's South End receives much of the truck traffic traveling to and from Albany's port.
"Protecting the environment is not just about lakes and rivers and wilderness. It's about safeguarding our urban neighborhoods too," Commissioner Grannis said. "Excessive emissions from trucks and buses are a problem - especially in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by pollution. That is why DEC is committed to dealing with this issue."
"We call this our Stop Smoking Initiative for Trucks," said DEC Regional Director Gene Kelly. "Just as cigarette smoke creates risks not only for smokers but also those around smokers, polluting trucks put neighborhoods at risk. In addition, this initiative will help identify the dirtiest diesels on the road and influence them to clean up their act."
"Commercial transportation is a critical component to our local economy. But we must have a proactive plan to ensure not only that trucks and buses comply with clean air laws, but also to protect city neighborhoods," said Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings. "This enforcement strategy does both."
"This proactive initiative demonstrates a genuine commitment to protecting both the environment and the people of this state," said State Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, whose district includes the Albany port area. "I commend Commissioner Grannis for his leadership, and on behalf of grateful New Yorkers across this state whose quality of life will undoubtedly improve as a result of this plan, I say 'Thank you.'"
"This initiative is a valuable form of protection for the health of our citizens and is critical to all the people of the State of New York -- but most especially those neighborhoods dealing with heavy truck traffic," said Assemblyman John McEneny, whose district covers the bulk of the City of Albany.
"We can solve New York's diesel pollution problem," said Richard Kassel, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Enforcing the anti-pollution laws already on the books is a smart way to clean up our air and help children with asthma breathe easier."
The initiative comes as a result of a successful city-state crackdown on truck and boiler pollution in 2007 in East Harlem, a neighborhood with elevated asthma rates and heavy truck traffic. DEC law-enforcement officers pulled over and inspected 361 diesel trucks and issued 163 tickets for various violations of state air and safety regulations. The officers also issued 10 tickets for excessive idling.
Based on that operation, DEC estimates that close to 20 percent of the trucks traveling East Harlem daily are out of compliance with state air regulations. That ratio was replicated in a second pullover operation in Harlem on Oct. 31, 2008. DEC, together with community groups and local governments, intends to work together to develop an outreach program to educate the trucking industry and neighborhoods groups about the laws and serious consequences of polluting trucks. A key feature of the program will involve empowering communities to identify idling hot spots in their neighborhoods.
