L.L. 2003/077
Enactment date: 12/22/2003
Int. No. 191-A
By Council Members Gerson, the Speaker (Council Member Miller), Clarke, Comrie, Jennings, Perkins, Yassky, Avella, Serrano, Koppell, Quinn, Seabrook, Katz, Brewer, Gennaro, Gioia, Gentile, DeBlasio, Moskowitz, Liu, Baez, Lopez, Martinez, James, Weprin, Jackson and Nelson; also Council Members Boyland, Recchia, McMahon and Vallone
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and the best available technology by nonroad vehicles in city construction.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Declaration of Legislative Findings and Intent. The Council finds that diesel emissions, due in large part to their high concentrations of particulate matter, are associated with severe and multiple health risks to the citizens of New York City. Public health organizations, including the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the World Health Organization, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Health and Human Services' National Toxicology Program, have associated diesel exhaust or diesel particulates with an increased risk of cancer. Additionally, the health effects associated with particulate matter include decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, respiratory symptoms and premature death.
1
Nonroad diesel equipment is the single largest mobile source-based source of diesel particulate matter.
Diesel exhaust also contains nitrogen oxides, which combine with volatile organic compounds in the air, such as hydrocarbons – also emitted by nonroad vehicles – to form ground-level ozone, or smog, in the presence of heat and sunlight.
2
Ozone may cause a variety of respiratory problems, including aggravated asthma, decreases in lung capacity and increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses.
3
It is damaging to lung tissue in high concentrations and during long-term exposure.
4
New York City continues to be classified as a "severe-17 nonattainment area" for ozone.
5
As mentioned above, increased particulate matter concentrations and nitrogen oxides have been positively linked to increases in the aggravation of asthma, which can lead to increased rates of preventable hospitalization and premature death. The Council finds that reducing particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions may help to stem the tide of the asthma epidemic in New York City. In the year 2000 alone, there were 26,868 asthma-related hospitalizations in New York City.
6
These hospitalizations resulted in $242,454,056 of medical expenses – an average of $9023.90 per hospitalization - of which 49.4% of the charges, or $119,772,304, was paid by Medicaid and 23.1% of the charges, or $56,006,887, was paid by Medicare.
7
The EPA, recognizing the harmful effects of diesel emissions from nonroad vehicles, issued a proposed rule on April 15, 2003, which would require that sulfur levels in nonroad diesel fuel be limited to 15 parts per million in 2010. This rule would also require, starting in 2008 for smaller nonroad vehicles, that engines meet more stringent emissions standards.
Nonroad vehicles, such as backhoes, bulldozers, excavation machines, generators and cranes, have been and will be used to perform necessary and important functions at Ground Zero and will play a major role in the rebuilding of the area for years to come. The Council finds, however, that the City has a responsibility toward the people who live, work and attend school in Lower Manhattan, to minimize, wherever practical, the pollution such equipment and machinery emit into the air. The Council finds that the use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel to power the diesel-powered nonroad vehicles operating at Ground Zero and in other parts of Lower Manhattan would reduce the amount of particulates released into the air by these vehicles, thereby improving air quality in that area. The Council further finds that using nonroad vehicles that utilize the best available technology for reducing the emission of harmful pollutants, such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, would have a dramatic impact on the level of pollutants being released in Lower Manhattan.
The Council finds that air quality is a concern in all parts of New York City, as well as in Lower Manhattan, particularly since the City suffers from some of the highest asthma rates in the country. Therefore, the Council finds that it is in the best interest of the health of our City's residents, workers and schoolchildren for the City to use ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and the best available technology for reducing the emission of pollutants in its diesel-powered nonroad vehicles in all areas of the City, in addition to Lower Manhattan. The Council also finds that the City should contract for construction services with contractors who use ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and the best available technology to minimize the release of harmful pollutants in diesel-powered nonroad vehicles. Acting with the discretion allowed any private participant in the market, the City should choose to allocate its purchasing dollars in order to protect the health of its residents, thus decreasing the number of asthma hospitalizations and associated costs to the City, as well.
This legislation requires that any diesel-powered nonroad vehicle, fifty horsepower and greater, that is owned by, operated by or on behalf of, or leased by a City agency be powered by ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and utilize the best available technology for reducing the emission of pollutants. Additionally, this legislation requires that any solicitation for a public works contract and any contract entered into as a result of such solicitation include specifications that all contractors in the performance of such contract use ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and the best available technology for reducing the emission of pollutants for diesel-powered nonroad vehicles. All contractors in the performance of such contract must comply with such specifications. Although these requirements would apply to such vehicles only in Lower Manhattan at first, they would subsequently apply to nonroad vehicles in all other areas of the City. The Council finds that this legislation will have an important impact on improving the air quality throughout New York City and, consequently, may annually save the City millions of dollars in avoided health care costs.
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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]
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§ 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or other portion of this local law is, for any reason, declared unconstitutional or invalid, in whole or in part, by any court of competent jurisdiction such portion shall be deemed severable, and such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not effect the validity of the remaining portions of this law, which remaining portions shall continue in full force and effect.
§ 5. This local law shall take effect one hundred eighty days after its enactment, except that the commissioner of environmental protection shall take all actions necessary, including the promulgation of rules, to implement this local law on or before the date upon which it shall take effect.
1 United States Environmental Protection Agency, "Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter, Fact Sheet", July 17, 1997, http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/naaqsfin/pmhealth.html.
4 American Lung Association of New York State, Inc., "Unhealthful to Breathe: Summer Ozone Levels in New York State", October 2002, p. 6.
5 This classification means that the area does not meet the national primary or secondary ambient air quality standard for ozone; it has a design value of from 0.190 up to 0.280 ppm for ozone; and, it has until 2007 to attain compliance with the standards. http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqpsd/greenbk/define.html#Designations.
6 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, "Asthma Facts, Second Edition ("Asthma Facts")", May 2003, Figure 6, p. 12.
7 Asthma Facts, Figure 11, p. 13.