Relates to the community air monitoring program

• Democratic2

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Andrew Gounardes says this is needed

Section 75-0115 in Article 75 of the Environmental Conservation Law, established by landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) of 2019, mandated that NYS DEC undergo a community air monitor- ing program to study and report on strategies to reduce air pollution in disadvantaged communities "affected by a high cumulative exposure burden" (ECL § 75-0115(3)). As of this writing, the study has consisted of "a mobile monitoring fleet of air sensor-equipped, low-emissions vehicles...driven on public roads...at least 20 times across different seasons, different days of the week, and different times of the day... to collect block-level air pollution data to help identify sources contributing to disproportionate air pollution burdens and develop stra- tegies to reduce air pollution within these communities, including greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change" according to the Department. After collecting data on a long list of pollutants which includes fine particulate matter, black carbon, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, ozone, ethane, methane, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases, DEC will be required to publish a report on potential pollutant reduction strategies in June 2024. Missing from this section of ECL, however, is the requirement for DEC to look internally at the role that the Department plays in contributing to air pollution in overburdened communities through its permitting of air facilities. DEC's Division of Air Resources (DAR) currently regulates a range of commercial and industrial facilities that both directly pollute, such as by burning fuel or releasing airborne chemicals from facility processes or operations, and indirectly attract large sources of pollution such as truck traffic by the nature of their operations. DAR's permitting categories range from Air Title V, reserved for the largest facilities considered to be "major sources" of pollution subject to Title V of the Federal Clean Act, to Air State Facility Permits, applying to medium-sized commercial or industrial sites that may have agreed to emission capping, to Air Facility Registrations, required for smaller operations like dry cleaners or auto body shops. Up until the passage of the CLCPA, however, DEC was never required to consider the role that any of these facilities played in attracting indirect sources of pollution such as truck traffic as a result of their commercial or industrial activities. Environmental justice communities such as Red Hook and Sunset Park in Brooklyn have paid the price for the short-sightedness of DAR's permit- ting criteria, where five e-commerce warehouses, totaling hundreds of thousands of square feet, are slated to come online in the near future. Driven largely by a pandemic-fueled surge in demand for overnight deliv- eries, these "last mile" warehouses have resulted in an enormous barrage of truck traffic in "as-of-right" manufacturing zones throughout New York City where new construction proliferates without the need for an environmental review process or community buy-in. According to the Rens- selaer Polytechnic Institute's Center for Excellence for Sustainable Urban Freight Systems, over 2.3 million packages are currently delivered to New Yorkers every day - up from an average of 1.8 million pre-pandem- ic. The New York City Department of Transportation, meanwhile, predicts that freight traffic will continue to grow 67% between 2012 and 2045. Last mile warehouses in the overnight delivery age have a much larger geographic footprint than traditional warehouses, resulting in a signif- icantly higher volume of trucks, which are bigger in size and thus more polluting. DEC's permitting of these facilities, which until the passage of the CLCPA was never required to count impact on disparate communities as a criterion, has indisputably played a role in the significant levels of air and noise pollution, amongst other externalities, suffered by

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.