Requires school buses that contract with the NYC department of education to retrofit certain buses with certain equipment; requires that all buses used to provide transportation services to students pursuant to a service contract with the NYC department of education use ultra-low sulfur fuel or "clean diesel"; eliminates the cap on air pollution fees.

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S1221-2013 Actions

• Jan 9, 2013: REFERRED TO CITIES

S1221-2013 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S1221

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the administrative code of the city of
New  York,  in relation to contracts with school bus companies; and to
amend the environmental conservation law, in relation  to  eliminating
the cap on air pollution fees

PURPOSE:
To  require  that  buses  transporting  New  York City's public school
children be retrofitted with  either  diesel  particulate  filters  or
diesel  oxidation  catalysts, whichever is appropriate. This bill also
eliminates the per-ton fee cap for facilities emitting  regulated  air
contaminants.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section  1 of the bill would re-letter subdivision g of section 19-606
of the administrative code of New York City as subdivision h and add a
new subdivision g that would require any school bus company  providing
services  to  students  under  contract  with  the  City Department of
Education to install diesel oxidation catalysts or diesel  particulate
filters  and  to use ultra-low sulfur fuel. Installation of the diesel
emissions devices would be required within two  years  of  the  bill's
effective  date, or upon entering into or renewing a contract with the
department, whichever is later.

Section 2 of the bill would amend subdivision 1 of Section 72-0303  of
the  environmental  conservation  law to eliminate the per-ton fee cap
for facilities emitting regulated air contaminants.

Section 3 of the bill sets forth the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

The harmful health effects of diesel exhaust  have  been  studied  and
documented for decades, and an increasing number of health authorities
have  recognized  diesel  exhaust  as a potential carcinogen.   Diesel
exhaust is also known as a major source of fine particles,  which  can
exacerbate  asthma,  a  condition most prevalent among children and of
epidemic proportions in  many  neighborhoods  of  New  York  City.  In
addition,  diesel engines emit smog-forming oxides of nitrogen in mass
quantities, which have been linked to decreased lung  function  growth
in   children.  According  to  a  2004  study  by  the  American  Lung
Association in metropolitan Chicago, schoolchildren on a  conventional
diesel  school  bus  are  exposed  to  up to five times as much diesel
emission as they would  encounter  on  a  retrofitted  bus  that  uses
ultra-low-sulfur fuel.

New  York City's more than 5,000 school buses, which are owned by over
50 bus companies that have contracted  with  the  City  Department  of
Education,  run  on  diesel  fuel.  Over  300,000 New York City school
children ride these buses every school day.  In  2001,  the  New  York
Power  Authority  initiated  a $6 million program to install pollution
control systems in city school buses, and has since  retrofitted  over
1,500  to  2,000  school  buses. The voluntary program pays to install
diesel  particulate  filters  on  newer  buses  and  diesel  oxidation
catalysts  on  older buses, reducing diesel bus emissions by more than


90%. This legislation would make it mandatory for  buses  transporting
New  York  City's  school  children  to have either retrofitted diesel
particulate filters or diesel oxidation catalysts.

This legislation would also eliminate the per-ton cap on air pollution
fees,  generating  several  million dollars per year in additional air
pollution  fees  collected.  The  fee  on  sources  of  regulated  air
contaminants  was established to finance the direct and indirect costs
associated  with  the  Department  of   Environmental   Conservation's
operating permit program.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2011-12:  Referred to Cities
2009-10:  Referred to Cities

IMPACT ON THE STATE:
Eliminating  the  per-ton  cap  on  air pollution fees would generate.
additional revenue for the State.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill shall take effect immediately.

S1221-2013 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                    1221

                         2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                                 (PREFILED)

                               January 9, 2013
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sens.  PERKINS,  BRESLIN, DIAZ, DILAN, HASSELL-THOMPSON,
    KRUEGER, MONTGOMERY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when print-
    ed to be committed to the Committee on Cities

  AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the  city  of  New  York,  in
    relation  to  contracts  with  school  bus companies; and to amend the
    environmental conservation law, in relation to eliminating the cap  on
    air pollution fees

    THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section 1. Subdivision g of section 19-606 of the administrative  code
  of  the  city of New York is relettered subdivision h and a new subdivi-
  sion g is added to read as follows:

    G. 1. ANY BUS USED TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO STUDENTS IN CONNECTION  WITH
  A SERVICE CONTRACT WITH THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL:

    (I)  IF  BUILT  PRIOR  TO NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE, BE RETROFITTED
  WITH DIESEL OXIDATION CATALYSTS;
    (II) IF BUILT ON OR AFTER JANUARY FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE,
  BE RETROFITTED WITH DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTERS; AND
    (III) USE ULTRA-LOW SULFUR FUEL OR "CLEAN DIESEL" CONTAINING NOT  MORE
  THAN 15 PPM OF SULFUR.
    2.  ANY  ALTERATION  REQUIRED  PURSUANT  TO  THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE
  COMPLETED (I) WITHIN TWO YEARS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION
  OR (II) UPON ENTERING INTO OR RENEWING A CONTRACT WITH THE NEW YORK CITY
  DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, WHICHEVER IS LATER.
    S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 72-0303 of the  environmental  conserva-
  tion  law,  as amended by section 1 of part D of chapter 413 of the laws
  of 1999, the opening paragraph as amended by section 1 of  part  BBB  of
  chapter 59 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:

    1.  Commencing  January  first, nineteen hundred ninety-four and every
  year thereafter all sources of  regulated  air  contaminants  identified

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD02316-01-3

 S. 1221                             2

  pursuant  to  subdivision  one  of section 19-0311 of this chapter shall
  submit to the department an annual fee of forty-five dollars per ton [up
  to seven thousand tons] annually of each regulated  air  contaminant  as
  follows:  forty-five dollars per ton for facilities with total emissions
  less  than one thousand tons annually; fifty dollars per ton for facili-
  ties with total emissions of one thousand or  more  but  less  than  two
  thousand  tons  annually; fifty-five dollars per ton for facilities with
  total emissions of two thousand or more but less than five thousand tons
  annually; and sixty-five dollars per ton for facilities with total emis-
  sions of five thousand or more tons annually. Such fee shall  be  suffi-
  cient  to  support  an appropriation approved by the legislature for the
  direct and indirect costs associated with the operating  permit  program
  established in section 19-0311 of this chapter. Such fee shall be estab-
  lished  by the department and shall be calculated by dividing the amount
  of the current year appropriation  from  the  operating  permit  program
  account  of  the  clean air fund by the total tons of emissions of regu-
  lated air contaminants that are subject to the operating permit  program
  fees  from  sources  subject to the operating permit program pursuant to
  section 19-0311 of this chapter [up to seven thousand tons] annually  of
  each  regulated  air  contaminant  from  each  source; provided that, in
  making such calculation, the department shall adjust  their  calculation
  to  account  for  any deficit or surplus in the operating permit program
  account of the clean air fund established pursuant  to  section  ninety-
  seven-oo  of  the  state finance law; any loan repayment from the mobile
  source account of the clean air fund  established  pursuant  to  section
  ninety-seven-oo  of the state finance law; and the rate of collection by
  the department of the bills issued for the fee for the prior year.
    Notwithstanding the provisions of the state  administrative  procedure
  act, such calculation and fee shall be established as a rule by publica-
  tion  in  the  Environmental  Notice  Bulletin no later than thirty days
  after the budget bills making appropriations for the support of  govern-
  ment are enacted or July first, whichever is later, of the year such fee
  will  be  effective. In no event shall the fee established herein be any
  greater than the maximum fee identified pursuant to this section.
    S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.