Bill Text: NY S00922 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Enacts the "schools impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act"; prohibits the commissioner of education from approving the plans for the erection of any new schoolhouse within five hundred feet of a controlled-access highway unless the commissioner of education determines that space limitations are so severe that there is no other site to erect such new schoolhouse.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-02 - SUBSTITUTED BY A5735C [S00922 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S00922-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         922--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 6, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  MAY,  BRISPORT, MANNION -- read twice and ordered
          printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Trans-
          portation  -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
          amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the highway law, in relation to  enacting  the  "schools
          impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act"; and to amend the environmental
          conservation  law  and  the  education  law,  in relation to including
          certain  schools  in   environmental   impact   statements   for   the
          construction of a major roadway

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited  as  the  "schools
     2  impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act".
     3    §  2.  Legislative findings and intent.  The purpose of this act is to
     4  address the disproportionate impact of environmental  hazards  on  Black
     5  and Brown communities, specifically to protect children and young adults
     6  from  the  health risks associated with long-term exposure to pollutants
     7  which derive from living and attending  school  in  close  proximity  to
     8  major  roadways and highway projects. Traffic is one of the most signif-
     9  icant sources of air pollution in both the  indoor  and  outdoor  school
    10  environment.
    11    Pollutants  directly  emitted from cars, trucks, and other motor vehi-
    12  cles are found in higher concentrations near major roads, with the high-
    13  est levels within the first five hundred (500)  feet  of  a  roadway  --
    14  children  who attend schools near roadways have increased risks of expo-
    15  sure and the detrimental health impacts therefrom. Children who  experi-
    16  ence  consistent exposure to air pollution have increased risks of asth-
    17  ma, chronic respiratory issues, reduced  lung  function,  cardiovascular
    18  effects, and neurobehavioral dysfunction. These effects are long-lasting
    19  and contribute to changes in overall school performance for students.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03773-02-1
        S. 922--A                           2

     1    In addition to the health effects caused by air pollution, major road-
     2  ways  create  a  considerable  amount  of  noise pollution. Children are
     3  particularly susceptible to the effects of loud, constant  noise,  which
     4  comes  from  close proximity to highways. This often causes trouble with
     5  tasks  at  school  --  reading attention, problem-solving and memory are
     6  most affected.
     7    Research led by the University of  Minnesota  and  the  University  of
     8  Washington  quantified  the  racial  gap  between  those  who  cause air
     9  pollution and those who breathe it. Poor  air  quality  is  the  largest
    10  environmental  health risk in the United States. Fine particulate matter
    11  (PM), especially that which is  emitted  from  vehicles,  is  especially
    12  harmful  and  is  responsible  for  more  than  100,000 deaths annually.
    13  However, not everyone is equally exposed to poor air  quality,  nor  are
    14  all people equally responsible for causing it.
    15    Researchers  found that fine PM pollution is disproportionately caused
    16  by the non-Hispanic white majority, but  disproportionately  inhaled  by
    17  Black  and  Hispanic  minorities.  A 2019 Report commissioned by the New
    18  York Civil Liberties Union found 53.1% of Black and Latinx children live
    19  within 500 feet of a major roadway.
    20    Black and Latinx children are already at risk for high morbidity rates
    21  and exposed to urban poverty; this combination of risks has catastrophic
    22  effects  for  their  academic  functioning.  Schools  that  have  larger
    23  percentages  of low income students and students of color are exposed to
    24  more respiratory hazards from air toxins. Pastor et al. (2006) conducted
    25  a study on schools, air pollution, and environmental justice. The  study
    26  showed  Black zip codes are less healthy places for all children because
    27  they tend to be close to sources of pollution  such  as  busy  highways;
    28  resulting in poorer air quality.
    29    Decades  of  racial segregation, redlining, and the systemic placement
    30  of pollution-emitting infrastructure in Black and Brown communities have
    31  played a role in this disparity. The American Lung Association says that
    32  one of the major reasons that respiratory illnesses are so prevalent  in
    33  communities  of color is the proximity of those communities to producers
    34  of hazardous air pollutants, such as major roadways.
    35    § 3. The highway law is amended by adding a new section 332 to read as
    36  follows:
    37    § 332. Prohibited construction of schools within six hundred feet of a
    38  major roadway. 1. For purposes of  this  section,  the  following  terms
    39  shall have the following meanings:
    40    (a)  "best  available control technologies" (BACT) shall have the same
    41  meaning as defined by 6 NYCRR 200.1, and where applicable shall  include
    42  without  limitation  the installation of a heating, ventilation, and air
    43  conditioning (HVAC) system to improve  air  quality  within  the  school
    44  buildings,  the  installation  of  insulation within the school facility
    45  walls to mitigate noise pollution, pollutant  absorbing  plants,  indoor
    46  playground  options  that  cater  to  children  with  severe asthma, and
    47  capping of all soil owned by a school within six hundred feet of  school
    48  facilities;
    49    (b)  "environmental  justice community" shall have the same meaning as
    50  defined by subdivision nine  of  section  8-0105  of  the  environmental
    51  conservation law;
    52    (c)  "major roadway" shall mean a controlled access primary roadway of
    53  the state highway system or state thruway  system  that  has  a  traffic
    54  volume  along  such roadway of not less than thirty thousand motor vehi-
    55  cles per day;
        S. 922--A                           3

     1    (d) "pollutant" or "pollutants" shall  refer  to  the  six  pollutants
     2  regulated  by  the  Clean  Air  Act,  42  U.S.C. Section 7401, including
     3  ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon  monoxide,  lead,  sulfur
     4  dioxide, and nitrogen oxide, as well as other pollutants caused by major
     5  roadways including but not limited to, particulate matter, carbon monox-
     6  ide, oxides of nitrogen, and benzene emitted into the air;
     7    (e)  "school construction project" shall mean the acquisition of land,
     8  expansion of an existing structure  or  structures  or  construction  of
     9  facilities to develop and construct a school building or buildings;
    10    (f)  "school  facility"  shall  refer  to  buildings, grounds, playing
    11  fields, and parking lots used  in  the  facilitation  of  education  for
    12  school aged children in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade; and
    13    (g) "air quality index" shall refer to the air quality classifications
    14  and  standards  established by the department of environmental conserva-
    15  tion in 6 NYCRR parts 256 and 257.
    16    2. (a) Beginning five years after the effective date of this  section,
    17  the  development and construction of any new school construction project
    18  or school facility where any of the lands or grounds of such project are
    19  within six hundred feet of a major roadway shall  be  prohibited  unless
    20  the  department, and agency preparing the environmental impact statement
    21  in accordance with article eight of the environmental conservation  law,
    22  have both determined that:
    23    (i) the pollutants or pollution sources around such project do not and
    24  will not constitute an actual or potential endangerment of public health
    25  to  persons  who  would  attend  or  be employed at the school or school
    26  facilities;
    27    (ii) the pollutants or pollution sources around such project will  not
    28  negatively  impact the air quality index in and around school facilities
    29  relative to  baseline  index  levels  measured  before  commencement  of
    30  construction  as  measured  in  the  existing  burden  report defined in
    31  section 8-0105 of the environmental conservation law; and
    32    (iii) neither short-term or long-term exposure to the levels of pollu-
    33  tants or pollution sources around such project poses significant  health
    34  risks to students.
    35    (b)  Notwithstanding  the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivi-
    36  sion, if the governing body for the school or school facility finds that
    37  neither subparagraphs (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision
    38  can be met, and the governing body is unable to  locate  an  alternative
    39  site  due to a severe shortage of sites that otherwise meet the require-
    40  ments of this section, provided that an alternative site analysis deter-
    41  mining the lack of alternative sites shall  be  made  available  to  the
    42  public no less than sixty days prior to such determination.
    43    3. (a) The department shall, when planning the construction of a major
    44  roadway  and  considering the location for such roadway or reviewing any
    45  major roadway project over which the department  of  transportation  has
    46  oversight, identify each school facility located within six hundred feet
    47  of  the  planned  roadway and shall, to the greatest extent practicable,
    48  site such roadway no less than six hundred feet from  each  such  school
    49  facility.
    50    (b)  If  there  is no available alternative for development of a major
    51  roadway, such that the roadway or a portion  thereof  shall  be  located
    52  within  six  hundred  feet  of  an  existing  school  facility or school
    53  construction project, the department shall,  in  consultation  with  the
    54  affected  school  district  or  districts,  incorporate  best  available
    55  control technologies into its  development  and  construction  plans  to
    56  ensure  that  the  air  quality index in and around school facilities is
        S. 922--A                           4

     1  lower during and after construction and for no fewer  than  three  years
     2  after  project completion than baseline index levels before commencement
     3  of construction as measured in the existing  burden  report  defined  in
     4  section  8-0105  of  the environmental conservation law. Nothing in this
     5  section shall be construed to require the affected  school  district  or
     6  districts  to  expend monies on such best available control technologies
     7  that exceed the amount of state and federal funding  available  for  the
     8  major roadway project.
     9    §  4.  Section 8-0105 of the environmental conservation law is amended
    10  by adding five new subdivisions 9,  10,  11,  12,  and  13  to  read  as
    11  follows:
    12    9.  "Environmental justice community" means an economically distressed
    13  or  minority  community  bearing  a  disproportionate   or   inequitable
    14  pollution burden and shall include, but not be limited to, environmental
    15  justice areas identified by the department.
    16    10. "Economically distressed area" shall mean an area characterized by
    17  a poverty rate of at least twenty percent; or an unemployment rate of at
    18  least  one  hundred  twenty-five  percent  of the statewide unemployment
    19  rate.
    20    11. "Minority community" shall mean any census tract, census block, or
    21  census block group that includes twenty-five  percent  or  more  of  any
    22  ethnic group.
    23    12.  "Ethnic  group"  shall  mean a group identified in paragraph (a),
    24  (b), (c), or (d) of subdivision eight of section three  hundred  ten  of
    25  the executive law.
    26    13.  "Existing burden report" shall mean the report required by subdi-
    27  vision four of section 8-0109 of this article  describing  the  existing
    28  pollution burden in an environmental justice community.
    29    § 5. Paragraphs (i), (i) and (j) of subdivision 2 of section 8-0109 of
    30  the  environmental  conservation  law, paragraph (i) as added by chapter
    31  182 of the laws of 1990, paragraph (i) as amended by chapter 238 of  the
    32  laws of 1991, and paragraph (j) as amended by chapter 219 of the laws of
    33  1990, are amended and a new paragraph (k) is added to read as follows:
    34    (i)  effects of proposed action on solid waste management where appli-
    35  cable and significant; [and]
    36    [(i)] (j) effects of any proposed action on, and its consistency with,
    37  the comprehensive management plan of the special groundwater  protection
    38  area  program,  as  implemented  by the commissioner pursuant to article
    39  fifty-five of this chapter; [and]
    40    (k) effects of the construction of a major roadway, as  such  term  is
    41  defined in section three hundred thirty-two of the highway law, identify
    42  and set forth the name of each school located within six hundred feet of
    43  the  bounds  of the proposed action, and consider whether the action may
    44  cause or contribute to, either  directly  or  indirectly,  a  dispropor-
    45  tionate   or   inequitable  or  both  disproportionate  and  inequitable
    46  pollution burden on an environmental justice community; and
    47    [(j)] (l) such other information consistent with the purposes of  this
    48  article  as  may  be prescribed in guidelines issued by the commissioner
    49  pursuant to section 8-0113 of this chapter.
    50    § 6. The opening paragraph of subdivision 4 of section 8-0109  of  the
    51  environmental conservation law, as amended by chapter 219 of the laws of
    52  1990, is amended to read as follows:
    53    As  early  as possible in the formulation of a proposal for an action,
    54  the responsible agency shall make an initial determination as to whether
    55  or not an environmental  impact  statement  need  be  prepared  for  the
    56  action.  In making such determination for any proposed construction of a
        S. 922--A                           5

     1  major  roadway action, as defined in section three hundred thirty-two of
     2  the highway law, that is not a minor project and that  may  directly  or
     3  indirectly  affect  an  environmental justice community school facility,
     4  the responsible agency shall prepare or cause to be prepared an existing
     5  burden report and shall consider such report in determining whether such
     6  action  may  cause  or  contribute  to, either directly or indirectly, a
     7  disproportionate or inequitable, or both disproportionate and  inequita-
     8  ble pollution burden on an environmental justice community school facil-
     9  ity.  The  existing burden report shall include baseline monitoring data
    10  collected in the affected environmental  justice  community  within  two
    11  years  of  the application for a permit or approval; shall identify each
    12  existing pollution source or categories of sources affecting the  commu-
    13  nity  and  the potential routes of human exposure to pollution from such
    14  source or categories of sources; the potential or documented  cumulative
    15  human  health  effects of such pollution; and the potential or projected
    16  contribution of the proposed action to existing pollution burdens in the
    17  community and potential health effects of such contribution, taking into
    18  account existing pollution burdens. When an action is to be carried  out
    19  or approved by two or more agencies, such determination shall be made as
    20  early as possible after the designation of the lead agency.
    21    § 7. Subdivision 8 of section 8-0109 of the environmental conservation
    22  law,  as  amended by chapter 252 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read
    23  as follows:
    24    8. When an agency decides to carry out or approve an action which  has
    25  been  the subject of an environmental impact statement, it shall make an
    26  explicit finding that the requirements of this section have been met and
    27  that consistent with social,  economic  and  other  essential  consider-
    28  ations, to the maximum extent practicable, adverse environmental effects
    29  revealed in the environmental impact statement process will be minimized
    30  or  avoided.  No action related to construction of a school facility, as
    31  defined in section three hundred thirty-two of the highway law, shall be
    32  carried out or approved if it may cause or contribute to, either direct-
    33  ly or indirectly, a disproportionate or inequitable, or both  dispropor-
    34  tionate and inequitable pollution burden on a school facility located in
    35  an environmental justice community.
    36    §  8.  Subparagraph  (i)  of paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section
    37  8-0113 of the environmental conservation law, as added by chapter 612 of
    38  the laws of 1975, is amended to read as follows:
    39    (i) Actions or classes of actions that are likely to require  prepara-
    40  tion  of  environmental  impact  statements, including actions which may
    41  cause or contribute to, either  directly  or  indirectly,  a  dispropor-
    42  tionate   or   inequitable  or  both  disproportionate  and  inequitable
    43  pollution burden on a school facility in an environmental justice commu-
    44  nity;
    45    § 9. Subdivision 2 of section 8-0113 of the environmental conservation
    46  law is amended by adding a new paragraph (m) to read as follows:
    47    (m) The form and content of an existing burden report which shall,  at
    48  the  minimum, include baseline monitoring data collected in the affected
    49  environmental justice community school facility within two years of  the
    50  application for a permit or approval and shall identify: (i) each exist-
    51  ing  pollution  source  or  categories  of  sources affecting the school
    52  facility in an environmental justice community and the potential  routes
    53  of  human exposure to pollution from that source or categories of sourc-
    54  es; (ii) ambient concentration of regulated air pollutants and regulated
    55  or unregulated toxic air pollutants; (iii) traffic  volume;  (iv)  noise
    56  and  odor levels; (v) exposure or potential exposure to lead paint; (vi)
        S. 922--A                           6

     1  exposure or potential exposure to contaminated drinking water  supplies;
     2  (vii)  proximity  to  solid  or  hazardous  waste management facilities,
     3  wastewater treatment plants, hazardous waste  sites,  and  petroleum  or
     4  chemical  manufacturing,  storage,  treatment  or  disposal  facilities;
     5  (viii) the potential or documented cumulative human  health  effects  of
     6  the  foregoing  pollution  sources;  and (ix) the potential or projected
     7  contribution of the proposed action to existing pollution burdens on the
     8  school facility and  potential  health  effects  of  such  contribution,
     9  taking into account existing pollution burdens.
    10    §  10.  Section  408  of  the education law is amended by adding a new
    11  subdivision 7 as follows:
    12    7. Beginning upon the effective date of this  subdivision,  no  school
    13  building  shall  be erected, purchased, or enlarged within a distance of
    14  six hundred feet of a major roadway, as defined in section three hundred
    15  thirty-two of the highway law, nor shall the advertisement for bids  for
    16  the  execution of the plans and specifications for such school buildings
    17  be placed in any school district  until  the  plans  and  specifications
    18  shall  have been submitted to the commissioner and her approval endorsed
    19  thereon. The commissioner shall not approve such  plans  and  specifica-
    20  tions  unless  the department of transportation and the agency preparing
    21  the environmental impact statement in accordance with article  eight  of
    22  the  environmental  conservation  law have determined that the pollution
    23  sources around such project do not and will not constitute an actual  or
    24  potential  endangerment  of public health to persons who would attend or
    25  be employed at or otherwise use the school building  or  the  exceptions
    26  set  forth  in section three hundred thirty-two of the highway law would
    27  otherwise apply.
    28    § 11. 1. (a) Within 90 days of the effective date of this section, the
    29  New York State Department of Transportation or designee  shall  begin  a
    30  statewide   census  of  public  school  facilities  currently  enrolling
    31  students that are within 600 feet of a major roadway. The New York State
    32  Department of Transportation shall make this data available annually  on
    33  its  public-facing  website,  indicating each school by its name and zip
    34  code, as well as reporting the average air quality index for the year as
    35  compiled by the Department  of  Environmental  Conservation  and  asthma
    36  outcomes as compiled by the Department of Health.
    37    (b) The Department of Environmental Conservation may request and shall
    38  receive  from  any  department,  division,  board, bureau, commission or
    39  other agency of the state or any state public authority such assistance,
    40  information and data as will enable it to properly carry out its  powers
    41  and duties under this section.
    42    2.  (a)  After the first year of implementation, upon determination of
    43  sufficient available resources, school districts with a  school  located
    44  near  a major roadway as defined in section 332 of the highway law shall
    45  report updates on maintenance and  quality  assurance  for  air  quality
    46  mitigation measures, including but not limited to whether school facili-
    47  ties currently have ventilation systems, including but not limited to:
    48    (i) the name and model of ventilation system;
    49    (ii) the date of installation;
    50    (iii) the date of the last maintenance check; and
    51    (iv)  the  dates  of any upcoming maintenance checks or updates to the
    52  system.
    53    (b) Previous year data  collections  shall  remain  available  to  the
    54  public on the school's website.
    55    § 12. This act shall take effect on the first of April next succeeding
    56  the  date upon which it shall have become a law; provided, however, that
        S. 922--A                           7

     1  section ten of this act shall take effect five years after it shall have
     2  become law; and provided further that school construction projects  with
     3  requests for qualifications issued prior to such effective date shall be
     4  permitted to continue notwithstanding the provisions of this act. Effec-
     5  tive  immediately,  the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or
     6  regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
     7  date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective
     8  date.