Int. No. 712-A
By Council Members Johnson, Constantinides, Arroyo, Chin, Gentile, Richards, Rose, Wills, Koslowitz, Rodriguez, Rosenthal, Menchaca, Vallone, Greenfield, Kallos, Levin, Mealy, Eugene and Ulrich
A Local Law to amend the administrative code, in relation to requiring the department of health and mental hygiene to conduct community air quality surveys and publish the results annually
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter one of title 17 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 17-125 to read as follows:
§ 17-125 Community air quality surveys and annual report. a. For the purposes of this section, "pollutants" means particulate matter that is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, sulfur dioxide and ground-level ozone.
b. The department shall conduct a community air quality survey on an annual basis. Such survey shall:
1. Measure pollutants at street-level at monitoring sites across the city of New York over every season of the year, selected to ensure that the number of monitoring sites provides adequate information to assess the range of common emissions sources and neighborhood pollutant concentrations across the city, as determined by the department. At the discretion of the department, data on ozone may be measured in the summer months only and data on sulfur dioxide may be measured in the winter months only;
2. Determine whether and how concentrations of pollutants near monitor sites vary across the city and the relationship, if any, of such concentrations to local traffic, building emissions and other factors;
3. Identify the major local sources of pollutants that contribute to local variation in the concentrations thereof;
4. Identify patterns of pollutants by geographic area, by source, and by season or time of year;
5. Produce maps indicating the varying concentration levels of pollutants across neighborhoods and by pollutant;
6. Write an annual report summarizing the results of the activities described in paragraphs one through five of this subdivision;
7. Include in such report the findings of any completed or ongoing health surveillance or research studies using community air quality survey data to estimate population exposure to pollutants; and
8. Describe in the report the scientific methodology used to select monitor locations for measuring pollutants and for studying variations in pollutant concentrations.
c. Beginning April 22, 2016, and on or before April 22 annually thereafter, the department shall submit to the speaker of the council a report with the results of the annual community air quality survey for the most recently available year’s analysis. The department shall post a copy of such annual report on the department's website. The data included in such posted report shall be in a machine-readable format.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law, provided that the commissioner of health and mental hygiene may take such measures as are necessary for its implementation, including the promulgation of rules, prior to such effective date.
DSH/DSS
LS 1386
10/2/15