File #: Res 0656-2006    Version: * Name: Develop a comprehensive plan to address truck traffic pollution in the South Bronx area.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Transportation
On agenda: 12/20/2006
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to develop a comprehensive plan to address truck traffic pollution in the South Bronx area, which is contributing to increased asthma rates among South Bronx children.
Sponsors: Helen D. Foster, Alan J. Gerson, Sara M. Gonzalez, Robert Jackson, Letitia James, G. Oliver Koppell, Darlene Mealy, Michael C. Nelson, Annabel Palma, James Sanders, Jr., Larry B. Seabrook, Albert Vann
Council Member Sponsors: 12
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
12/31/2009*Helen D. Foster City Council Filed (End of Session)  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/20/2006*Helen D. Foster City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/20/2006*Helen D. Foster City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/20/2006*Helen D. Foster City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available

Res. No. 656

 

Resolution calling upon the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to develop a comprehensive plan to address truck traffic pollution in the South Bronx area, which is contributing to increased asthma rates among South Bronx children.

 

By Council Members Foster, Gerson, Gonzalez, Jackson, James, Koppell, Mealy, Nelson, Palma, Sanders Jr., Seabrook, Vann and The Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)

 

                     Whereas, On March 30, 2006, New York University released the results of a five-year study which demonstrated that truck traffic pollution is associated with increased asthma rates among South Bronx children; and

                     Whereas, The study employed a mobile van to assess local pollution levels, and utilized a “Backpack Study” method that monitored children from four South Bronx schools who carried backpacks with battery-powered pumps, air filters, and other instruments that captured pollution levels; and

                     Whereas, According to New York University Associate Professor of Environmental Medicine George Thurston, the study revealed that asthma symptoms, like wheezing, doubled on days of highest truck traffic pollution, confirming the correlation between truck traffic pollution and asthma; and

Whereas, Professor Thurston also stated that the study indicated that between 5% to 10% of the fine particle pollution that consisted of soot from diesel exhaust had the worst effect on children’s asthma; and

Whereas, The study also revealed that about one-fifth of all pre-K to 8th grade students in the South Bronx attend schools located within less than two blocks of a major highway, and were twice as likely to attend a school near a highway as were children in other parts of the City; and

Whereas, Elected officials at the federal and state levels, including Congressman Jose Serrano who released the results of the study, and the Legislature and Governor of New York State, which adopted and enacted a law that requires all diesel vehicles owned by the State or working on State projects to use low-sulfur diesel fuel and be retrofitted with the best available technology to reduce emissions, have recognized the importance of reducing harmful emissions and alleviating traffic pollution; and

Whereas, On a local level, the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene should work together to examine this problem and reduce truck traffic pollution in the South Bronx area; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to develop a comprehensive plan to address truck traffic pollution in the South Bronx area, which is contributing to increased asthma rates among South Bronx children.

 

RK 11/29/06

LS 2150