Introduction NYC Cycling 1. NYC Bike Policy 2. State of NYC Cycling 3. Cyclists & Streets “A Bike and a Prayer” Riding Infrastructure 4. Street Design 5. Bridges 6. Road Surfaces 7. Greenways 8. Parks 9. Bicycles and Transit 10. Reducing Traffic Security 11. Bicycle Theft 12. On-Street Parking 13. Indoor Parking On the Job Cycling 14. Bicycle Messengers “Fifth, Park & Madison” 15. Freight Cycles 16. Gov't Cycling Reducing Risks 17. Accidents “Three Who Died”  Air Pollution
Bicycle Education 19. Schools 20. Public Education Appendices |
Chapter 18:
Air Pollution a) Bad Air b) Pollutants and Damage They Do c) Pollution Control: Too Little, Too Late d) The Bicycle Solution e) Trial of the QB6: The Fight for Clean Air in NYC f) Chapter 18 Recommendations Table 18: Know Your Poisons: N.Y.C. Pollution Scorecard Sidebar: Clean-Air Legislation
Clean-Air LegislationFEDERAL
The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments require that new 1996 cars emit 35% fewer hydrocarbons and 60% fewer nitrogen oxides (both are ozone-creating chemicals). More importantly, the Amendments, along with the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) require states to develop detailed transportation plans emphasizing regional transportation planning, VMT reduction, and penalties for non-compliance. The federal government could withhold highway funding and impose its own plans, although in the past Congress caved in to state and local pressure — much of it from New York-area senators and representatives — and eliminated this authority. NEW YORK STATEIn 1991, New York State announced plans to adopt the “California Rules” restricting vehicle emissions. Starting in 1994, rising percentages of vehicles sold in New York must be “low-emission” or electric. Under this regulation, cars sold in New York in 2003 would pollute 75% less than federal standards. However, the regulation must be backed up by more stringent vehicle inspection and maintenance programs to be effective. Some experts also question whether the necessary technologies can be developed in time, and at this writing the auto industry is challenging the regulation in court. NEW YORK CITYNew York City's Air Pollution Control Code contains only two provisions to limit vehicle air pollution. First, no engine may idle for more than three minutes, and tailpipe emissions must be invisible. Officials drive to various sites to enforce this law and return an appallingly low 25 summonses a week, according to the De-partment of Environmental Protection's Enforcement Division. Second, Local Law 6, enacted in 1991, requires rising percentages of buses and other new vehicles purchased by the city and private transit operators to run on non-diesel or non-gasoline fuels. [10] City buses currently emit 30-70 times more carbon particles than automobiles. [11] Carbon particulates link with lead, cadmium and benzene, carcinogens released by burning diesel fuel in bus engines, and carry them into New Yorkers' lungs. While cyclists and walkers will appreciate the city's switch to less-polluting bus fuels, alternative fuels also pollute — methanol, for instance, releases toxic formaldehyde.
NOTES:10. Local Law 6 directed the City to purchase 350 Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs) by the end of fiscal year 1991. For FY93, 30% of new vehicles purchased by the city would be AFVs; FY94, 60%; after FY95, 80%. Beginning in FY95, private bus fleet operators must purchase AFVs as well.11. NRDC, op. cit, p. 97. a) Bad Air b) Pollutants and Damage They Do c) Pollution Control: Too Little, Too Late d) The Bicycle Solution e) Trial of the QB6: The Fight for Clean Air in NYC f) Chapter 18 Recommendations Table 18: Know Your Poisons: N.Y.C. Pollution Scorecard Sidebar: Clean-Air Legislation
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