Engine idling law ‘breath of fresh air’ for students

On January 28 the New York City Council passed legislation that will limit engine idling in front of schools and authorize city agencies to enforce the new law.
Through its legislation, the Council aims to produce environmental and health benefits at little or no cost to drivers. Heralding the Council’s actions, Speaker Christine Quinn underscored the high asthma rate among New York City children and said the legislative actions were “steps to improve air quality and public health.”
Councilmember John Liu was the lead sponsor of the legislation that will reduce engine idling time around public and private city schools from three minutes to one minute - the restrictions do not apply to emergency vehicles - and “improve public awareness and behavior around our schools,” according to Liu. Additionally, the law mandates that the Environmental Control Board submit a written report to the City Council each year concerning the number of idling violations issued.
Supplementary legislation sponsored by Councilmember David Yassky authorized the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Sanitation to enforce idling restrictions in addition to the agencies previously sanctioned to issue violations. The augmented enforcement, Yassky said, will enable the idling laws to “do what they were designed to do.”
The law also allows for citizens to bring complaints against trucks for violations of the Air Pollution Control Code, including idling.
The Council cited the non-profit Asthma Free School Zone, which has found that one in four New York City kids have asthma, as an impetus for the legislation. The Council’s Environmental Protection Committee Chair James Gennaro called the idling restrictions “a breath of fresh air for our schoolchildren.”
In fact, schoolchildren played a part in passing the idling legislation. Fifth and sixth grade students from P.S. 122’s Gifted and Talented class, with support from Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., presented city lawmakers with data from a year-long research project days before the Council’s January 28 hearing. In addition, one of the students, Eugene Varnedoe, testified during the hearing.
“Every breath of air children take of the toxic fumes emitted by buses idling in school zones can damage their lungs, make them dizzy, even nauseous, can lead to asthma and for those with asthma, to even worse effects,” the sixth grader said.