ABINANTI LEADS BOARD IN UNANIMOUS VOTE TO PASS TWO MORE “HEALTHY AIR BILLS” AT SPECIAL MEETING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 28, 2006

Contact: Thomas J. Abinanti
Tel: (914) 328-9000 or (914) 995-2821

“TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY CANNOT BE TOMORROW’S POLLUTION.” --Abinanti

Westchester County Legislator Thomas J. Abinanti (D, I, WF- Greenburgh), chair of the Legislature's Committee on the Environment & Energy, yesterday at a Special Meeting led the full Board in the unanimous passage of two more bills in a series of “Healthy Air” measures.

The two bills will now prohibit the allowable idling time in Westchester for all diesel trucks and busses for more than 3 minutes, and mandate cell phone recycling. The latter was introduced by the County Executive.

“Today’s technology should not be tomorrow’s pollution,” Abinanti stated.

Abinanti noted that the first of the “Healthy Air” bills, mandating any diesel powered “on-road” and “non-road” vehicles operated by the County or county contractors to use ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and the best available anti-pollution technology, was unanimously passed by the Board at their February 6, 2006 meeting.

According to Abinanti, the “Healthy Air” bills were the result of a yearlong, intensive review of Westchester’s air quality by the “Healthy Air Task Force” – a sub-committee to the Board’s Environment Committee, which was headed up by Abinanti and fellow lawmaker Michael B. Kaplowitz (D, I, WF-Somers), the immediate past chair of the Committee.

“This is common sense legislation that will improve the day-to-day quality of life for Westchester’s residents,” said Kaplowitz, who chairs the Legislature’s Committee on Budget & Appropriations.

The Healthy Air Task Force was created by Abinanti in August 2004 to provide the Environment Committee with proposals for County legislation that would reduce particulate matter and other harmful carcinogens that are polluting Westchester’s air. The Healthy Air Task Force consists of members of the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and Environmental Defense.

The final measure in the “Healthy Air Bills” series would prohibit the continued distribution of fuels with high sulfur content for heating and hot water production purposes, and is scheduled for discussion later this year.