Directs the commissioner of transportation to use a salt substitute to deice certain highways bordering the Kensico and Croton watershed

Summary of provisions

This bill would: (1) authorize the Commissioner of the NYS Department of Transportation to identify roadways built within 1/4 mile of the perimeters of New York City drinking water reservoirs located east of the Hudson River; (2) designate such roads as "environmentally sensitive" and prohibit the application of road salt to de-ice environmentally sensitive roadways; and (3) authorize the Commissioner to use potassium acetate to de-ice environmentally sensitive roadways and to readjust the 1/4 mile limit if that area is not sufficient to address the significant sources of road salt runoff.

Existing law

The use of road salt to de-ice roadways located in close proximity to drinking water reservoirs is permitted.

Justification

Degradation due to pollutants that runoff from the highway is a serious problem for most of New York City's water supply because there are many roads in the Kensico and Croton basins that are located in close proximity to the reservoirs situated therein. One avoidable pollutant is road salt. Road salt pollutes nearby drinking water reservoirs when it is released during snow melts. While its use is important for safe highway transportation management, there is an environmentally benign alternative potassium acetate. It is more costly than road salt, but if used judiciously in only the areas in closest proximity to the most threatened reservoirs, its cost would be offset by the avoidance of costs to remediate impaired drinking water supplies. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), potassium acetate is nontoxic to aquatic habitat and humans; and it was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration as effective for runway de-icing operations. Moreover potassium acetate contains no chlorides so it is non-corrosive. It is safer for structural steel and reinforcing steel embedded in concrete and readily biodegrades with little environmental impact. It is currently used by the National Park Service for use on icy mountain roads in Yosemite National park. The EPA considers the use of potassium acetate as an important tool in reducing environmental impacts associated with storm water run-off. Annual salt use in the U.S. is approaching 12 million tons with New York reporting the third highest application rate in the nation with 16.6 tons/lane mile on average, ranking just below Massachusetts and Vermont. A USGS report (March 2000) found that the annual road salt application rates

in the Croton watershed basin were (in tons per mile of roadway): 37 on two-lane town, county and state roads; 75 on the Taconic parkway, and 298 in Interstate 84. These rates are some of the highest in the nation. The report also found a stable linear correlation between reservoirs (the focus of the study was to measure groundwater contamination). As development pressures escalate around the Croton watershed reservoirs, the pressure to keep the roads salted during icy and snowy days will also increase. Rough cost estimates for road salting are $30/ton for the salt and roughly KS/ton for all associated storage and application costs. Approximately $10 million/year is spent nationally to mitigate salt impacts on drinking water, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest states. This amount does not include costs associated with damage to roadside vegetation, bridges and vehicles. For each application of salt, the product alone costs about $4 per lane mile or $8 per mile per two lane road. In comparison, potassium acetate is sold in gallons and costs about $3.30 per gallon when purchased in bulk. It costs about $175 per lane mile for each application. Clearly the product must be used judiciously and only in areas most threatening to drinking water supplies.

Legislative history

2010 - S.2255/A.347 Referred to Transportation 2007 - Referred to Transportation 2006 - Referred to Transportation

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become law.