What's happening
This bill authorizes New York to limit idling of railroad engines near residential areas and establishes emissions standards for trains.
Why it matters
Directly targets air quality concerns. by limiting how long railroad engines can idle near residential properties, potentially reducing residents’ exposure to harmful diesel emissions and noise, especially in urban areas.
Excludes MTA-operated trains. , focusing the regulation primarily on freight and non-MTA passenger railroads, which may have older engines with higher emissions, thus addressing a specific gap in current regulation.
Mandates statewide emissions standards for trains. , requiring the state environmental commissioner to set and regularly update rules for permissible emissions—meaning railroad operators will need to modernize or retrofit engines, which could have both environmental and economic impacts.
Strengthens enforcement. by ensuring that violations can be penalized even if required signage is missing, and by requiring the posting of signs in areas with frequent complaints—making it harder for railroads to evade responsibility and potentially empowering local communities to hold railroads accountable.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Limit Train Engine Idling
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
408
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. M. G. MILLER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the transportation law, in relation to authorizing the department of transportation to prohibit idling railroads in the city of New York; and to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to railroad emissions regulations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The transportation law is amended by adding a new section 14-n to read as follows:
§ 14-n. Additional purposes of the department; idling railroad engines. 1. For the purposes of this section, the term "railroad" shall mean a private or public railroad operating in this state carrying either freight, passengers or freight and passengers, but shall not include any railroad operated by the metropolitan transportation authority or any of its subsidiaries.
2. The department shall prohibit a railroad engine to idle for longer than ten minutes while parking, standing, or stopping when within five hundred feet of any residential property.
3. The provisions of subdivision two of this section shall not apply when the railroad engine is parking, stopping or standing in a municipal parking lot.
4. The department shall post signs relating to prohibited idling where practicable and include the maximum penalty that may be imposed for a violation of subdivision two of this section. Such signs shall be posted at other appropriate locations throughout the state, as determined by the department, including but not limited to, locations for which a municipality receives a substantial number of complaints of idling railroad engines.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02784-01-7
A. 408 2
5. In any proceeding relating to a violation of the restrictions on idling it shall not be a defense that a sign required by this section was absent at the time of the violation.
§ 2. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new section 19-0308 to read as follows: § 19-0308. Railroad emissions regulations.
On or before September first, two thousand seventeen, the commissioner, in consultation with the department of transportation, shall adopt rules and regulations setting forth acceptable emissions standards for railroad trains operating in this state as well as a timetable for which such railroad trains shall be required to meet such standards. Such regulations shall apply to every railroad train operating in this state. The commissioner shall review and revise such regulations annually as he or she deems necessary.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.