(WHITE PLAINS, NY) At today’s Westchester Board of Legislators meeting, several Legislators announced a group of environmental protection priorities that they plan to pursue over the coming term.  The three pieces of Legislation designed to improve the County’s carbon footprint and find financial efficiencies where possible include the “Regional Clean Air Act”, the “Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Implementation Bill” and the “LED Lighting Conversion Act.”

The “Regional Clean Air Act” is sponsored by Legislator Catherine Parker (D-Rye) and would prevent the uses of oil grade numbers 4 and 6 in any stationary combustion installation within Westchester.  New York City has also recently prohibited use of number 4 and 6 fuel in multi-family buildings.  Parker explained, “The use of these oils has clearly contributed to asthma attacks as well as heart and lung disease over an extended period of exposure.  There are many other types of oil in the field that burn cleaner than these do and we hope to convert as many buildings as possible to them.”  Parker’s proposal would prohibit the use of number 6 on and after January 2017 with number 4 being outlawed on and after January 1, 2019.

Legislator Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers) introduced the “Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Implementation Bill”, which would require new or renovated parking lots to designate certain percentages of spots for electric charging stations.  “Electric vehicles emit 75% less carbon dioxide than average vehicles.  Pure battery electric vehicles do not emit tailpipe pollutants, which negatively impact air quality and resident health.  Providing for infrastructure to promote and support electric vehicle use will lead to improvement of the County’s air quality and reduce the County’s production of greenhouses gases,” stated Jenkins.

Legislator Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining, Majority Leader) authored the “LED Lighting Conversion Act”, which would require the County of Westchester to install light emitting diode lights in all County owned facilities over the next three years.  The Cities of Yonkers and New Rochelle have recently seen significant savings from switching streetlights to LED light fixtures similar to the ones proposed in this legislation.  Borgia stated, “Simple efficiencies like this are the kind of things that the County Executive has failed to implement and those failures are a significant symbol of why the County’s finances are in shambles.  With the clear scientific facts in support of the benefits of switching to LED lights, I hope we can move swiftly on this item to begin to realize the savings before the next fiscal year.”    

All legislative background materials can be found at www.westchesterlegislators.com

• ID# 9014: Regional Clean Air Act
• ID# 9015: Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Implementation
• ID# 9016: LED Lighting Conversion Act