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KAMINSKYNYSENATEGOV
V r_ JUDICIARY
E-MAIL LOCALGOVERNMENT
KAMINSKY(yNYSENATE COV TRANSPORTATION
SENATOR TODD KAMI NSKY
9TH
SENATE OJSTRICT VETERANS. HOMELAND SECURITY &
MILITARY AFFAIRS
SCIENCE. TECHNOLOGY. INCUBATION AND
E NT R E PRE N EU RS H IP SELE CT COMM ITE E
March 23, 2017

Senator John Flanagan, Majority Leader

Room 909 Legislative Office Building
Albany, New York 12247

SenatorJeff Klein, Independent Democratic Conference Leader

Room 913 Legislative Office Building
Albany, New York 12247

Dear Senators Flanagan and Klein:

\Ve write to ask you to reverse the position put forth by your respective conferences
that delays final compliance with the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2006 (DERA), and
removes DE1{As requirements for subcontractors.

The rationale is twofold. First, neither Governor Cuomo nor the Assembly saw fit to
include the DEltA delay in their budget proposals. Second, a financial plan has been provided
through roughly $117 mil on coming to New York from the Volkswagen Mitigation Fund. These
funds are designed specifically to support programs that clean up air quality due to dirty diesel.

Fully funding DERi\ with this money will mean New Yorks most vulnerable
populationchildren will have cleaner air to breathe. With asthma rates already at crisis levels as
shown by a multitude of reports, now is not the time to consign New Yorkers to another two years
of polluted air. In the Bronx, 20-percent of children have asthma, while 25-percent of children were
suffering in one school in Buffalo, and in South Albany, 1,000 diesel trucks pass by the Ezra
Prentice Homes every day. This is quite literally a life and death situation for many New Yorkers
suffering from asthma attacks, lung disease, and lung cancer, all of which are linked to the soot
produced by diesel exhaust.

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 Statewide, the effects of diesel pollution are staggering; 1.4 million adults and 315,000
children are suffering from asthma. By reducing this pollution and therefore confronting asthma
rates, there are fiscal savings to be had. According to the Office of the State Comptroller, asthma
costs taxpayers $1.3 billion each year to treat. This threat is real and will not dissipate on its own.

We ask that you join our conference, the Assembly Majorin, and the Executive in
moving fonvard to fully implement DERA this year. Our kids need clean air and we have the
resources this year to deliver it.

Sincerely,

Senator Todd Kaminsky. 9b District SenatorJoseph Addabbo, 15th District

Senator John Brooks, 8m District
Senator Liz Krueger, 28 District
Senator Roxanne J. Persaud, 9th District
Senatorjos Serrano, 29th District
SenatorJ. Gustavo Rivera, 33 District
Senator Jamaal Bailey, 36t1t District
Senator Daniel Squadron, 26th District
Senator Toby Stavisky, 16th District
Senator Neil D. Breslin, 44K District
Senator George Latimer, 37 District
SenatorJames Sanders,Jr., 10th District
Senator Brad Hoylman, 27 District
Senator Martin Malave Dilan, 18 District
Senator LeroyJ. Comrie,jr., 14 District
Senator Velmanette Montgomery, 25th