BILL NUMBER:S2020

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the transportation law, in relation to the use of salt
substitutes

PURPOSE:
To prevent road salt from degrading the drinking water
reservoirs located in the New York City Watershed in the area east of
the Hudson River because this area is the most susceptible to storm
water runoff from nearby road salt activities.

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.