BILL NUMBER:  S3103

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to direct the New York state department of
health to conduct a study on the high incidence of asthma in the
borough of the Bronx in the city of New York and to prepare a remedial
plan

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

The general purpose of the bill is to ensure that the State Department
of Health conducts a study of the high incidence of asthma in the
Borough of the Bronx in the City of New York and provide the Governor
and the Legislature with a remedial plan addressing high risk
neighborhoods by examining disparities in: income, race and ethnicity,
public and private housing, proximity to major sources of air
pollution, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of existing medical
facilities.

 SUMMARY AND SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of this bill directs the Commissioner of the New York State
Department of Health to prepare a remedial plan to address high
incidence of asthma in the Borough of the Bronx in the City of New
York.

Section 2 of this bill provides that a study and remedial plan shall
              

be completed within twelve months of the effective date of this act.

Section 3 of this bill provides that this act shall take effect on the
one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become law. The results
of the remedial plan shall be provided to the Governor and the
Legislature no later than eighteen months from the beginning of such
study.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Asthma is a respiratory disease that kills nearly 255,000 people
worldwide each year. Asthma also affects more than one million people
in the state of New York and approximately twenty percent of the
children in the Bronx making this a major health crisis in the
borough. The Bronx County rate of asthma is approximately four to five
times greater than the national average and twenty-one times greater
than some other areas in New York City.  Sixty-six percent of the
Bronx County's inhabited area is affected by major sources of
pollution. This legislation addresses the severe problem of asthma in
the Bronx by utilizing the talents of some of the best public health
professionals in the State of New York by requiring the Department of
Health to prepare what will be in affect a road map to address this
pressing public health issue.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2009/2010- Senate & Assembly Referred to Health.
2011-2012- S.2745
2013-2014- S.926- Passed Senate, delivered to Assembly, referred to
Health.
2015-16: S.1165- Passed Senate & Assembly, delivered to Governor,
vetoed.
 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :  None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill shall take effect the 120th day after becoming law.