New legislation reduces waste capacity in historically overburdened communities and advances borough equity in waste infrastructure
Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation that will reduce the amount of waste that can be taken at transfer stations in four neighborhoods that bear the brunt of the city’s waste management infrastructure. Intro 157-C, known as the Waste Equity bill and sponsored by Council Member Antonio Reynoso, provides much needed relief to communities in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens that have disproportionately shared the city’s waste management infrastructure and will prohibit the creation of new waste transfer stations in neighborhoods that handle at least 10 percent of the City’s waste.
“For far too long, a few communities have been saturated by waste transfer stations and resulting truck traffic. We are creating a more equitable city by shifting the burden away from those communities, and protecting other neighborhoods from facing this inequity in the future,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Half a million fewer tons of trash in these neighborhoods each year means cleaner air, less congested streets, and safer environments for our kids.”
“Low-income communities have been overburdened by the amount of waste handled for far too long. North Brooklyn, the South Bronx and Southeastern Queens have – for generations – been dumping grounds for this city’s waste. This law will place a limit on the amount of trash moving in and out of neighborhoods that for years have taken on an unfair burden. I thank Council Members Antonio Reynoso and Stephen Levin for their leadership on this and Mayor Bill de Blasio for his support,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
“This legislation will bring much needed relief to these communities that have borne the burden of our waste management infrastructure for far too long,” said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia. “Residents of North Brooklyn, the South Bronx and Southeast Queens have fought for decades to achieve justice. I want to thank the sponsors of this legislation for their relentless efforts to bring relief to these overburdened communities.”
The law reduces the amount of waste that can be processed at waste transfer stations in certain neighborhoods, and will dramatically reduce truck traffic associated with garbage collection in neighborhoods that have historically handled the majority of the city’s waste. Through this plan, neighborhoods including the South Bronx, Northern Brooklyn, and Jamaica will decrease their share of the City’s overall waste-collection capacity and will ensure that capacity is more equitably distributed throughout the city. The bill also restricts the construction of new waste transfer stations or additional permitted capacity in overburdened neighborhoods to ensure a decrease in truck-related traffic, pollution, and subsequent negative health effects on people living in those neighborhoods. Combined, these initiatives will decrease pollution-related health effects in neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens while forging a more equitable sanitation infrastructure that balances infrastructural burdens across all boroughs.
The law marks the final chapter of the City’s Solid Waste Management Plan, which will dramatically reduce truck traffic associated with waste collection and hauling in neighborhoods historically overburdened by waste processing infrastructure, including North Brooklyn, the South Bronx and Southeast Queens. DSNY estimates that this bill will move between 1200 and 1800 tons per day of waste out of these neighborhoods, which means 120 to 180 trucks per day (on average) that will no longer dump waste in these four overburdened community boards, and about 60 tractor trailers per day that will no longer haul waste out of these neighborhoods.
In 2017, these four districts received a total of 15,045 tons per day of waste. See below.
| District | Tons per day |
| BX01 | 3824 |
| BX02 | 2537 |
| BK01 | 7003 |
| QN12 | 1682 |
The bill will reduce the amount of waste that at private transfer stations can accept by 50 percent in North Brooklyn and 33 percent in the South Bronx and Southeast Queens. It also promotes the development of new recycling and organics processing capacity and provides exemptions for waste transfer stations that export waste by rail. The capacity reductions will take effect at each transfer station’s annual permit renewal beginning October 1, 2019.
It also prohibits the creation of new transfer station capacity in the future in any community board that already has an unfair share of waste infrastructure. The bill requires the Sanitation Department to submit an annual report on waste transfer stations and create a voluntary displaced employee list for any employees of transfer stations that close as a result of this law.
Today’s bill signing marks the final chapter of the City’s Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP), which was adopted by the City Council in 2006 and is based on the concept of borough equity – that no borough should be responsible for managing another’s garbage.
After the closure of the Fresh Kills landfill in 2001, almost all of city’s waste was exported by long-haul truck from privately-operated transfer stations. Because of zoning and siting restrictions, these stations were predominately located in three neighborhoods in North Brooklyn, Southeast Queens, and the South Bronx. As a result, these neighborhoods were disproportionately impacted with health concerns and other hazards associated with heavy truck traffic, including air pollution and increased risks for pedestrians and cyclists.
The SWMP has dramatically reduced truck traffic associated with waste collection by moving away from transporting waste by long-haul truck, to transporting waste through a system of marine and rail transfer stations spread throughout the five boroughs. When completed next year, this new waste transfer system will reduce truck traffic associated with waste export by more than 60 million miles per year (including more than 5 million miles in and around New York City) and slash greenhouse gas emissions by 34,000 tons annually. The SWMP will also offer the city flexibility and resiliency in the case of a natural disaster or other emergency by providing a new world class infrastructure.
Today, seven of nine long-term export facilities envisioned in the SWMP are open and operating, including two of the converted Marine Transfer Stations. In addition, the Southwest Brooklyn Marine Transfer Station is scheduled to open in the fall and the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station in Manhattan is scheduled to open in spring 2019.
“It is a momentous day for North Brooklyn and environmental justice communities citywide” said Council Member Antonio Reynoso, Chair of the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management. “Intro 157’s enactment into law will finally provide protections for communities that have shouldered a disproportionate burden in the City’s waste processing system for decades. Low income communities of color will no longer serve as the dumping ground for the majority of the city’s trash. I applaud Mayor de Blasio for signing this legislation and Commissioner Garcia for being a critical supporter and partner. I want to thank the dozens of advocates who worked tirelessly to make today a reality and Speaker Johnson for shepherding this legislation through the Council. Today, folks in North Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and Southeast Queens can breathe easier knowing that future generations will not suffer from the high pollution and dangerous truck traffic associated with these transfer stations.”
EDITOR'S NOTE:
This legislation leaves loopholes in these overburdened communities, which could increase not decrease the amount of waste in these areas where there is rail transportation, such as the South Bronx. Here is the loophole in this legislation. "It also promotes the development of new recycling and organics processing capacity and provides exemptions for waste transfer stations that export waste by rail."
Waste is already transported from the South Bronx Oak Point Yard in CB 2 to upstate New York or even out of state. The waste travels up the CSX/Metro North rail link along the Hudson line.
On July 18th 2013 one such waste train derailed just north of the Metro North Marble Hill Station. The CSX Waste Train used a third rail to go around a Metro North passenger train (#781 local to Croton on the Harmon), that was held up in the station so the CSX Waste Train could pass it. Then the CSX Waste Train would return to the northbound track, but as the CSX Waste Train went to the main track it encountered a curve where nine cars from the middle of the train had derailed, spilling containers filled with waste on to all the tracks. A few busted open.
Upon an investigation by Metro North and the NTSB of the Point of the Derailment investigators found that the insulators on the Pandrol Clips holding the rails to the concrete ties had slipped out of place slightly, with a noticeable gap between them and the rails in some areas. At the POD the rail was Bowed slightly outward resulting in a 5/16-inch (7.9 mm) variance from gauge.
The NTSB concluded that the result in soil infiltration of the underlying ballast, which had in itself been the result of inadequate drainage. As trains passed over this section of track, the stored water was pumped within the ballast, compromising the tracks ability to support the train. Eventually the ties began to crack in the center and abrade at the ends, and the rails themselves begin to cant outwards, gradually exceeding permitted gauge limits, as the track had in this case. The NTSB faulted Metro North for failing to follow its own maintenance schedule.
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