Int. No. 353-A
By Council Members Gennaro, The Speaker (Council Member Quinn), Liu, Yassky, Koppell, Mendez, Brewer, Clarke, Comrie, Fidler, Foster, James, Mark-Viverito, Martinez, McMahon, Palma, Recchia Jr., Sanders Jr., Stewart, Weprin, White Jr., Jackson, Gentile, Seabrook, Garodnick, Lappin, Sears, Lanza and The Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to clearly identifying clean air vehicles and providing information regarding such vehicles.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Section 19-514 of Chapter 5 of title 19 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new subdivision i to read as follows:
i. Any clean air vehicle licensed by the commission shall display the words "CLEAN AIR VEHICLE" or such other term or symbol approved by the commission that identifies such vehicle as a clean air vehicle in a minimum of two prominent locations on such vehicle's exterior. For the purposes of this subdivision, "clean air vehicle" shall mean any taxicab or for-hire vehicle approved for use by the commission that receives an air pollution score of 9.0 or higher from the United States environmental protection agency or its successor agency and is estimated to emit 6.4 tons or less of equivalent carbon dioxide per year by the United States department of energy or its successor agency; provided that such vehicle is powered by the fuel for which such vehicle meets the above-specified standards. In the event the test method used by the United States environmental protection agency or its successor agency for determining fuel economy is adjusted in a way that impacts United States department of energy or its successor agency estimates of equivalent carbon dioxide emissions for motor vehicles, the commission shall, for vehicles that fall within the affected model years, modify by rule the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions estimate included herein so as to appropriately reflect such adjustment's impact consistent with the intent of this section.
§2. Title 19 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 19-536 to read as follows:
§19-536 Clean air vehicle labeling and information. a. For the purposes of this section, the term "clean air vehicle" shall mean any taxicab approved for use by the commission that receives an air pollution score of 9.0 or higher from the United States environmental protection agency or its successor agency and is estimated to emit 6.4 tons or less of equivalent carbon dioxide per year by the United States department of energy or its successor agency; provided that such vehicle is powered by the fuel for which such vehicle meets the above-specified standards. In the event the test method used by the United States environmental protection agency or its successor agency for determining fuel economy is adjusted in a way that impacts United States department of energy or its successor agency estimates of equivalent carbon dioxide emissions for motor vehicles, the commission shall, for vehicles that fall within the affected model years, modify by rule the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions estimate included herein so as to appropriately reflect such adjustment's impact consistent with the intent of this section.
b. The commission shall develop and provide information to each owner of a clean air vehicle, which shall be made available for viewing in each such vehicle in a manner that is clearly apparent to a passenger located in the back seat of such vehicle, and which (i) identifies such vehicle as a clean air vehicle; (ii) includes the address of the commission web page(s) required to be established pursuant to section 19-534 of this chapter; and (iii) includes, to the extent practicable, the estimated air quality benefits associated with the use of such vehicle and the type of fuel used to power such vehicle.
§3. This local law shall take effect one hundred eighty days after its enactment into law.
DD 11/28/06
9:30 p.m.