Memorandum in Opposition

Senate One-House Budget, Article VII TED, Part VV March 12, 2012

Purpose: The Senates 2012-13 TED Budget bill (S.6258-C) includes a provision that would delay implementation of the States requirement that all #2 heating oil sold in the state have a sulfur content of no more than 15 parts per million (Environmental Conservation Law 19-0325) by three years. Statement of opposition: Today, the combustion of sulfur-laden #2 heating oil, which has an average sulfur content of 2,600 ppm, contributes significantly to the high ambient concentrations of ozone and fine particles found in New York State particularly in New York City and its surrounding counties. With no limit on the amount of sulfur in this fuel, the exhaust particles that form from its use are known to exacerbate allergies, trigger asthma attacks, decrease lung function, cause heart attacks and shorten life expectancy. Since it has such a high level of sulfur, combustion of heating oil makes it the second largest source of sulfur dioxide emissions in the state only the power sector emits more. In fact, burning this fuel causes nearly 42,000 tons of sulfur dioxide to be emitted each year. The law as it stands today will decrease harmful sulfur pollution from heating oil by over 99.4%. Thats the equivalent of shutting down two coal-fired power plants. Also, using the cleaner ultra low sulfur 15 ppm fuel has been shown to reduce nitrogen oxides, which are a key ingredient in the formation of smog, by 20-30%. Burning this cleaner fuel will decrease incidents of asthma, heart attacks and other breathing-related health problems. Additionally, use of lower sulfur heating oil will save consumers money through increased heating efficiency, longer boiler life, and the ability to take advantage of government energy efficiency programs. The purchasing cost of ultra low sulfur heating oil is also comparable with that of traditional oil; often the price has been lower than that of traditional heating oil. It is worth noting that implementing Environmental Conservation Law 19-03 on time is necessary to implement a recent New York City law, which requires No. 4 heating oil to reduce its sulfur content to 1,500ppm by October 2012. Because No. 4 oil is made by mixing No. 2 and No. 6 oils, heating oil companies will be unable to comply with the New York City law - and all state residents will breathe dirtier air if the state delays implementation of its own heating oil plan.

Supply of ultra low sulfur heating oil is readily available today, and is the exact same product as on-road diesel fuel, which also has a national requirement of 15ppm. In the case that supply becomes unavailable or cost becomes an issue, the law already has a built-in mechanism giving the Governor power to suspend implementation of the law by executive order. For these reasons our groups opposes Part VV, of the Senates Article VII TED bill. For more information contact: Michael Seilback, Lung Association, 631.265.3848x16, mseilback@lungne.org Rich Kassel, NRDC, 212.727.4454, rkassel@nrdc.org Mary Barber,EDF, 212.616.1351, mbarber@edf.org Joe Stelling ,NYPIRG, 518.436.0876x268, jstelling@nypirg.org Ricardo Gotla, NYLCV, 212.361.6350x209, rgotla@nylcv.org Ross Gould, Environmental Advocates, 518.462.5526x240, rgould@eany.org Peggy Sheppard, WEACT, 212.961.1000x306, peggy@weact.org