News from New York State Department of Transportation

For more information contact: Charles Carrier, 518-457-6400

Commissioner Glynn Announces Environmental Initiatives

State Transportation Agency Working on Global Warming and Other Challenges

ALBANY, NY (04/21/2008; 1546)(readMedia)-- On the eve of this year’s Earth Day commemoration, New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Astrid Glynn today announced a series of environmental initiatives, including a charge to the newly created Climate Change/Energy Efficiency Team to develop transportation policy strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by the department and the state’s transportation sector.

“Our environment is influenced by the transportation choices we make,” Commissioner Glynn said. “The transportation system we envision will protect and enhance the environment, while reducing our carbon footprint, conserving natural resources and improving the economy and quality of life for all New Yorkers.”

Commissioner Glynn, who is scheduled to address Albany-area employees about the department’s environmental initiatives tomorrow, also announced expansion of the department’s use of “living snow fences” to control blowing and drifting snow along highways, the posting of information about trees on the department Web site, continuation of the department’s Clean Air New York initiative and the development of informational posters about department research programs that benefit the environmental.

“By making environmental protection a consideration in everything we do, the New York State Department of Transportation is striving to help its employees and all of our transportation partners become better stewards of the environment,” Commissioner Glynn said.

The Climate Change/Energy Efficiency Team was initiated in September 2007 to establish new policies that will lead to a reduction in the air pollutants responsible for global warming. Five work groups have been established to make recommendations for action. In the process, the department has committed to:

• Instituting and promoting policies and strategies that will lead to reducing reliance on petroleum products and greenhouse gases emanating from transportation;

• Changing the way the department designs, constructs, rehabilitates, maintains and operates the transportation infrastructure under its control to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by transportation. This includes explicitly considering climate change and energy efficiency when transportation plans are prepared, the capital program is developed and project alternatives are selected;

• Changing the way the department operates as a state agency and employer to reduce the amount of petroleum products it uses in delivering services to the public and the amount of greenhouse gases emitted;

• Assisting state efforts in forecasting energy constraints and the implications to New York State’s quality of life and economy, particularly from a transportation perspective; and

• Implementing strategies that will adapt the transportation infrastructure to withstand the impacts of climate change, such as changing weather patterns, and help the department and society deal with the anticipated effects of petroleum constraints.

Led by NYSDOT Executive Deputy Commissioner Stanley Gee, department work on greenhouse gases will be done in cooperation with the State Department of Environmental Conservation, the State Energy Research and Development Authority, the Federal Highway Administration, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, construction industry groups, environmental organizations and others. Proposed actions are expected to be announced later this year.

Other new NYSDOT environmental initiatives include:

• Expansion of the department’s living snow-fence program, which encourages department planners and maintenance personnel to utilize vegetative plantings -- where appropriate -- to control blowing and drifting snow along state highways. Plantings range from corn stalks that farmers plant under agreement with NYSDOT to willows, evergreens and flowering shrubs that department personnel plant in highway rights of way;

• The posting of “Trees and NYSDOT” on the department Web site, which provides information about the department’s ongoing commitment to providing trees in appropriate locations, the basis for its planting decisions and the traffic-safety considerations involved. The Web site also provides information about tree pests, invasive tree species and tips on selecting trees for specific locations. The Web site can be accessed at http://www.nysdot.gov/communitytrees;

• Continuation of Clean Air NY, a marketing and outreach program in the New York City metropolitan area that educates residents about small changes they can make in their everyday transportation choices to reduce vehicle miles traveled and improve air quality. The program operates year ‘round and includes Air Quality Action Day notifications when unhealthy levels of particulate matter or ozone are expected, based upon forecasts by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. This year for the first time, cell phone users will be able to receive those alerts as text messages on their telephones; and

• NYSDOT develops and funds many research projects that explore the complex interaction between transportation infrastructure and the environment. Issues being examined include the impacts of winter maintenance practices, noise and air-quality assessments, storm water management, wetland avoidance, stream restoration and interaction of wildlife and roadways. Information on all NYSDOT environmental research projects is available at www.nysdot.gov, key words “environmental research.”

-30-