Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens), along with more than 80 of his colleagues, urged the Speaker of the Assembly to add a $3 million allocation in the budget to continue a project started in 2013 aimed at upgrading antiquated high-emissions locomotive, owned and leased out by the Long Island Rail Road for the purpose of hauling freight and waste throughout New York City and State. This retrofitting initiative has received broad-based attention and backing from the Governor’s office, as well as numerous state agencies involved in procuring the equipment. The overwhelming support for the initiative was aided by a remarkably fast execution of the previous year’s upgrade allocation of $3 million, which will likely allow an upgraded locomotive to be placed in operation by December of 2014. Outside of the Assembly, the request for additional funding received support from Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-Queens), Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-Brooklyn), Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale).

The locomotive fleet targeted for upgrade is currently exempted from the Clean Air Act of 1970, operating through New York City and State with standards that fall far below that which is currently required of locomotive engines by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The pollution emitted from these trains have devastating health and quality of life effects for the many residential neighborhoods it passes through in New York State. The benefits of upgrading to Tier 4 standards are expected to be an annual reduction in particulate matter and nitrogen oxide, known by products of diesel engines linked to lung infections among myriad diseases, by up to 76%, or 120 tons of emission over 10 years. Continued funding for this project will allow New York State to become a national leader in achieving a clean, publicly-owned environmentally sustainable freight rail fleet.

Assemblyman Hevesi, along with his numerous colleagues, and the clean rail community activist group Civic United for Railroad Environmental Solutions (CURES), have been working since 2006 to resolve burdens that have arisen as a result of increased freight shipping on antiquated locomotives throughout New York City and State.