Low-Sulfur Oil Under Attack by Senate GOP

The implementation of low-sulfur oil for home heating in New York could be delayed and weakened, as the Republican Majority in the Senate is again trying to push back the July 2012 schedule to 2014.
While in the minority, Senate Republicans voted against this initial proposal in 2010, but lost out. A month ago, as the majority, they added this proposal to their version of the budget. But after three-way negotiations and some outcry from environmental and health groups, it was not included in the final package.
Now, being sponsored by the party's #2 guy, Tom Libous, the Senate Republicans are again pushing for a delay until the summer of 2014. Not only would it delay the stricter sulfur standards, it would also relax them by over thirty times, as the maximum allowable sulfur content would go from 15 parts per million to 500 parts per million.
The memo from Libous argues that the current deadline would lead to higher prices, which has been routinely refuted by proponents of the deadline, which includes oil suppliers, like Oil Heat Manufacturers of Central & Eastern NY and the New York Oil Heating Association. “Savings would quickly outweigh the short term jump in price,” said Michael Seilback, the vice president of public policy for the American Lung Association in New York (in March), “and that’s exclusive of the health care savings.”
Additionally, the memo contends that implementation would be costly and not time sensitive, which was flatly rejected by the bill memo that created the low-sulfur guidelines.

Pennies for Parks

The question of "paper or plastic" will be replaced by one penny or no penny if a proposal in the New York Legislature becomes law. A proposal in the senate (SB 4277) from Democrat Jose Serrano and from Democrat Steve Englebright in the Assembly (AB 6272), would impose a one penny tax on single use carryout plastic bags to help fund state parks and historic sites.
The idea behind these bills is that the under-funded state park systems would benefit from an additional source of revenue for capital expenditures, which could be realized by charging a one cent per bag tax. Their bill memo's argue that the state park system's are already in need of funds, which justifies this nominal fee.
This proposal has the strong support of the Open Space Institute, which is looking for any source of revenue in the wake of the $17 million in proposed cuts by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget. Erik Kulleseid, the director of the Alliance for New York State Parks, projected that the tax could generate $60 million a year and deter people from using plastic bags that end up littering landfills.

Mandate Relief Hurts Environment

Three proposals from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Mandate Relief Team could end up hurting the environment and cost more money down the road, according to an environmental advocate.
Ross Gould, the Air & Energy program director for Environmental Advocates of New York, said the suggestions on environmental issues are short sighted and misguided.
The three main proposals from the Mandate Relief Team on the environment include an end to various air permit fees, allowing limited burning of collected brush and delaying a requirement for low-sulfur oil for space heating.
"The state won't save any money from this," said Gould. He argued that the long-term health costs will vastly dwarf any minimal savings the state could see in the near future.
Gould noted that 55 percent of the state is already below federal levels of air quality, and he thought that messing with these environmental mandates would only make things worse. He said, "There's no need at this time to roll back any regulations."
Interestingly, on the low-sulfur oil issue, Gould pointed out that even the oil industry supported this measure. This is surprising considering that environmental groups and oil groups are rarely on the same side of an issue. He added that the legislation mandating low-sulfur oil by July of 2012 already included a circuit breaker option in case oil prices got too high.
"Hopefully during this ongoing process they'll see there aren't any savings to the state," concluded Gould.
(Editor's Note: A More expansive version of this article will appear in the Daily Gazette)