Low-Sulfur Heating Oil Bill Passes in Connecticut – When Will New York Move Its Bill?

Yesterday, the Connecticut State House passed SB 382, which will lower the sulfur content of heating oil.  Because the Connecticut State Senate passed the bill unanimously on Monday, the bill is now headed to Governor M. Jodi Rell for her signature.

SB 382 bill creates a cap in the amount of sulfur that is allowed in heating oil used in the state, and reduces it over time.  Connecticut’s sulfur limit will be cut from the current 3,000 parts per million (ppm) to 50 ppm on July 1, 2011, and to 15 ppm on July 1, 2014.  

As I’ve written here, here and here, we are still waiting for the New York Senate to pass S. 1145-C (Perkins), a bill with similar goals, i.e., reducing sulfur in heating oil from the current sky-high levels to the same 15 ppm levels used in diesel trucks and buses.  New York’s Assembly has already passed a similar bill.

Currently, New York’s heating oil contains 175 times as much sulfur as our highway diesel fuel.  Passing S.1145-C would eliminate roughly 1000 tons per year of the city’s soot pollution, which triggers asthma emergencies, bronchitis, cancer, heart diseases and premature deaths.  Plus, cleaning up heating oil would reduce nickel, a toxic metal that worsens heart disease and other ailments. 

181 of the 182 members of Connecticut’s General Assembly voted for this bill.  Connecticut’s elected officials looked at the same facts as New York’s legislators, and almost all of them concluded that cleaning up heating oil by reducing sulfur levels was a worthwhile investment in public health.

For months, we’ve been waiting for the leadership of the New York Senate to move S. 1145-C towards passage in New York.  

Connecticut’s General Assembly has shown that it’s possible to move ahead with a cleaner heating oil bill.  It’s time for Albany’s Senators to do the same.