The New York Clean Air Collective has established a City Council Scorecard for 2026
We STRONGLY SUPPORT Intro. 0048-2026.
This bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection to translate the Citizen’s Air Complaint portal into the languages other than English that are most commonly spoken by residents of the City with limited English proficiency.
This bill would weaken and undermine the most successful citizen environmental program in the world, at a time when New York’s air pollution is already a public health crisis, linked to an estimated 3,200 premature deaths each year. Council Member Gennaro’s idling bill Int. 561 would only make this crisis worse.
Intro. 561 would deter New Yorkers—particularly residents of disadvantaged communities—from participating in the citizen air complaint program by imposing complex requirements and harsh penalties for minor, unintentional errors.
When it was introduced in the previous Council session as Intro. 561, this bill faced opposition from leading environmental and civil rights organizations, including the New York League of Conservation Voters, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the New York Civil Liberties Union, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and many members of the public.
Today, CM Gennaro’s idling bill functions as a poison pill, threatening to dismantle the citizen air complaint program at the very moment the City Council is considering expanding participation to immigrant communities.