New York S 9593: Enacts the stop highway community harm act

Bill Text

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S09593 Summary:

BILL NOS09593 

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS A10607-B

&nbsp

SPONSORSEPULVEDA

&nbsp

COSPNSRFERNANDEZ, SERRANO

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §10-h, Hway L

&nbsp

Prevents an increase in vehicular lane capacity of highways within two hundred feet of certain public housing facilities, in areas with high rates of asthma, and in environmental justice communities.

Go to top S09593 Actions:

BILL NOS09593 

&nbsp

03/26/2026REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

Go to topS09593 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS09593 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS09593 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 9593

 IN SENATE

 March 26, 2026
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation

 AN ACT to amend the highway law, in relation to preventing an increase
 in vehicular lane capacity of highways within certain areas

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "stop high-
 2 way community harm act".
 3 § 2. The legislature finds that parts of the I-95 expressway, partic-
 4 ularly the Cross Bronx Expressway, were borne out of a history of racist
 5 urban planning led by Robert Moses. The Cross Bronx Expressway is
 6 already one of the nation's most toxic, congested roadways, long associ-
 7 ated with racial health disparities like childhood asthma and heart
 8 disease in surrounding communities. Its initial construction decimated
 9 Black and Brown neighborhoods along the corridor while adding signif-
 10 icant highway runoff pollution to the Bronx River and Harlem River, and
 11 contributing to some of the highest rates of asthma and heart disease in
 12 the country. According to a department of transportation study, idling
 13 cars on the Cross Bronx Expressway that have polluted the borough for
 14 decades drive chronic health issues, including Asthma, among Bronx resi-
 15 dents.
 16 The legislature further finds that historic transportation planning
 17 decisions have disproportionately sited highways in and adjacent to
 18 public housing and other environmental justice communities, resulting in
 19 cumulative health and environmental harms. Preventing additional highway
 20 expansion in close proximity to such developments is necessary to reduce
 21 inequities, protect public health, and ensure that state actions do not
 22 perpetuate disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations.
 23 The legislature further finds that expansion of highway capacity in or
 24 near environmental justice communities, including public housing devel-
 25 opments and areas with elevated asthma rates, has contributed to adverse
 26 public health, safety, and environmental outcomes. It is therefore the
 27 intent of the legislature to prohibit such expansions except in limited
 28 circumstances where a demonstrated and evidence-based safety need cannot

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD15224-04-6

 S. 9593 2

 1 be addressed through alternatives consistent with the state's complete
 2 streets policy.
 3 § 3. The highway law is amended by adding a new section 10-h to read
 4 as follows:
 5 § 10-h. Limitations on highway capacity expansion in sensitive areas.
 6 1. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the
 7 following meanings:
 8 (a) "Environmental justice" shall have the same meaning as defined in
 9 section 48-0103 of the environmental conservation law.
 10 (b) "Environmental justice community" shall be defined by the depart-
 11 ment of environmental conservation and shall include, but not be limited
 12 to, communities bearing disproportionate pollution and climate change
 13 burdens which may be due to the race, color, religion, national origin
 14 or income levels of the members of such community.
 15 (c) "Public housing development" shall mean any housing operated by
 16 the state, a municipality, or a municipal housing authority established
 17 under the public housing law.
 18 (d) "Increase in vehicular lane capacity" shall mean any project that