For Immediate Release

Contacts:
Glenn Goldstein, 631-472-0011
Alycia Gilde, 617-259-2029

Clean Air Communities Projects Focus on Emissions and Enery Efficiency

Con Edison Provides $1.5 Millon for Five New York City Initiatives

New York, NY (April 14, 2005) -- Investing once again in efforts toward cleaner air and more efficient energy in low-income New York City neighborhoods, Clean Air Communities (CAC), an initiative of Northeast States Center for a Clean Air Future (NESCCAF), today announced the award of $1.5 million to five projects in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan. The funding was provided by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con Edison), which donated $5 million to launch CAC in 2000.

"With these five new collaborations, Clean Air Communities and its partners in just five years will have launched air quality and energy efficiency projects in New York City communities valued at more than $10 Million," said Kevin Burke, President and Chief Operating Officer of Con Edison. "Each of these initiatives demonstrates what can be achieved when coalitions of diverse partners work in mutual interest for a cleaner, healthier New York."

"Through projects such as these, Clean Air Communities continues to serve as a national model for community-based clean air initiatives," added Arthur Marin, Executive Director of NESCCAF. "Our focus is on implementing a variety of strategies that achieve local, near-term reductions in air pollution, which in turn advance long-term, sustainable solutions for other communities, other cities."

CAC is collaborative initiative of NESCCAF -- a sister-organization of NESCAUM -- Con Edison, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. With funding donated by Con Edison, CAC is a model program in which technical experts provide resources and knowledge transfer -- working in tandem with community groups, public agencies, and private enterprises -- to implement projects that provide tangible air quality and energy benefits to local neighborhoods across the City.

For this round of funding, CAC selected three proposals designed to reduce the health risks posed by emissions from buses and transit vehicles, one to retrofit neighborhood garbage trucks with pollution-reduction technology, and one to provide an independent combined heat and power system to a residential cooperative using natural-gas-fired micro-turbines. The five projects are as follows:

Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp. (BOEDC), working with Azure Dynamics Inc., will provide training and management services for the Bronx Clean Commuter Van Program, a 5-vehicle, first-ever electric hybrid shuttle initiative in the borough. Three shuttles will provide service for workers at the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, and two will replace vans currently used by non-profit organizations throughout the Bronx. "This investment by Clean Air Communities will keep the Bronx at work on innovative solutions that promote economic development and healthier communities," noted BOEDC President Rafael Salaberrios.

Local Development Corporation of East New York (LDCENY) will work with Waste Management and Combustion Components Associates, Inc. (CCA) to retrofit four front-end loaders and two roll-off trucks with ELIM-NOx selective catalytic reduction systems to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions at Waste Managements facilities in Brooklyn and the Bronx. "A key component of this initiative is education and outreach to give residents of our community a greater understanding of how important it is to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide, one of the ingredients in harmful ground-level ozone or smog," said LDCENY Business and Environmental Community Organizer Salima Jones-Daley.

Coach USA/Gray Line New York Tours, Inc., which operates sightseeing buses in Upper and Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, will work with CAC to implement an aggressive diesel emission reduction program. The program will include the following goals: to operate on ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel; to retrofit its buses with diesel particulate filters to reduce emissions of particulates, carbon monoxide and volatile organic chemicals; and to produce an effective public clean air marketing campaign for its worldwide rider base. "With a shift to cleaner-burning fuel and catalyzed filter retrofits to help keep harmful pollution out of the air, we will proudly tell our customers that when you come on our hop-on, hop-off double-decker bus sightseeing tours, you're seeing the sights of a cleaner city," said Tom Lewis, President, Gray Line New York Sightseeing.

At the Clinton Hill Apartments in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, an innovative clean energy project developed by the local community will achieve real emission reductions. Clinton Hill will utilize natural-gas-fired micro-turbines to simultaneously produce hot water and electricity in an environmentally clean process. By using this technology, old and inefficient boilers that burn heavy residual oil will be turned off in the summer. This is expected to eliminate thousands of pounds of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and air toxics over the life of the project. "Clean Air Communities funding will now enable us to apply clean energy solutions for the benefit of our residents and the community as a whole," said John Dew, president of the board of directors of Clinton Hill Apartment Owner's Corporation.

Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc., operates on ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and completed the retrofit of 2,000 passengers-per-day free shuttle bus service with catalyzed diesel particulate filters to reduce emissions of particulates, carbon monoxide and volatile organic chemicals. "We have long been committed to providing an environmentally sound Downtown Connection bus service for Lower Manhattan residents, workers and visitors," said Daniel M. Giacomazza, Director of Transportation for the Alliance. "This important partnership with Clean Air Communities allowed us to enhance our new bus service with state-of-the-art technology to reduce emissions."

Since its inception in 2000, CAC has directly allocated $5 million for projects, ranging from an advanced truck stop electrification installation at Hunts Point Cooperative Market to a commercial rooftop solar system at Greenpoint Manufacturing Development Corporation (GMDC) to an emissions reduction project for construction equipment at 7 World Trade Center and Battery Park City. Through matching funds, leveraged funding and in-kind contributions from project partners, that $5 million has translated into more than $10 million in value to date.

Project proposals were selected for funding based on environmental, technical and economic merit, the project's ability to educate the affected community, and the capability of each project partner to contribute toward implementation. Because CAC helps to build coalitions and improve communications among diverse air quality stakeholders, each project includes a communications and outreach component.