Enacts the "schools impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act"; prohibits the commissioner of education from approving the plans for the erection of any new schoolhouse within five hundred feet of a controlled-access highway unless the commissioner of education determines that space limitations are so severe that there is no other site to erect such new schoolhouse.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3287
SPONSOR: Joyner TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "schools
impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act"
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to prohibit the construction of new schools
within 500 hundred feet of a controlled-access highway unless space is
so limited that there is no other site to erect a school.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: sets the name.
Section 2: adds a new subdivision 3-a to section 408 of the education
law. This new subdivision prohibits the commissioner of education from
approving the plans for the erection of any new school within 500 feet
of a controlled-access highway unless the commissioner determines that
space is so limited that there is no other site to erect such school. A
"controlled-access highway" shall mean (a) a controlled-access highway
as defined by section one hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law
under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of transportation which has
been functionally classified by the department of transportation as
principal arterial - interstate or principal arterial - other
freeway/expressway on official functional classification maps approved
by the federal highway administration pursuant to part 470.105 of title
23 of the code of federal regulations, as amended from time to time and
(b) a divided highway under the jurisdiction of the New York state thru-
way authority for mixed traffic with access limited as the authority may
determine and generally with grade separations at intersections.
Section 3: adds a new subdivision 5-a to section 2556 of the education
law. This new subdivision provides that it is unlawful for a new school
to be constructed in the City of New York within 500 feet of a cont-
rolled-access highway unless the chancellor determines that space is so
limited that there is no other site to erect such school. A "cont-
rolled-access highway" shall mean (a) a controlled-access highway as
defined by section one hundred nine of, the vehicle and traffic law
under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of transportation which has
been functionally classified by the department of transportation as
principal arterial - interstate or principal arterial other
freeway/expressway on official functional classification maps approved
by the federal highway administration pursuant to part 470.105 of title
23 of the code of federal regulations, as amended from time to time and
(b) a divided showed Black zip codes are less healthy places for all
children because they tend to be close to sources of pollution such as
busy highways; resulting in poorer air quality.
Decades of racial segregation, redlining, and the systemic placement of
pollution-emitting infrastructure in Black and Brown communities have
played a role in this disparity. The American Lung Association says that
one of the major reasons that respiratory illnesses are so prevalent in
communities of color is the proximity of those communities to producers
of hazardous air pollutants, such as major roadways.
FISCAL IMPACT :
To be determined.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
September 2020 - Assembly Bill A.10998 Referred to Transportation
02/24/21 referred to transportation
11/05/21 amend (t) and recommit to transportation
11/05/21 print number 5735a
01/05/22 referred to transportation
05/19/22 amend (t) and recommit to transportation
05/19/22 print number 5735b
05/25/22 reported referred to rules
05/27/22 amend and recommit to rules 5735c
05/31/22 reported
05/31/22 rules report cal.449
05/31/22 ordered to third reading rules cal.449
05/31/22 passed assembly
05/31/22 delivered to senate
05/31/22 REFERRED TO FINANCE
06/02/22 SUBSTITUTED FOR S922C
06/02/223RD READING CAL.1862
06/02/22 PASSED SENATE
06/02/22 RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
12/12/22 delivered to governor
12/23/22 vetoed memo.143
12/23/22 tabled
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
upon which it shall have become a law; provided, however, that sections
two and three of this act shall take effect five years after it shall
have become a law; and provided, further, that school districts which
have a new schoolhouse construction project prior to such effective
date, or which have acquired real property to construct a new school-
house as approved by the board of education or trustees of a school, or
which have had a building permit issued by the state education depart-
ment shall be exempt from the provisions of this act; and provided
further that in a city school district in a city having a million inhab-
itants or more, school construction projects with advertisements for
bids or requests for proposals issued prior to such effective date shall
be exempt from the provisions of this act.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3287
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 2, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JOYNER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "schools
impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act"
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 "schools
2 impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act".
3 § 2. Section 408 of the education law is amended by adding a new
4 subdivision 3-a to read as follows:
5 3-a. The commissioner shall not approve the plans for the erection of
6 any new schoolhouse within five hundred feet of a controlled-access
7 highway as defined in this subdivision unless the commissioner deter-
8 mines that space is so limited that there is no other site to erect such
9 schoolhouse. For purposes of this subdivision, a "controlled-access
10 highway" shall mean: (a) a controlled-access highway as defined by
11 section one hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law under the juris-
12 diction of the commissioner of transportation which has been func-
13 tionally classified by the department of transportation as principal
14 arterial - interstate or principal arterial - other freeway/expressway
15 on official functional classification maps approved by the federal high-
16 way administration pursuant to part 470.105 of title 23 of the code of
17 federal regulations, as amended from time to time; and (b) a divided
18 highway under the jurisdiction of the New York state thruway authority
19 for mixed traffic with access limited as the authority may determine and
20 generally with grade separations at intersections.
21 § 3. Section 2556 of the education law is amended by adding a new
22 subdivision 5-a to read as follows:
23 5-a. It shall be unlawful for a new schoolhouse to be constructed in
24 the city of New York within five hundred feet of a controlled-access
25 highway unless the chancellor determines that space is so limited that
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05407-01-3
A. 3287 2
1 there is no other site to erect such schoolhouse. For purposes of this
2 subdivision, a "controlled-access highway" shall mean: (a) a cont-
3 rolled-access highway as defined by section one hundred nine of the
4 vehicle and traffic law under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of
5 transportation which has been functionally classified by the department
6 of transportation as principal arterial - interstate or principal
7 arterial - other freeway/expressway on official functional classifica-
8 tion maps approved by the federal highway administration pursuant to
9 part 470.105 of title 23 of the code of federal regulations, as amended
10 from time to time; and (b) a divided highway under the jurisdiction of
11 the New York state thruway authority for mixed traffic with access
12 limited as the authority may determine and generally with grade sepa-
13 rations at intersections.
14 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
15 the date upon which it shall have become a law; provided, however, that
16 sections two and three of this act shall take effect five years after it
17 shall have become a law; and provided, further, that school districts
18 which have a new schoolhouse construction project with advertisements
19 for bids or requests for proposals issued prior to such effective date,
20 or which have acquired real property to construct a new schoolhouse as
21 approved by the board of education or trustees of a school district, or
22 which have had a building permit issued by the state education depart-
23 ment shall be exempt from the provisions of this act; and provided
24 further that in a city school district in a city having a million inhab-
25 itants or more, a new schoolhouse construction projects with advertise-
26 ments for bids or requests for proposals issued prior to such effective
27 date shall be exempt from the provisions of this act.
