PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Josh Bisker, Member of the Public, on the Citizens Air Complaint Program and Intro 941
3:29:21
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133 sec
Josh Bisker, a New Yorker with asthma and participant in the Citizens Air Complaint Program, strongly opposes Intro 941. He argues that the bill would significantly weaken the program's effectiveness in reducing vehicle idling and air pollution in neighborhoods.
- Bisker highlights four ways Intro 941 would damage the program: creating loopholes, increasing technical barriers, introducing risks for complainants, and cutting rewards for participation.
- He emphasizes the importance of the current reward structure in making the program accessible to working-class New Yorkers and sustaining participation.
- Bisker shares observations on the program's effectiveness, noting changes in behavior from companies like UPS and Amazon, and discusses the health impacts of vehicle emissions on workers.
Josh Bisker
3:29:21
Hi, everyone.
3:29:22
My name is Josh Bisker.
3:29:24
As a citizen's air complaint program lets people feel like me and my neighbors reduced the number of idling trucks in our neighborhoods, 941 threatens to destroy it.
3:29:32
This issue is personal.
3:29:34
I'm a born New Yorker who has had asthma since childhood, and I'm dedicating this testimony to my neighbor, miss Pam, who is permanently disabled the as much she developed after moving here from Barbados.
3:29:44
This is also an issue where I have expertise.
3:29:46
I am a participant in the program, and I am also a former delivery driver.
3:29:50
I'm here to tell you that commercial vehicles should not be allowed to pollute the airy breathe and that our current complaint program should be expanded and not eroded.
3:29:57
941 damages the program in 4 ways.
3:30:00
It creates loopholes, let polluters escape consequences.
3:30:02
It increases the technical barriers that already make it hard to submit complaints.
3:30:06
It introduces opaque new risks for people who might submit incorrectly, and it cuts the rewards for participation in half.
3:30:13
The results will mean fewer people who are able to take part in the program and more idling trucks everywhere.
3:30:18
I wanna say why the 25% reward is actually vital to participation I've been working 2 part guided jobs in the trades and in the service industry while also submitting regular complaints for about 2 years now because it took ages to learn how to navigate the system and over 18 months to even start getting paid out.
3:30:36
Some of the submissions will not get paid out for years.
3:30:39
If their awards had been half as high or potentially a quarter as high because of abatements, I could never have sustained my participation in the program while keeping bread on my table and I never would have started submitting the complaints at all.
3:30:51
The reward structure has made this program accessible to working class new Yorkers like me, and I can testify to its effectiveness.
3:30:58
I've watched companies like UPS and Amazon teach their drivers to stop idling and electrify their fleets.
3:31:03
I've seen dump truck drivers start turning off their engines between loads.
3:31:06
I've also seen what the program can do for the workers at these companies.
3:31:09
One Con ed worker told me that he spent 10 years driving one of the company's box trucks and finishes every day with a headache and a nausea.
3:31:17
He also told me the connick keeps promising the workers that electrified by 2035.
3:31:21
That's 10 years, he said, but they could do it tomorrow if they really wanted to.
3:31:25
10 years while you Your
James F. Gennaro
3:31:26
time has expired, but you gave very exemplary and well pointed testimony.
3:31:33
I appreciate it.
Josh Bisker
3:31:34
Thank you, sir.
James F. Gennaro
3:31:34
And so next witness, please state your name for the record and and proceed.
