The Road Salt Data Transparency Act amends the transportation law to establish a standardized statewide system for collecting data on road salt use and requires calibration of all deicing material application equipment.
Road salt pollution poses serious threats to New York’s lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Road salt (NaCl) is the most common road de-icing agent used in New York and contributes, via snowmelt and runoff, to chloride and sodium contamination. This negatively impacts drinking quality, including by corroding plumbing that leaches dangerous levels of lead, and aquatic ecosystems, including by depleting oxygen levels and mobilizing heavy metals.
The magnitude of road salt application in New York is alarming. Statewide, the NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) applied 844,000 tons of road salt on DOT-managed roads in the 2022–2023 winter season, the highest application amount of any state transportation department reported for that season. DOT is the state’s greatest contributor of road salt pollution; studies have found that Adirondack lakes and private wells located next to state roads have far higher chloride concentrations than those lakes and private wells next to local roads.
Many waterbodies are experiencing rising sodium and chloride levels as a result of increased road salt use. The Mohawk River has seen an increase in sodium and chloride concentrations of 130% and 243%, respectively, from 1952–1998. Last year, New York City declared that chloride levels in the New Croton Reservoir had tripled since the 1980s and that continued road salt pollution might make 10% of the city’s source water unusable in a hundred years.
It is difficult to determine the extensiveness of road salt pollution, however, given the lack of data on how much salt DOT is spreading on each public highway across the state. In addition, some road salt spreading trucks and other equipment in use by DOT and local governments across the state lack the proper calibration to accurately report how much salt is spread on a given trip.
This bill requires DOT to collect detailed data on its use of road salt, including application rates and number of lanes spread, and prepare an annual report analyzing that data which is then made available to the public online. The bill also requires DOT and local governments to properly calibrate their equipment to ensure accurate data collection.
We can’t fix what we don’t measure. This bill will make it easier for New York to develop effective policies that reduce road salt pollution while keeping roadways safe for drivers.
