Matthew Civello (Manhattan SWAB) on Intro 367 and waste equity

Good morning.

I'm Matthew Savello, chair of the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board, and I thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony at today's hearing.

The Solid Waste Advisory Board support Intro 367, which would require the Department of Sanitation to accept commercial solid waste

at city-owned marine and rail transfer stations and publicly report the amount and type of waste received.

Implemented carefully, Intro 367 could significantly reduce waste transfer burdens and truck traffic in overburdened communities of Brooklyn Community District 1, Queens Community District 12, Bronx Community Districts 1 and 2.

Intro 367 builds directly on local law 152, the waste equity law, enacted to reduce the disproportionate impacts of truck traffic and waste processing in environmental justice communities,

and with a hope of preventing new neighborhoods from becoming the next dumping grounds.

Intro 367 could now help provide meaningful relief

to those communities that have carried those burdens for decades.

decades.

Before this committee in 2023, the Department of Sanitation stated that it had asked commercial waste zone proposers whether they were interested in using the city's marine transfer stations and that the RFP process would help determine that demand.

We respectfully request that those findings be made public along with a public evaluation of the feasibility and benefits of accepting commercial waste at these facilities.

A better utilization of the city's marine and rail transfer stations as suggested by Intro 367

can improve the distribution of commercial waste across the city of New York, reduce truck traffic in historically overburdened neighborhoods, and help fulfill the promise of the waste equity law.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

Thank you so much for your testimony.