Melissa Barber of MCA supports 561-A, 562, and 869-A but opposes 11-A
Barber says mechanical contractors' trucks often idle for boom lifts, no-heat calls, or job-site waiting. She argues delayed notices and hearings make defense impossible, supports 561-A and related bills with amendments, and opposes 11-A's fleet-wide penalty increases.
That's me.
Hi, thank you.
Good afternoon, Chair Gennaro and Council Member Epstein.
I'm Melissa Barber, Assistant Director of the Mechanical Contractors Association of New York.
Our contractors install and service heating, cooling, refrigeration, and fire sprinkler systems across the five boroughs, employing members of Steamfitters Local 638.
We also share the council's goal of reducing unnecessary idling, but the program right now as it works today is not meeting that goal.
Instead, it's burying our small businesses in fines.
Our members'trucks make many stops a day, mostly with their engines off.
When an engine is running, there's usually a reason.
It might be powering a boom or lift gate, answering a no-heat call in extreme weather, or waiting in line to deliver to an active job site.
If violations are now arriving six to 12 months later, hearings can take 15 months or more, and a fine that shows up a year later does nothing to change what a driver does on the street.
It only punishes a company that cannot reconstruct one stop out of hundreds.
Enforcement also isn't reaching the neighborhoods that need it most.
PP's own commissioner stated that complaints are concentrated in the Manhattan core, wealthier parts of Brooklyn and Western Queens, and that there's minimal attention to the areas that need it most.
That's why we support Intro 561A, 562, and 869A with amendments and ask that Intro 11AB held.
As written, 11A would raise fines to as much as $3,000 and escalate them across an entire fleet.
That penalizes a company's size rather than its idling.
We have submitted detailed recommendations.
We support the recommendations also developed by the BTEI and the STA for the record.
We want a program that's accurate, timely, and fair, and we welcome a chance to work with you on it.
Thank you.