Vanderhoef Honored by EPA for Excellent Environmental Record
April 29, 2009 - County of Rockland Press Release
Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef is the recipient of an Environmental Quality Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for his efforts in protecting the environment in Rockland.
Environmental protection has long been a hallmark of Vanderhoef’s administration, and he has been on the forefront of the County’s innovative efforts to protect and preserve the environment. The EPA honored Vanderhoef for establishing the County’s Open Space Preservation Program in 2000, which to date has preserved more than 1,100 acres of environmentally sensitive natural resources.
Vanderhoef was also honored for his work in sponsoring and signing into law three significant pieces of legislation that preserve air quality. The laws included an anti-idling law that prohibits vehicles from running for more than three minutes at a time; a law requiring that all eligible County diesel vehicles be equipped with an engine certified to the applicable US EPA standard for particulate matter or be equipped with special retrofits that reduce dangerous emissions, and that all vehicles in the County diesel fleet use ultra-low sulfur fuel in order to improve the quality of the air we breathe. It is also Vanderhoef’s goal, mandated by law, that the County fleet purchase only hybrid or alternate-fuel vehicles for its light- and medium-duty fleet by the year 2010.
Under Vanderhoef’s directive, the County this year secured a site on the Concklin Farm in Pomona for a permanent air quality monitoring station that will help the County’s environmental health officials determine levels of air pollution in Rockland.
Vanderhoef also signed onto the Mayor’s Agreement on Climate Change in 2008 and, in 2006, joined with EPA and his regional counterparts to form the NY Metropolitan Air Quality Initiative. Through that effort, the Counties in the NY Metropolitan region and New York City joined forces to take action and make commitments to effectively reduce emissions from engines and vehicles operating within their jurisdictions.
EPA selects Environmental Quality Award winners from non-profit environmental and community groups, individual citizens, educators, business organizations and members of the news media, as well as from federal, state, local or tribal governments and agencies. The honor is given to those individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to improving the environment and public health in EPA Region 2, which covers New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and seven federally-recognized Indian Nations. The Agency receives nominations for the awards from both inside and outside EPA. For information about the Environmental Quality Awards in EPA Region 2, go to http://www.epa.gov/region02/eqa/
Download the complete press release here
Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef is the recipient of an Environmental Quality Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for his efforts in protecting the environment in Rockland.
Environmental protection has long been a hallmark of Vanderhoef’s administration, and he has been on the forefront of the County’s innovative efforts to protect and preserve the environment. The EPA honored Vanderhoef for establishing the County’s Open Space Preservation Program in 2000, which to date has preserved more than 1,100 acres of environmentally sensitive natural resources.
Vanderhoef was also honored for his work in sponsoring and signing into law three significant pieces of legislation that preserve air quality. The laws included an anti-idling law that prohibits vehicles from running for more than three minutes at a time; a law requiring that all eligible County diesel vehicles be equipped with an engine certified to the applicable US EPA standard for particulate matter or be equipped with special retrofits that reduce dangerous emissions, and that all vehicles in the County diesel fleet use ultra-low sulfur fuel in order to improve the quality of the air we breathe. It is also Vanderhoef’s goal, mandated by law, that the County fleet purchase only hybrid or alternate-fuel vehicles for its light- and medium-duty fleet by the year 2010.
Under Vanderhoef’s directive, the County this year secured a site on the Concklin Farm in Pomona for a permanent air quality monitoring station that will help the County’s environmental health officials determine levels of air pollution in Rockland.
Vanderhoef also signed onto the Mayor’s Agreement on Climate Change in 2008 and, in 2006, joined with EPA and his regional counterparts to form the NY Metropolitan Air Quality Initiative. Through that effort, the Counties in the NY Metropolitan region and New York City joined forces to take action and make commitments to effectively reduce emissions from engines and vehicles operating within their jurisdictions.
EPA selects Environmental Quality Award winners from non-profit environmental and community groups, individual citizens, educators, business organizations and members of the news media, as well as from federal, state, local or tribal governments and agencies. The honor is given to those individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to improving the environment and public health in EPA Region 2, which covers New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and seven federally-recognized Indian Nations. The Agency receives nominations for the awards from both inside and outside EPA. For information about the Environmental Quality Awards in EPA Region 2, go to http://www.epa.gov/region02/eqa/
Download the complete press release here
