Mayor's Office fax re environmental proposal draft, Feb 2002

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Lower Manhattan Env/ronmenta/ Coordinator Proposaf DMFT 2/J 8/02 - Do not circuiate particular, this campaign must address residents’ ongoing concerns regarding indoor air quality. This campaign could be done in partnership with a major advertising or public relations firm, provided that such a firm could offer its services to this important cause on a pro bono basis.

• Disseminate ongoing research conducted by reievant City agencies into the environmental safety of Lower Manhattan, with a particular focus on air quality. The Coordinator must also be fully aware of ongoing research conducted by other government entities (e.g., FE 'vlA, Regional EPA, OSHA) and private researchers. The I Coordinator must be able to clearly articulate and defend City conclusions should they differ from other conclusions, and be able to reconcile these results with City results if necessary.

The Environmental Coordinator will be supported in his/her efforts by an Inter-Agency Task Force, consisting of representatives of all City agencies involved in this effort, including but not limited to: OEM, DOH, DEP, DDC, OMEC, DOB, City Legislative Affairs, and the Law Department.

In its capacity as an internal liaison to the Environmental Coordinator, the Inter-Agency Task Force will:

• Coordinate lower Manhattan environmental and health activities among relevant agencies, and develop standards and protocol for ensuring environmental safety. In particular, the Task Force must develop standards and protocol for indoor air quality that must be met by building owners in the affected area. In addition, the Task Force must determine agencies' enforcement authority regarding testing and cleaning dust. Once enforcement authority has been determined, enforcement efforts must be documented in a consistent manner.

• Establish a public hotline for all Lower Manhattan environmental and health matters. This hotline will feature agencies’ environmental testing results (such as daily DEP asbestos update, EPA, ATSDR, NIOSH data) as well as preliminary interpretations of those results. Five people from DEP and five from DOH could serve as staff, and additional computer/database staff would be necessary as well. A website will be established as well to manage and disseminate information, and if possible will be coordinated with other governmental websites with information on the status of Lower Manhattan (e.g.. Lower Manhattan Construction Coordinator, LMDC).

Maximum expected volume is approximately 100 calls per day, based on calls made to DEP’s hotline, DEP- HELP, on air quality issues in Lower Manhattan. The hotline will respond to hotline calls regarding specific environmental problems by referring them to the appropriate agency for review, and then following up on the referrals within a specified time period. The hotline will be modeled on the hotline established in response to the West Nile Virus.

• Serve as a ciearinghouse for environmentai monitoring data and cieaning/abatement Information collected by all relevant parties. The Task Force should serve as a clearinghouse for both environmentai monitoring data and cleaning and abatement information. This would then be shared with the public through the Environmental Coordinator in a form that is timely and accessible.

There is much work to be done in this area, and it must be done quickly. For example, the Task Force must electronically compile DEP sampling results. DEP currently has in'^r.'idion on over 100,000 air quality samples taken by contractors in private buildings. Once it is electronically accessible entered, it could be used by hotline operators to provide up-to-date information to callers regarding buildings in Lower Manhattan that have been tested.

• Inform the Mayor, the Deputy Mayors, and the Environmental Coordinator of critical issues and decisions regarding tire environmental safety of the area. The issues concerning Lower Manhattan’s environmental safety change constantly; consequently, all relevant decision-makers must be kept informed of new developments on a regular basis.

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