EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF BOILER FUEL REGULATIONS ON AIR QUALITY IN NEW YORK CITY NEIGHBORHOODS

Over the past two mayoral administrations, New York City’s municipal government has implemented a series of local regulations designed to improve air quality across the city. One such policy, the Clean Heat initiative, curtailed the use of two heavy fuel oils used in building boilers for winter heating. Leveraging publically available data, the team analyzed whether the policy has been implemented as designed, and whether the implementation resulted in the intended outcome of meaningfully decreasing the concentration of dangerous particulate matter (PM2.5) in street-level air in various city neighborhoods. The team developed a report that includes an analysis of differentiated impacts in high- and low-income neighborhoods and suggestions for future regulation design that prioritizes environmental justice and equity.