City Council Moves Quickly on Legionnaires' Bill

City Council members had an opportunity to question officials about new legislation aimed at preventing future outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease, but they don't have long to mull over the answers. They are scheduled to vote Thursday because the process has been expedited.

Here's what we know about the bill — and what we still don't know.

What is the main target of the legislation?

This bill is aimed at cooling towers. They are the prime suspect in this outbreak, which has killed 12 people in the South Bronx and sickened 115. Eleven cooling towers in the impact zone tested positive for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease. That's not surprising, because cooling towers are filled with water to keep a large building's air-conditioning system from overheating, and that water is a breeding ground for bacteria.

How does it work?

This legislation requires building owners to register all cooling towers with the city so it knows where they are. Second, it requires the owners to test the water in their towers on a quarterly basis, and to disinfect them if they have the bacteria. Third, the owners have to provide certification each year that their towers were inspected, tested and cleaned. And last, the city has to provide an annual report its on compliance with this law. The first report will be due in 2017 but the law goes into effect 60 days after it's passed.

Since the mayor said there's really no handbook for dealing with an outbreak of Legionnaires, are council members confident these measures will do the job?

This bill is expected to pass on Thursday. But council members still had a lot of questions and it's clear the administration didn't have all the answers. It still hasn't yet isolated the cooling tower or towers that caused the outbreak, because it's waiting for genetic testing.

The city does not know how many cooling towers there are and estimated there could be anywhere from 2,000 to 30,000. Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said cooling systems are part of bigger heating and ventilation systems, which is why they were never registered separately. He said he's trying really hard to get a number by working with other agencies and even searching for "applications that will have the wording cooling tower in the application."

The city already asked building owners to voluntarily register their cooling towers. Chandler said 20 owners registered through the agency's web site since Saturday. But after the law goes into effect, owners that don't comply can be fined up to $5,000 by the Department of Health along with fines by the buildings department.

What's the state doing?

On Tuesday afternoon, the city and state announced that they were taking "the unprecedented step of jointly crafting and instituting uniform regulations to combat Legionnaires’ disease."

According to the release, regulations and legislation are being drafted by the governor, mayor, and City Council. The Council will pass the legislation, and the governor will use his emergency powers to make the policy statewide.

In a statement, Governor Cuomo said: “I want the people of New York to know that we are doing everything necessary to tackle this outbreak and stop it from happening again. This unified approach will help in this effort, and I want to thank the City for working hand-in-hand on these emergency regulations to prevent the occurrence of Legionnaires’ disease in the future.”

What about enforcement? Does the city have the tools?

City Health Commissioner Mary Bassett couldn't say how many inspectors she has, but she said there will definitely be a budgetary impact of this bill. When asked if she would do random spot checks to make sure building owners are complying, she said she has that authority — but she wouldn't say whether she would definitely use it. Her first priority, she said, is to deal with cases where the cooling towers need to be cleaned and the owners aren't complying.

It's unclear what the state's plan for enforcement is.
 
What's been the reaction from the building owners?

The Real Estate Board of New York and the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater New York said they support the city's efforts. A just a few hundreds dollars a year, inspections aren't considered expensive, and the Department of Buildings noted that many owners have their own maintenance workers.

But the two groups expressed concerns about whether the city is rushing things before it even knows all it can about this outbreak. The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers only issued its own protocols for fighting Legionnaires' in June. The city is following these recommendations and adding some of its own by early next year.

The Building Owners and Managers Association stated that this national standard "is new, untested, and unknown to those who typically set up and maintain cooling tower bacteria control operations."

The Real Estate Board of New York called the $5000 fine for violating the new law "extreme."