Conversations among state agencies, lawmakers and environmental groups continue as they work together to come up with a plan to reduce the amount of road salt spread on New York’s roadways while still protecting the state’s drivers from icy blacktop.  

A roundtable conversation convened at the behest of Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Bill Magnarelli (D-Syracuse) took place in a meeting room at the State Capitol complex on Thursday. It included representatives of the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Department of Health (DOH).

Environmental groups have been urging action on two pieces of legislation to protect both New York City’s drinking water sources as well as the lakes, rivers and wells of the Adirondack Park. One study, done in 2019, found over half of all wells in the Park had more sodium than the acceptable levels set by the EPA.

A more recent study indicates that chloride levels in the main drinking water sources for the New York City water shed have tripled in the last 30 years.

The bills have been around for a couple of sessions, passing the State Senate, but not the Assembly.

One bill (S.6976A/A.4481A) would create a council to oversee salt reduction and water quality.  Another bill (S.3442/A.7057) would establish a salt reduction task force, pilot plan and test program east of the Hudson Watershed.

The head of the Lake George Association (LGA), Dr. Brendan Wiltse, told Capital Tonight that there are safe methods for reducing the use of road salt, but that the Department of Transportation is moving too slowly implementing those methods.

In response to Wiltse’s comments, the agency sent Capital Tonight the following response:

“The New York State Department of Transportation takes this issue very seriously and for more than a decade NYSDOT has been a national leader in the effort to reduce the use of salt while maintaining the safety of our transportation system. Our efforts have resulted in lower salt application rates – not only in New York State but in states across the nation as well. We worked cooperatively with our partners on the Adirondack Road Salt Task Force and are working aggressively to implement the report’s recommendations to reduce salt use across the state.

Our efforts are working. Historically, the 7-year statewide average application rate for granular salt has been 194 pounds per lane-mile. During the 2024-25 snow and ice season, our statewide average application rate for granular salt was reduced to 172 pounds per lane-mile. DOT takes great pride in having the best snow fighting force in the nation while also being good stewards of the environment.”

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez announced a statewide expansion of the Department’s road salt management pilot program for the 2025-26 snow and ice season, stating in part:

“Our crews are looking at every aspect of their operations holistically, from loading salt on trucks, to checklists and performance reviews, to equipment cleaning, to new weather forecasting partnerships that help us better prepare for storms.  We are continuously improving our operations, refining our craft and adopting best management practices throughout the year that our crews can utilize during snow and ice events.  We’ve even added road temperature sensors to our entire fleet so we know the exact materials to use before, during and after storms.”

Capital Tonight spoke with Assembly Transportation Chair Bill Magnarelli as well as Dr. Brendan Wiltse, executive director of Lake George Association, about the issue, as well as the hurdles to reducing road salt on both state and local roads.