After Hurricane Sandy, the tristate area was plagued with a gas shortage, causing people to wait in line for hours just to fill up. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is proposing legislation to ensure that doesn”™t happen again.
Cuomo proposed requiring gas stations within a half-mile of highway exits and hurricane evacuation routes have a transfer switch installed by March 1, 2014 and to deploy and install a generator within 24 hours of losing power during a fuel supply or energy emergency.
Half of all New York state gas stations will be covered by this requirement, while small gas stations will be eligible for an exemption. Cuomo”™s proposal provides grants of up to $10,000 per station to help gas stations install a transfer switch or purchase a generator. The grant money will come from federal mitigation funds.
Gas stations that fail to comply will be fined up to $2,000 a day.
