Most Oil Heaters Will Get Cleaner, But Dirtiest Won't

"[The bill] seemed to be exempting the city, so it simply wasn't comprehensive enough," said Robert Nickol, legislative aide to Senator William J. Larkin, whose district includes parts of Orange, Ulster and Sullivan Counties.

Jason Schwartz, legal fellow at the Institute for Policy Integrity, a nonpartisan research organization at the New York University School of Law, published a report last month that found that up to 259 lives could be saved every year in New York City if it disallowed the use of residual oils for heating. He said that the current bill was a great accomplishment on the state level, but more action needs to be seen here in the city to clean the air.

"This bill is doing a lot," he said. "But it's focused on number two heating oil, so we still need action at the city level to transition New York City customers from the dirtiest heating oil to cleaner types."