For several months, area residents, along with local and state representatives, have called upon Gov. Eliot Spitzer to name an agency to supervise, coordinate and approve highway routing designations for the transportation of hazardous materials.

Should Spitzer not do so by Jan. 1, 2008, the state Department of Transportation would automatically be named this agency, according to a draft of a bill that state Senator John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, wants to introduce as soon as possible.

DeFrancisco's proposal was announced last month in Skaneateles during a meeting of the Upstate New York Safety Coalition Task Force, a group of local officials and residents concerned about nonlocal truck traffic coming through the village of Skaneateles and other small communities.

These haulers, many of them on their way to the Seneca Meadows landfill in Waterloo, use roads like Routes 41 and 41A - instead of the Thruway and Interstate 81 - to save on toll money and time. But many residents are concerned about the effect they have on a community's quality of life, environment, infrastructure and safety.

DeFrancisco said that the proposal is designed to get the governor's attention. Spitzer's office did not respond to DeFrancisco's Jan. 19 letter asking him to designate an agency, DeFrancisco said.

A Spitzer representative said that the governor's office received the letter and that it is currently under review.

Ideally, the designated routes would direct the trucks to the Thruway and I-81, thereby keeping haulers away from small communities like Skaneateles, DeFrancisco said. The proposed bill is important, he continued, in that it includes an agency to designate routes not only for hazardous materials but also for municipal solid waste. (According to DOT regulations, municipal solid waste is not considered hazardous material.)

DeFrancisco conceded, however, that the bill is not a shoo-in.

“This is not something that's going to happen tomorrow,” he said, but it's important to take this first step. Once it's introduced, both houses have to pass the legislation, and the governor must sign it.

DeFrancisco will be looking for co-sponsors to the proposed bill and will also work to have someone in the Assembly introduce similar legislation. His staff has talked with Assemblyman Will Barclay's office about the proposal.

“I'm willing and hopefully able to do anything I can to try to get this piece of legislation passed,” said Barclay, R-Pulaski.

Barclay said that it was premature to say how the Assembly would receive such a bill. But, he said, such legislation might be able to gain support now that the issue appears to be affecting more than just a few municipalities.

Two weeks ago, DeFrancisco, Barclay, and other local politicians stood in Clift Park to update residents on their progress to get the haulers back on the interstates. DeFrancisco said that he had spoken with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg about the issue, and that subsequently, John Dougherty, commissioner of NYC#,s Department of Sanitation, agreed to keep haulers away from areas that are restricted in their contracts (i.e. environmentally sensitive and historic locations).

This step, along with similar agreements from three downstate counties, should cover about 100 of the estimated 280 trucks that travel to Seneca Meadows, he said. He is currently looking to obtain copies of contracts from other states - including New Jersey and Connecticut - that send their garbage Upstate.

On a federal level, earlier this year U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer introduced legislation to mandate that trucks hauling hazardous materials or solid waste stay on the National Highway System.