A new initiative from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold random roadside diesel inspections in truck hot spots to target trucks churning out plumes of visible exhaust, which violates state air regulations. The DEC also intends to address illegal idling of diesel trucks.

The Albany Times Union reported that last Friday in Albany's South End, more than 100 trucks were stopped by DEC officers, and about one in 10 received a ticket for illegal diesel exhaust.

The plan builds off of the success of a 2007 program that cracked down on truck and boiler pollution in East Harlem, and the initiative is now being expanded to upstate New York

It is estimated that 20 percent of the trucks traveling East Harlem daily do not meet state air quality regulations. Fines for these violations start at $375 and climb steeply for repeat offenders.

In addition to enforcing the pollution law, DEC intends to implement an outreach program to educate the trucking industry and neighborhood groups about the laws and consequences of polluting trucks, as well as to engage communities to identify spots in their neighborhoods where diesel trucks tend to idle.