NEW YORK - A New York City council member is hoping to put an end to idling cars in the city, reports CBS New York.

Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal (D), who represents the Upper West Side, says idling cars are an environmental and public health problem and that it's too widespread of an issue for the NYPD and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to tackle.

According to the station, the law is already pretty clear.

"You can't idle for more than three minutes anywhere in the city and if you're in front of a school you can't idle for more than one minute," Rosenthal says.

She is proposing a new program to train citizens to spot illegal idlers.

"You can see if the car behind me is idling all you would need to do is videotape the license plate, and then load it onto a website at DEP and then DEP would issue a summons," she told the station.

The program would require citizens to attend special training. An initial offense would result in a warning, next come a summons and a $350 fine.

The person reporting the violator could earn up to 50 percent of the money once it's collected by the city, reports the station.

Rosenthal is hopeful the incentive will cut back on the city's smog.

The bill will be introduced to the City Council on Wednesday. If approved -- and that appears to be a big if -- the program could be in place by the end of the year.