New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a bill to safeguard the Hudson River from proposed anchorage sites. The legislation also establishes minimum conditions under which petroleum-bearing vessels are authorized to navigate on the river.
The bill, which Republican Sue Serino introduced in the Senate and Democrat Didi Barrett in the Assembly, amends the state’s navigation law relating to the establishment of so-called ‘tanker-avoidance zones’ to consider waterfront communities and significant natural habitats, in addition to navigation safety. Here’s Serino.
“I kind of call this our zoning bill for the river, to protect our majestic river,” Serino says.
The legislation was introduced amid a U.S. Coast proposal to establish up to 10 anchorage sites in the Hudson River between Yonkers and Kingston. That proposal was shelved. Barrett says the new law puts the state in a much stronger position to keep future anchorages from being sited anywhere along the river.
