Environmental groups are giving the New York State Legislature mixed reviews this year. While advocates say progress was made in areas like funding for the Environmental Protection Fund, they are disappointed with lack of action on road salt controls and rollbacks to the state’s 2019 climate law.
State lawmakers took up a number of bills that impact the state’s environment and quality of life, including increasing funding to the Clean Water Infrastructure Act to $525 million. Adirondack Council Director of Communications John Sheehan says the investment in water quality was one of the legislature’s most important actions.
“We have a lot of communities that take their drinking water from rivers and reservoirs. We need to keep funded, especially communities in the Adirondacks where we have only a few thousand people to pay for projects that can run into the millions of dollars. The state’s grant program makes the difference between that being affordable and not affordable. Ultimately this helps the whole state’s water quality.”
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve Managing Partner David Gibson offers an assessment of overall legislative environmental actions. He is pleased the Environmental Protection Fund was level funded at $425 million, but adds an annual appropriation should be created that is dedicated to infrastructure needs in the Adirondacks.
“Towns like Keene and other towns just cannot afford sewage treatment. They cannot afford a lot of the water infrastructure and we need an Adirondack Park Infrastructure Fund that applies just to the Adirondack Park. The Adirondack Park has to compete with downstate and other cities and it’s just very, very difficult without dedicated funding.”
Catskill Center for Conservation and Development Executive Director Jeff Senterman says all of the funding sources for the Catskills and Adirondack Park were maintained in the Environmental Protection Fund.
“Which provides stewardship money and money for infrastructure, all kinds of activities in the Forest Preserve. That’s a big win that we were able to create that several years ago and now continue to have the legislature and the governor support it. And it’s brought, including this year, now $46 million into the Forest Preserve. To us that’s a really big deal and it shows the power of the partnership between both the Catskills and the Adirondacks to work together to bring these resources into the Park.”
Two bills intended to collect data and provide statewide training on the use of road salt stalled. Senterman says continued use is having a detrimental effect on the state’s environment.
“Anywhere we’re applying road salt, which is the whole state, that is washing off our roadways and into our waterways and into our groundwater, into folk’s wells, into just natural water systems and that’s having a significant impact. And it is disappointing that we can’t move forward to look at ways to better manage that road salt use.”
The lack of action to address the use of road salt is among the Adirondack Council’s biggest disappointments, according to Sheehan.
“We were concerned that all of the road salt legislation didn’t really get anywhere this year and was held in the transportation committee again. We were also concerned that climate measures were weakened on the state level. The Adirondacks are in a position to be harmed.”
Sheehan is referencing rollbacks to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Protect the Adirondacks Executive Director Claudia Braymer criticized the state for delaying its deadline for emissions regulations and changing how emissions are measured.
“It’s a bit disturbing that we are no longer leading on that climate law and making changes to the state Environmental Quality Review Act. So that is not great for environmental protection across the state.”
Senterman adds that it is a constant effort to explain to state leaders why the Adirondacks and Catskills deserve dedicated funding.
“It is always a struggle to insure that people understand what the Forest Preserve is, what the Catskill and Adirondack Parks are and why funding and resources should be dedicated to them.”
