April 28, 2008

Welcome to Environmental Advocates of New York’s online newsletter from the State Capital, your source for environmental news. We’ll update you every other week with tidbits and observations carefully gleaned from the halls of the Capitol.

Permission to Pollute

Moments ago Environmental Advocates of New York released our newest report, Permission to Pollute, describing the Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) failure to adequately monitor water pollution discharged into state waters. 

 

The report, a follow-up to last year's Muddying the Waters: The Unknown Consequences of New York's Failed Water Pollution Permitting Program, found that the DEC is administratively renewing (or as we prefer to call it, rubber-stamping) water pollution permits without substantive review as required by the federal Clean Water Act. This isn't good news for New York's waters and here's why-- 

 

Under the Clean Water Act, pollution discharged into lakes, rivers and streams across the U.S. is regulated by means of permits to pollute. This means that big companies and wastewater treatment plants, and hundreds of other polluters, are given permits that detail the type and amount of pollutant discharges allowed. And the Act requires that each permit be thoroughly reviewed every five years. Because, as we all know, a lot can change in five years.  

These permit reviews are especially important in the case of polluters with a troubled history or waterways with documented health problems.

But back to the report. Permission to Pollute sheds light on what the DEC's rubber-stamp permit reviews mean for New York's waters; and the findings aren't pretty. We looked at about 10 percent of the permits that were administratively renewed by the DEC over a 10-month period (that's 32 of 343 for those of you keeping score). We found:

*Some water pollution permits have gone more than 20 years without review;

*Nearly all of the facilities we looked at had permit violations that resulted in the discharge of unsafe levels of pollution;

*The DEC's administrative renewal process excludes the public from their role in permit reviews; and

*Records and documents made available to us in response to our requests were often inconsistent and incomplete.

The most frightening thing our research uncovered is what we don't know. Because of the DEC's failure to monitor this pollution, we can't say for certain what's in our waters. And neither can the DEC. 

The lack of staff and resources at the state's primary environmental agency is likely the cause of the DEC's inability to conduct substantive reviews of water pollution permits. There simply aren't enough reviewers to keep up with the number of polluters requesting permits.

Environmental Advocates is calling on the Governor and the State Legislature to ensure the DEC has the resources the agency needs to properly oversee the discharge of pollution to our waters. Water pollution permitting is not the place to cut corners. Otherwise, the health of our drinking water supplies and our waterways will continue to be in danger.

The complete report includes examples of pollution permits from across the state. Click here to read the details. 

Smarter Funding

Late last week, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced that energy efficiency and smart growth criteria will be considered by the agency when making funding decisions for the State’s Clean Water & Drinking Water Revolving Loan Funds.

 

Environmental Advocates of New York called on the agency to take these steps, among others, just two months ago in our report, Wa$ted Green: How Lost Revenue & State Spending Shortchange New Yorkers & the Environment. In that report we questioned whether the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund is subsidizing sprawl.

 

The changes announced by Commissioner Grannis mean that the agency, the Environmental Facilities Corporation, and the Department of Health will be taking a closer look at land use and energy conservation as factors in decision-making with regard to which water projects will receive state funding. 

 

Environmental Advocates thinks these changes should better protect our precious natural resources. And we will continue to follow this issue as revised rules are developed.  

 

Click here to learn more about the DEC's announcement.

Bills in Play

Yeah...there’s a bunch of ‘em.  After 3 months of not much legislative action the next 10 weeks will be chock full ‘o action. For more information on these bills and to view our memos, click here. 

Act Now

This week advocates from organizations around the state are gathering to lobby on behalf of the environmental community’s priority Super Bills.

If you couldn’t make it to town, but don’t want to be left out of the action, click here to tell your state legislators that you support the Super Bills, including the “opt-in” Community Preservation Act, the Wetlands Bill, and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill. While you’re at it, make sure your elected officials support the Climate Change Solutions Program Act and the Climate Change Solutions Fund.

Green For A Day

To celebrate Earth Day 2008, more than 200 New Yorkers who care about the health of our natural resources, along with Environmental Advocates of New York and more than a dozen green groups, met in the State Capital to educate lawmakers about the Super Bills.

The Super Bills are priority environmental measures identified by the Green Panel, which includes groups from across the state. This year's Super Bills include the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, the Wetlands Protection Act, and the Global Warming Pollution Cap. 

Before meeting with state legislators, Earth Day lobbyists heard from New York leaders including Governor David Paterson, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis, and the chairs of the Senate and Assembly Environmental Conservation committees, Senator Carl Marcellino and Assemblyman Robert Sweeney.

If You Love the Lakes

There's still time to join Environmental Advocates to educate state lawmakers about the Great Lakes on Monday,  May 5.

 

Hear from decision-makers about what New York is doing to protect the Lakes; attend a briefing by the International Joint Commission regarding their controversial report on lake levels; and meet with policy-makers to discuss Great Lakes issues.

 

If you love the lakes and would like to RSVP, contact Katherine Nadeau at knadeau@eany.org.

Bills On the Move

Every week during the Legislative Session, Environmental Advocates of New York looks at the measures that will impact the environment for good or ill. Here are this week's Bills on the Move.

 

One Tree for Water Bottling Source Protection. This bill would prohibit the Department of Health from certifying or re-certifying a water bottling facility where water would be extracted from an in-state source unless the facility meets current standards for bottled and bulk water, and submits an adequacy of source evaluation. The adequacy of source evaluation would  assess the potential impact on the water source and provide assurances that the proposed extractions will not degrade the source.

One Tree for Environmental Protection Fund Repayment. This bill would require the State Division of the Budget and the Comptroller to develop a five-year repayment plan for funds transferred from the Environmental Protection Fund to the State’s General Fund. 

Click here to learn more about these measures.