February 14, 2005

Environmental Super Bills Announced
New Scoring System Will Increase Legislative Accountability
Part of Reform Albany Movement

(Albany, NY) – After more than three decades, EPL/Environmental Advocates (EPL/EA) is changing the way state lawmakers are graded in its annual Voters’ Guide. The changes are being made to better reflect the leadership of individual legislators and to provide additional impetus to pass important environmental bills. Five environmental Super Bills were announced at a press conference Monday in the Capitol that will be part of lawmakers’ scores even if the legislation does not reach the floor of the Senate or Assembly for a vote.

“Under our new scoring system, our annual environmental scorecard will hold all lawmakers, including leadership, responsible for the fate of select Super Bills,” said EPL/Environmental Advocates Executive Director Robert Moore. EPL/EA is the sister organization of Environmental Advocates of New York (EANY). EANY tracks all environmental bills that are issued in the state Legislature, and issues memos on those that have the most impact on New York’s natural resources and public health. Memos are issued when the bills first appear on committee agendas. Previously, however, only bills that reached the floor of the Senate or Assembly were counted in the annual scorecard.

The Super Bills were chosen through a consensus process by the Green Panel, invited environmental leaders from nearly a dozen different organizations. The Panel’s recommendations were ratified by the EPL/EA board of directors.

The five Super Bills announced today are:

• The Community Preservation Act
  (Marcellino/DiNapoli)
• The Clean Water Protection and Flood Prevention Act
  (S.2081 Marcellino/A.2048 DiNapoli)
• The Carbon Cap for New York’s Power Plants
  (A.4459 DiNapoli)
• The Bigger Better Bottle Bill
  (S.1290-a LaValle/A.2517-a DiNapoli)
• The Burn Barrel Ban
  (Maziarz/A.3073 Koon)

“Passage of these five Super Bills during the 2005 legislative session would be a great accomplishment for the New York State Legislature. Signing them into law would be a credit to Governor George Pataki and his environmental record. Successful implementation of the Super Bill agenda would go a long way to restoring New Yorkers’ faith in the state government.” Moore said.

Referring to the Community Preservation Act, EANY Special Projects Director Anne Reynolds said: “Many New York towns are searching for new tools and funding to manage sprawl, protect natural areas and preserve the historic character of our communities and neighborhoods. The Community Preservation Act takes an idea that is already working on the eastern end of Long Island and creates the opportunity for towns across New York to be a part of this innovative approach and to decide for themselves how to protect community resources.”

“Thousands of New York’s wetlands are currently threatened with destruction. The most important action that the New York State Legislature can take to protect us from flooding and to ensure that New York’s lakes streams and rivers are swimable, fishable and drinkable is to strengthen New York’s wetland protection law,” said John Stouffer, Legislative Director for the Sierra Club – Atlantic Chapter. “Under the leadership of Assemblyman DiNapoli and Speaker Silver the Assembly has already acted on this critical legislation. Governor Pataki has shown strong support by including a fix to this problem in his proposed executive budget. Senator Marcellino has sponsored a same as bill in the Senate with numerous co-sponsors. Last year,” Stouffer continued, “Senator Bruno refused to allow this bill to come up for a vote. Will the Senate’s Majority Leader continue to take this stance against clean water? We hope not for the sake of all New Yorkers.” “On Wednesday, the historic Kyoto Protocal climate treaty takes effect internationally,” noted EANY Global Warming Project Director Christine Vanderlan. “Even though the United States has unfortunately decided not to be a part of this worldwide effort, New York State can still be a leader in the fight against global warming. Passing the carbon cap for New York’s power plants would not only provide real leadership in our country but would help reduce the amount of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide emitted into the earth’s atmosphere.

“EPL/Environmental Advocates’ decision to announce its five Super Bills today could not have been better timing for the Bigger Better Bottle Bill,” said Laura Haight, Senior Environmental Associate with the New York Public Interest Research Group, and a member of the Green Panel. “A key vote on this bill will take place tomorrow in the Assembly Codes Committee. The beverage giants and supermarket lobbyists are aggressively trying to block it from moving forward. Legislators need to know that they will be held accountable for not supporting legislation that will make our communities cleaner and provide vital support for recycling.”

“Open burning of solid waste, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, is the single largest source of dioxin, a dangerous chemical that builds up in the food chain, accumulates in our bodies, and can be harmful at very low levels,” said Kathy Curtis, Executive Director of Citizens' Environmental Coalition and a Green Panel member. “Our representatives must ban this harmful practice, as a common-sense approach to protecting the food supply, and therefore the health, of all New Yorkers. Citizens across New York have been speaking out in support of this Super Bill. We hope the Legislature hears their message loud and clear, and acts accordingly," Curtis added.

“It’s clear New Yorkers want more from their state lawmakers,” EPL/EA Executive Director Moore concluded. “We commit ourselves to working closely with all of New York’s elected officials to pass these and other important environmental bills this year.”

Members of the Green Panel who participated in this year’s Super Bill deliberations: (organizations for identification purposes only)

Kathy Curtis – Citizens’ Environmental Coalition
Christine Fasano – New York League of Conservation Voters
Alix Gerosa – Scenic Hudson
Eric Goldstein – Natural Resources Defense Council
Laura Haight – New York Public Interest Research Group
Marisa Iannacito – Adirondack Mountain Club
Pete Iwanowicz – American Lung Association
Willie Janeway – The Nature Conservancy
Jeff Jones– EPL/Environmental Advocates
Jon Orcutt – Tri-State Transportation Alliance
Anne Reynolds – Environmental Advocates of New York
John Stouffer – Sierra Club – Atlantic Chapter
Jim Tripp – Environmental Defense

Under the new scoring procedure, the Green Panel will meet again at the end of the session – and during the session if necessary – to evaluate the outcome of Super Bills. The Green Panel may add and subtract bills to the list, as well as address legislation that is passed as part of the state budget.

Click here for a more detailed description of the new scoring system.