GREEN SHEET NEW YORK

Vol. 11 - No. 2
February 2006


Inside this Issue:
Seeing Green: Governor Pataki's final budget proposal is good news for New York's environment
Director's Chair
On the Move
Field Notes
For Your Information
On the Alert
About GSNY

Seeing Green: Governor Pataki's final budget proposal is good news for New York's environment

In his last budget address as Governor of New York, George Pataki responded to many of the concerns raised by Environmental Advocates over the past few years.

“This budget may be his ‘greenest’ in terms of spending and his environmental legacy,” said Robert Moore, Executive Director of Environmental Advocates.

At the top of Environmental Advocates’ list of good news in the budget was the Governor’s commitment to adding 43 new positions to the understaffed Department of Environmental Conservation. Of these, seven will be in the state’s wetlands program, 15 will be focused on the stewardship of state lands, and 21 will be distributed between the state’s dam safety and water pollution control programs — programs that were found lacking due to staffing reductions, and were documented in Environmental Advocates’ Endangered Agency reports of the past two years.

2006 Budget By the numbers*: 43 Number of new positions at the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) 7 Number of new positions added to DEC's wetlands program 15 Number of new positions added to DEC's land stewardship programs 21 Number of new positions added to DEC's dam safety and water pollution control programs $180 million Amount of funding for the Environmental Protection Fund, a 20% increase from 2005 *Numbers based on Governor George Pataki's proposed 2006 budget.

Another top priority for Environmental Advocates, and the environmental community as a whole, was increasing the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). The Governor announced his proposal to increase the EPF by another 20 percent, to a record high of $180 million, but the increase is not guaranteed, only discretionary. The fund was increased from $125 million to $150 million last year. This year’s EPF includes new funds for work on the Great Lakes and ocean issues, more than double the funds for public access and stewardship projects, $5 million in new grants for municipal water quality improvements, and $2 million for the control of invasive species.

The Governor’s budget proposal reflects his interest in new ideas for meeting New York’s energy needs, as did his State of the State address earlier in January. He proposed three measures that are clearly a win-win for the environment and consumers: tax credits for purchasers of hybrid vehicles and for homeowners who update to more efficient home heating systems, and a sales tax exemption on Energy Star™ appliances. Biofuels were a major theme again, as the Governor’s budget includes $20 million for a cellulosic ethanol plant and other proposals that would encourage the use of biofuels like ethanol and bio-diesel. With two ethanol plants already under construction in New York, and the differences among various production methods for ethanol, Environmental Advocates will be giving these proposals a close look.

Funds were also proposed for a controversial coal gasification power plant pilot project and a carbon sequestration project. Governor Pataki to date has put New York on track for clean electricity – improving standards to cut power plant emissions, increasing investment in energy efficiency, and boosting the use of wind, solar and other renewables. But coal, whose mining inflicts enormous damage to the nation’s lands and thousands of miles of streams, doesn’t fit with that vision.

All in all the Governor has proposed a budget that builds his environmental legacy and addresses some of our biggest challenges. Now it falls to the state Legislature, and groups like ours, to read the fine print.

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Director's Chair

For the second year, the environmental community is rallying around a handful of "Super Bills" to push through the Legislature to Governor Pataki's desk. In the inaugural year of the Super Bills, we were able to raise the profile – and tremendous support – for legislation that would address diverse problems, such as diminishing open space, unprotected wetlands, global warming, and lingering solid waste issues.

The Super Bills are selected by the Green Panel, which includes representatives of many of the state's leading environmental organizations. This year's Super Bill agenda includes the following pieces of high-priority legislation:

• Community Preservation Act: empowers local communities to decide how best to fund efforts to conserve land, protect farmland, and preserve historically significant structures.
• Bigger Better Bottle Bill: expands the state's bottle deposit law to include bottled waters, juices, and other non-carbonated beverages.
• Clean Water Protection and Flood Prevention Act: closes a gaping loophole in New York's wetlands protections.
• EPF Enhancement Act: expands the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to $300 million over the next three years.

The Community Preservation Act and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill passed the Assembly for the first time last year, a testament not only to the hard work of activists from across the state, but also to the value of raising the profile of these bills by naming them Super Bills. The Clean Water Protection and Flood Prevention Act passed the Assembly and had enough votes to pass the Senate, if not for opposition from a handful of influential senators. The EPF Enhancement Act is a new bill enthusiastically supported by a broad coalition of environmental, farming and sportsmen's organizations. If enacted, New Yorkers would see twice as much money being spent on environmental projects as in 2005, filling a long-standing gap between funding and the state's needs.

We have high hopes for all the 2006 Super Bills, and for how the environment will fare in the Capitol this year. The 2006 legislative session has already gotten off to a fast start, particularly for Environmental Advocates' priorities (see Seeing Green). I hope you'll stay in touch with us to find out the latest developments in the Capitol, and how you can help make a difference there.

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On the Move

Program Director David Higby left EA at the end of January to work for The Nature Conservancy as Director of Federal Government Relations. We wish David much success in this new position.

David has worn many hats since joining the staff in 1997. He led Environmental Advocates' work on myriad issues including the Adirondacks and open space protection, solid waste, PCBs, e- waste, dark skies, and the Great Lakes and water resources.

Many of EA's greatest successes over the past decade are thanks to David's efforts in the state Capitol. He was instrumental in the passage of a suite of bills severely restricting the use of mercury in consumer products. David led coalition efforts that brought jet skis under local regulation and limited emissions. In 2003, New York adopted the Waste Tire Recycling Act, a landmark waste tire management initiative.

David's work outside the walls of the Capitol is no less impressive. He led efforts to prevent large-scale water diversions from the Great Lakes and obtain substantial federal money to restore and protect the Great Lakes basin. And this past summer, David compiled the first comprehensive, independent review of the state's spending on water infrastructure and how it encourages sprawl.

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Field Notes

In our most recent Endangered Agency report, we disclosed that DEC’s dam safety program was critically short-staffed, and that many of the state’s more than 5000 dams were not being inspected in a timely fashion. As a result of the report there has been a renewed interest in the condition of the state’s dams, particularly the New York City watershed dams west of the Hudson. In recent weeks we have seen the City of New York implement emergency measures to secure the Gilboa dam in Schoharie County, and fast-track needed rehabilitation because there is an increased likelihood that the dam could fail in the event of heavy rain or snowmelt. We also worked with the Times Herald Record as they uncovered a history of wrongdoing on the part of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection in which dam inspection records were merely photocopied and resubmitted month after month. Armed with this information the state Attorney General’s office is undertaking an investigation of NYC’s dam inspection program.

Also because of the ndangered Agency reports, the Governor has proposed funding for additional staff at the DEC in two of the program areas we cited as deficient – the dam safety unit and the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program.

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For Your Information

♦Out With the Old, In With the Wind: Environmental Advocates and 21 other prominent environmental and public health organizations announced the launch of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACENY) at a press conference in January. The announcement coincided with the commencement of the new Maple Ridge wind facility in Lewis County. The project is currently 198 MW, making it the largest wind project in the eastern United States, with further expansion planned. Its turbines are already transforming wind into enough electricity to power 67,000 average New York homes each year. The project quadruples the amount of pollution-free wind power in New York. ACENY also released New York Needs Renewable Wind Power, a statement of support for renewable energy and wind power, and announced the launch of www.aceny.org, a new internet resource to promote clean renewable technologies and energy efficiency in New York.

The Alliance includes local, state and national groups like the American Lung Association of New York, Environmental Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the New York City Apollo Coalition, New York Interfaith Power and Light, Pace Energy Law Project, and Wind Action Group of Buffalo. The organizations share the goal of bringing clean energy technologies to New York.

In the coming months, Environmental Advocates will be developing materials on wind power in New York. For more information, contact Program Associate Larisa Washburn at 518-462-5526 ext. 233 or lwashburn@eany.org.

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On the Alert

♦Change of Plans: In last month's issue of GSNY we told you about the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) proposal to renew a permit for Mirant’s Bowline electric generating plant, located on the western bank of the Hudson River in Haverstraw, without requiring a switch to closed-cycle cooling technology. This technology would prevent the killing of fish, fish eggs, and small river organisms that occurs when the plant draws in river water for cooling, also taking in small aquatic organisms into the cooling system (entrainment) and pulling larger fish and organisms against screens (impingement). The public hearing has since been rescheduled. DEC will now accept public comment at 2:00PM and at 7:00PM on March 29 at the Haverstraw Town Hall, 1 Rosman Road, Haverstraw. Call Ms. Sherry Stila, 845-429-2200 for more information on the hearing. The written comment period has also been extended. Send comments postmarked by March 15 to Administrative Law Judge Molly McBride, NYSDEC Office of Hearings and Mediation Services, 625 Broadway, First Floor, Albany, NY 12233-1550.

♦Blueprints: The Blue Ridge Wilderness includes more than 47,000 acres of State Forest Preserve lands in Hamilton County in the central Adirondacks. Another 235 acres reside in the adjacent Wakely Mountain Primitive Area in the Town of Lake Pleasant. The DEC has released a draft Unit Management Plan (UMP) for these areas as part of its ongoing efforts to review the way state lands are managed, including recreational use and its impacts. DEC will hold a public hearing on February 7 at 6:00PM at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake. Written comments will be accepted until February 24 and should be mailed to NYS DEC, Division of Lands and Forests, Region 5, 701 S. Main St. - PO Box 1316, Northville, NY 12134, or emailed to r5ump@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

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