GREEN SHEET NEW YORK

Vol. 11 - No. 3
March 2006


Inside this Issue:
Preserving New York: One town at a time
Director's Chair
On the Move
Field Notes
For Your Information
On the Alert
About GSNY

Preserving New York: One town at a time

Last year, Environmental Advocates of New York pushed a bill in the state Legislature to give New York's cities and towns a tool to preserve their local character.

And although the Community Preservation Act passed the Assembly, it never made it to the Senate floor. This year, we're trying again. The Act is primed to pass the Assembly and make its way to the Senate, where 32 senators have asked to sponsor the bill—enough to pass it.

The question is—will the Senate allow the bill to get to the floor for a fair vote?

Sprawling State By the numbers: 174 Average acres lost each day to sprawling development in Upstate New York 5 Long Island towns with independent preservation funds $300 million Preservation funds generated by Long Island towns 32 NYS Senators willing to sponsor the Community Preservation Act (32 is the number of votes needed to pass the Senate) Is your town struggling against big box stores and subdivisions? Tell us your sprawl horror story. Email info@eany.org

The Pressing Need for Preservation
Cities and towns across the state are facing mounting pressure from development. As proposals for subdivisions, strip malls, and office parks come forward, local officials must balance the potential of economic growth with the need to preserve their natural areas and water resources, working farms, and historic buildings.

Local Heritage, Local Control, Local Resources
If passed, the Community Preservation Act (S.3153/A.6450) will give municipalities the power to voluntarily create a fund to preserve their local character, without being forced to navigate the New York State Legislature on their own.

The Community Preservation Act

• Gives cities and towns a tool to preserve what makes them unique.
• Is voluntary, and only affects those communities that support the creation of a preservation fund through public referendum.
• Creates a "pay-as-you-go" system.
• Lets communities decide how to raise funds.

If New York lawmakers pass the Community Preservation Act, cities and towns will have the right to decide for themselves if, when, and how to preserve their natural and built heritage. Municipalities will be able to:

• Create a preservation fund. Deposits to the fund can come from whatever source the community chooses— property tax revenue, bond money, gifts of land, or a local real estate transfer tax.
• Adopt a plan that identifies areas to protect.
• Adopt a local law to create a real estate transfer fee (two percent maximum). The fee must be approved by voters through local referendum and would only apply to properties whose value is over the median sales price of residential property within that county.

Community Preservation Done Right
Brookhaven, East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton, and Southold pioneered the use of Community Preservation Funds in 1998, with marked success—property values in these towns have appreciated at a higher rate than in the rest of the state. The towns have generated more than $300 million to support preservation. And in 2002, by margins of more than two to one, voters extended the program another 10 years. In 2005, the town of Warwick won the right to start its own Community Preservation Fund. Warwick plans to put the fund to a referendum vote this year.

Tell Your Legislator—Let New Yorkers Decide for Themselves
In a state whose constitution is predicated on home rule, New Yorkers should decide for themselves how best to protect their heritage—the natural areas, water resources, working farms, and historic structures—the places and things that make them unique. Visit www.savenys.org to learn what you can do to support the Community Preservation Act.

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Director's Chair

Two of this year's Super Bills are on the move through the New York State Legislature, thanks to the efforts of sponsor Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli (D-Nassau County). In the past few weeks, the Assembly has passed the Wetlands Protection Act, which fills a gaping loophole in New York's wetlands protection laws, and is primed to pass the Community Preservation Act, which gives cities and towns a new tool to preserve their natural and historic heritage (see our cover story for details).

Congratulations to Assemblyman DiNapoli for supporting these important environmental Super Bills and passing the Wetlands Protection Act so early in the session. With such strong support, Environmental Advocates of New York and the environmental community as a whole can focus efforts on educating members of the State Senate about the need to act decisively on these measures, as well.

In the Senate, where Senator Carl Marcellino (R-Nassau County) is the lead sponsor on both measures, the bills have more than enough votes to pass. Thirty-two Senators have requested to be co-sponsors of the Community Preservation Act. Thirty-one Senators have asked to have their names listed on the Wetlands Protection Act. And even more are willing to vote for it.

Assemblyman DiNapoli, Senator Marcellino and the environmental community have built tremendous bi-partisan support for these bills in both houses of our Legislature. Governor Pataki has also supported the Community Preservation Act and strengthening wetlands laws. It's hard to imagine he wouldn't sign these bills into law if they crossed his desk.

The time has come for the Senate to act. We know Senator Marcellino has the support necessary to pass these bills. Members of both parties support his efforts. The only obstacle now is to get the Senate leadership to allow a vote on the Community Preservation Act and the Wetlands Protection Act.

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On the Move

Joining the staff as Communications Director is Erica Ringewald. Erica brings with her a wealth of experience in communications strategies for non-profits. She spent seven years as a senior account executive with Valerie Denney Communications in Chicago and, most recently, served as a communications specialist for the City School District of Albany. Erica holds a BA in English Literature from Indiana University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Colorado State University.

We also welcome interns Kelsey Matusak, a senior at Tamarac Senior High School, and Allison Beals, a senior at the University at Albany.

Project Director Christine Vanderlan leaves Environmental Advocates of New York after more than four years. Christine was the leading force behind the Cap Carbon in NY Campaign. The coalition she formed came together three years ago to advocate for New York to cut the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that power plants release. In December 2005, seven states announced the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which will reduce CO2 pollution to a level 10 percent below current emissions by 2019. Christine will be working to get the Schodak Planning and Development Association, a group she founded, off the ground.

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Field Notes

Regulatory Watch Program Director Tim Sweeney testified before a standing- room-only crowd at a Schenectady County Community College. The February 9, nine-hour marathon hearing focused on the dam safety programs at both the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The hearing was called by Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, and RoAnn Destito, chair of the Assembly Committee on Governmental Operations, to gain an understanding of how staff cuts at DEC—there are just five employees in the dam safety unit—have impacted the agency’s capacity to inspect more than 5,500 dams. Also at issue was how the DEP has responded to the newly revealed structural deficiencies at the Gilboa dam and falsified inspection records of some of the city’s other watershed dams west of the Hudson River.

Joining Chairs DiNapoli and Destito were Assembly members Paul Tonko, Kevin Cahill and Aileen Gunther, all of whom grilled the Commissioners for four hours. The panel also heard testimony from local elected officials and emergency managers before hearing from Environmental Advocates of New York.

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For Your Information

♦Earth Day...Virtually: We're changing things up this April. Many of you have made the annual trip to Albany for Earth Day Lobby Day. This year even more people will be able to show their support for critical environmental issues with a Virtual Earth Day—a statewide call/fax-in day, set for Tuesday, April 25, for the 2006 Super Bills. For members interested in participating in a more traditional lobby day, the environmental community is organizing a series of lobby days in April around each of the Super Bills. For more information, contact Laura DiBetta at ldibetta@eany.org or 518-462-5526 ext. 221.

♦On Board: Genie Rice, a highly regarded community advocate with a long and effective history of volunteer service, was elected to Environmental Advocates of New York's board of directors for a three-year term at our December meeting. A graduate of Boston University with a degree in Art History and graduate study at New York University in Art Education, Genie was drafted as President of CIVITAS in 1982, a position she held until two years ago. Under Genie's leadership, CIVITAS, founded by August Heckscher and his Hellgate Hill neighbors in 1981, grew from a small group into an urban planning organization with more than 2,000 members. Its mission is to foster, mobilize and coordinate civic concern in Manhattan's Upper East Side and East Harlem neighborhoods. The organization's goals include a strong and efficient public transportation system with clean-air buses, and an infrastructure that promotes cycling, public access to the waterfront, affordable housing and improved community facilities, clean air and municipal water, and real estate development within the larger context of well conceived urban planning and coherent zoning.

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On the Alert

♦An Investment in Clean Energy & Energy Efficiency: New York's clean energy funds—the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and the System Benefit Charge—are at risk. A few state legislators are saying that monies currently going directly to the Public Service Commission should be redirected into the general budget. We need to keep these funds dedicated to their original purpose.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) estimates that projects supported by clean energy funds have resulted in 1.4 million megawatt-hours of electricity saved through 2004, and more than $195 million in annual savings on our electric bills. In addition, these clean energy and energy-efficiency programs have already reduced the pollution that causes acid rain, smog, and global warming—nitrogen oxide emissions have been reduced by 1,280 tons per year, sulfur dioxide emissions by 2,320 tons per year, and carbon dioxide emissions by one million tons per year.

The RPS is a small investment to create an energy-independent future. Call your New York State legislators (Assembly: 518-455-4100; Senate: 518-455-2800) and tell them that dedicated funds to support clean energy and energy efficiency not only make New York State more attractive to clean energy producers, they are already saving us money.

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