Assembly Commemorates Earth Day With A Legislative Bill Package Aimed At Protecting The Environment

Global Warming And Renewable Energy Measures Included In Assembly Environmental Agenda

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Environmental Conservation Chair Robert Sweeney today announced the Assembly will observe Earth Day with the expected passage of a 16-bill legislative package. The legislation ranges from measures that address global warming and reduce solid waste to initiatives aimed at protecting public health.

"With each passing year, it becomes more and more apparent how important it is for all of us to take care of our fragile environment. Not only does our legislative package address the need to protect and preserve the environment for future generations, but it recognizes that much can be done right now to benefit the health and well being of today's New Yorkers," said Silver. "The package reflects the Assembly's long-standing commitment to investing in alternative energy, strengthening environmental laws, safeguarding public health and encouraging smart growth."

"This legislation sets out to strengthen environmental protections so New Yorkers will have clean air to breathe, water to drink and reduced exposure to pesticides. The bills also address the many environmental challenges facing communities across the state. From our health to the economy, every aspect of our life is affected by the quality of our environment. Gone are the days when solutions to these problems could be put off or forgotten. The time for action is now," said Assemblyman Robert Sweeney.

The Assembly's continued commitment to safeguard the state's wetlands is a key part of the Assembly's Earth Day package. The bill (A.7133, Sweeney) would expand the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Conservation to include wetland areas that are one acre or more.

"These environmentally sensitive areas are essential to ensuring the balance of the ecosystem and the Assembly feels very strongly about protecting their existence in our communities. If we don't preserve wetlands, we risk harming our drinking water and property values, and we could possibly trigger a whole series of other environmental problems as well," said Silver.

To help localities across the state maintain the beauty of their area's unique natural resources and the public's access to local parks, waterways, beaches and other open space areas, the Assembly's environmental agenda includes the Community Preservation Act (A.7333, Sweeney). Under the bill, towns and cities would be able to impose a real estate transfer tax of up to two percent to fund such projects as the development of parks, nature preserves, wildlife refuges and the acquisition of real property.

This Assembly's environmental initiative addresses concerns about global warming and the need for the state to reduce its hydrocarbon emission levels with measures that would create a Climate Change Solutions Program (A.7365, Sweeney) and the Climate Change Solutions Fund (A.7366, Gianaris). These bills would allow the state to accept the revenue it gains from such pollution reducing incentive programs as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and use those funds for the promotion and development of clean and renewable forms of energy. It also calls for an interagency taskforce to be established to research projected impacts of climate change and make recommendations on measures to mitigate and adjust to climate change (A.7367, Sweeney). In addition, the Assembly also will act on a resolution (K.425, Tonko), calling on Congress to reduce greenhouse emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050.

Protections that ensure the prudent use of land are also part of the Assembly's environmental legislation. These measures would ensure the rights of individuals to challenge state environmental quality review act (SEQRA) determinations (A.1435, Bradley); institute the Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act to promote state spending in a manner consistent with smart-growth principles (A.7335, Hoyt); and require the Department of Environmental Conservation to identify communities in the state that have been adversely affected by environmental hazards (A.2002, R. Diaz). Earlier in the year, the Assembly also approved a bill (A.1614, Englebright) that would require the DEC to coordinate and supervise the use of volunteer groups in stewardship agreements to preserve, maintain, and enhance the state's natural resources.

The impact of pesticides and pollutants also are addressed in the legislative package with bills that would phase out the state's use of potentially harmful pesticides and replace them with a non-chemical pest control management program (A.1142, Brodsky) and create the state Urban Pesticide Board to examine the sale and use of pesticides in urban areas and make recommendations about their control to the governor and the Legislature (A.5299, Wright).

The Assembly's Earth Day legislation also includes bills that would establish the Green Building Construction Act to require state agencies and authorities to comply with the United States Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings and guidelines (A.2005, Lupardo); prohibit the open burning of solid waste, with exemptions for yard waste and certain agricultural waste (A.5457>, Koon); and clarify prohibitions on the disposal of recyclables in solid waste facilities and specify materials which must be included under local recycling laws (A.3318, Colton).

The legislation also would enter New York State into a compact with other states and Canadian Provinces to regulate waters in and outside of the Great Lakes basin (A.7266, Sweeney); require testing of private wells upon the sale or transfer of real property as well as periodic well testing on properties that are leased (A.7231, Jaffee); and make available a solar energy tax credit for co-ops and condos (A.7451, Farrell).

Last month during the budget negotiations, the Assembly continued its commitment to recycling, conserving natural resources and the reduction of litter in municipalities throughout the state when it included the expansion of the bottle bill law in its budget proposal for the 2007-08 state's fiscal year (A.4309-B). The Assembly's budget, as did Gov. Eliot Spitzer's budget, called for collecting the current five cent deposit on the containers of the newer beverage products that did not exist when the first bottle bill law was enacted.