August 25, 2008

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

Extraordinary Session, Secrecy As Usual

On Tuesday, August 19, Governor David Paterson called the New York State Legislature back to Albany for what he deemed an “extraordinary economic session.” After several days of behind the scenes back-and-forth, lawmakers and the Governor approved two bills to cut spending and help close the budget gap. For the second time this year, budget bills rocketed through the Legislature with little time for the public to review the final agreements.

The main bill includes across-the-board reductions to General Fund / Aid to Localities appropriations. Aid to Localities provides resources and grants to counties, cities, towns, villages, and school districts, or on behalf of nonprofit organizations.

At the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), these reductions equaled a six percent cut, a budget decrease of $438,752—a relatively small cut given the DEC’s $1 billion budget.

The second budget bill authorizes the transfer of $10 million intended to support community cleanup grants under the Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program. While this program remains fiscally sound for now, our plan is to ask the Governor to support community cleanups in future budgets.

On the upside, the budget cuts didn’t “sweep” more money from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund. More than $125 million will be swept from the Fund this year.

The two-day Legislative Session did not have any “new” news regarding DEC staffing. The Governor’s statewide hiring freeze and across-the-board agency budget cuts are still in effect and will result in staff reductions—and fewer protections for our natural resources—in the months and years ahead. State agencies were required to submit their plans for additional cuts to meet the Governor’s goal of reducing agency spending by 10 percent by last Friday.

Click here to read budget cut details in the Albany Times Union.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid: Paterson Contemplating Regulations Review

According to a recent New York Times story, the Paterson Administration is contemplating a review of state regulations that govern everything from air pollution to workers' compensation and agriculture.

The proposal would give the Gov's high-ranking staffers the opportunity to review some state regulations and, if they decide it would be in New York's best interests, tell the relevant agencies to change the regulations or simply throw them out the window.

That's about all there is to report now, but we'll keep you posted. 

“Read the statute. Read the statute. Read the statute!” Justice Felix Frankfurter

Great news from D.C. Earthjustice, representing Sierra Club and other green groups, won their case and made sure  that states (like New York) can force industrial polluters to monitor their emissions as a requirement of their operating permits. Keri  Powell, the Earthjustice attorney who argued the case, is working with Environmental Advocates of New York and other Albany groups to ensure cleanup standards for the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program are as clean as possible.      

The Court vacated EPA's rule and held that “it is contrary to the statutory directive that each permit must include adequate monitoring requirements.” The Court rightly went on to say that existing rules can be read to comply with the statute, which means there's no need for new rulemaking to fix the problem—Read the statute!

The decision marks another notch in the environmental community’s efforts to fight the Bush Administration’s reshaping of federal policies to be “friendlier” to polluters under the Clean Air Act.

Click here to read the New York Times story about the case.

Gutting the Endangered Species Act 

The Bush Administration recently proposed regulatory changes that would let federal agencies decide for themselves if new development, such as bridges, highways or housing tracts, might harm endangered animals and plants. Such changes would effectively gut the Endangered Species Act.

The proposal would cut the expert opinions of government scientists out of such decision-making, something they’ve been doing for 35 years. And that may not be the worst of it. The proposed changes would also mean that federal agencies cannot take into account a project's possible climate change contributions in their analysis.

Click here to read the Associated Press’ take on the proposal.

Marcellus Shale Update