Senate Marks Earth Week with Package of Environmental, Climate Protections

Emission Limits of Toxic Air Contaminants: This bill, S3328-A, sponsored by Senator Fernandez, directs the Department of Environmental Conservation to establish ambient air quality standards and fenceline monitoring for certain toxic air contaminants.

Clean Fuel Oil Powered State Buildings: This bill, S2994-B, sponsored by Senator Harckham, prohibits the use of fuel oil, grade number four in any state building or facility.

Parking Garage Electric Vehicles Charging Stations: This bill, S1535, sponsored by Senator Hoylman-Sigal, requires certain state-owned and operated parking garages, open parking lots, and other parking facilities to install and maintain charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles.

Prohibits Drilling Fluids and Flowback Water for De-icing: This bill, S1538-A, sponsored by Senator Hoylman-Sigal, prohibits the use of wastewater from hydrofracking, which contains chemicals and radioactive contaminants, from being used on any highway for any purpose including de-icing or dust suppression.

Climate Change Superfund: This bill, S2129-B, sponsored by Senator Krueger, would require companies that have contributed significantly to the buildup of greenhouse gasses, the primary cause of climate change, to bear a share of the costs of infrastructure investments required to adapt to the impacts of climate change in New York State.

Renewable Energy Cell Towers: This bill, S4305, sponsored by Senator Parker, would require cellular telephone companies and third-party providers to present plans in preparation to convert cell tower energy usage to renewable energy resources.

Prohibit Oil and Gas Production on Protected State Land: This bill, S724-A, sponsored by Senator Serrano, would prohibit the lease of state forests, reforestation areas, wildlife management areas and unique areas for oil and gas production.

Memorial Lands Facility Permits: This bill, S3024-B, sponsored by Senator Comrie, establishes a new memorial lands program to provide dual benefits of conservation and respectful disposal of cremated and organically reduced remains.

Wildlife Crossings: This bill, S4198-B, sponsored by Senator Comrie, directs the Department of Transportation and the New York State Thruway Authority to identify sites along all highways, thruways and parkways in the state for wildlife crossings.

Adopt-A-Lake: This bill, S4636, sponsored by Senator May, would add lakes to the areas that are eligible for the Municipal Adoption Program.

Expanding Food Donation Program: This bill, S5331-A, sponsored by Senator Harckham, expands the food donation and food scraps recycling program by scaling down the annual tonnage requirement every two years until 2028 and removes exceptions regarding recycler capacity.

Improving Municipal Water Quality: This bill, S5728-A, sponsored by Senator Harckham, creates a program to assist municipalities with water quality improvement of water bodies within the municipality managed by lake associations.

Fees Paid to Conservation Enforcement: This bill, S7086-A, sponsored by Senator Harckham, provides that fees paid for certain environmental violations are deposited into a new Conservation Enforcement Account, which will provide funding for scientists, environmental law enforcement officers, attorneys, administrative support and to support environmental law enforcement generally.

Ban of PFAS in Anti-Fogging Sprays and Wipes: This bill, S992-B, sponsored by Senator Hoylman-Sigal, prohibits the sale and distribution of anti-fogging sprays and wipes containing PFAS chemicals.

Prohibition of Polystyrene Containers: This bill, S4414-A, sponsored by Senator Krueger, prohibits the sale or distribution of expanded polystyrene containers that are designed or intended to be used for cold storage.

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring and Prevention Act: This bill, S8356, sponsored by Senator May, requires the DEC to establish a coordinated system of HABs monitoring, evaluation, prevention, and mitigation, finally putting the state on a path to be able to predict and prevent the occurrence of Harmful Algal Blooms in our water bodies.

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