Monday, February 22, 2010

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 4 5 6 7 8 ALBANY, NEW YORK 9 February 22, 2010 10 3:35 p.m. 11 12 13 REGULAR SESSION 14 15 16 17 SENATOR DAVID J. VALESKY, Acting President 18 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 rise and recite with me the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Father 10 Peter G. Young, of Mother Teresa Community 11 here in Albany, is with us this afternoon to 12 offer an invocation. 13 REVEREND YOUNG: Thank you, 14 Senator. Let us pray. 15 God has given us many different 16 gifts, but it is always Your spirit, O God, as 17 we return after this brief recess, to guide us 18 in the many things and the many ways of 19 serving our Senators. But it is always 20 important that You, O God, have given and 21 granted them to be used for the good of our 22 New York State citizens. 23 God has gifted each of these 24 members of the Senate chamber with a special 25 potential to help their constituents. Let us

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 take a moment to thank God for their talents 2 and for their skills. 3 God, we thank You for these gifts 4 unique to each Senator. Let us rejoice in who 5 You are that have made these gifts to them and 6 dedicate our gifts then to the good of our 7 New York State people, O God. 8 Amen. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 reading of the Journal. 11 The Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 13 Friday, February 19, the Senate met pursuant 14 to adjournment. The Journal of Thursday, 15 February 18, was read and approved. On 16 motion, Senate adjourned. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 19 as read. 20 Presentation of petitions. 21 Messages from the Assembly. 22 Messages from the Governor. 23 Reports of standing committees. 24 Reports of select committees. 25 Communications and reports from

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 state officers. 2 Motions and resolutions. 3 Senator Klein. 4 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 5 have several motions. First, on behalf of 6 Senator Johnson, on page number 12 I offer the 7 following amendments to Calendar Number 64, 8 Senate Print Number 2753, and ask that said 9 bill retain its place on Third Reading 10 Calendar. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 12 ordered. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: Second, 14 Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Parker, I 15 move that the following bills be discharged 16 from their respective committees and be 17 recommitted with instructions to strike the 18 enacting clause: Senate Numbers 1699, 2452, 19 and 5616. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 21 ordered. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Third, 23 Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Squadron, 24 I move that the following bills be discharged 25 from their respective committees and be

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 recommitted with instructions to strike the 2 enacting clause: Senate Number 5829. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 4 ordered. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: And last, 6 Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Krueger, 7 on page number 10 I offer the following 8 amendments to Calendar Number 33, Senate Print 9 Number 4960A, and ask that said bill retain 10 its place on Third Reading Calendar. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 12 ordered. 13 Senator Klein. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 15 are there any substitutions at the desk? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Yes, 17 there are substitutions at the desk, 18 Senator Klein. 19 The Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: On page 11, 21 Senator Klein moves to discharge, from the 22 Committee on Judiciary, Assembly Bill Number 23 1239A and substitute it for the identical 24 Senate Bill Number 2614A, Third Reading 25 Calendar 53.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Substitution ordered. 3 THE SECRETARY: On page 11, 4 Senator Klein moves to discharge, from the 5 Committee on Elections, Assembly Bill Number 6 1308 and substitute it for the identical 7 Senate Bill Number 1836A, Third Reading 8 Calendar 63. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Substitution ordered. 11 THE SECRETARY: On page 12, 12 Senator Addabbo moves to discharge, from the 13 Committee on Elections, Assembly Bill Number 14 5276B and substitute it for the identical 15 Senate Bill Number 2868B, Third Reading 16 Calendar 65. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Substitution ordered. 19 THE SECRETARY: On page 12, 20 Senator Montgomery moves to discharge, from 21 the Committee on Finance, Assembly Bill Number 22 5462A and substitute it for the identical 23 Senate Bill Number 2233A, Third Reading 24 Calendar 71. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Substitution ordered. 2 THE SECRETARY: On page 13, 3 Senator Duane moves to discharge, from the 4 Committee on Social Services, Assembly Bill 5 Number 2565 and substitute it for the 6 identical Senate Bill Number 2664, Third 7 Reading Calendar 78. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Substitution ordered. 10 THE SECRETARY: On page 14, 11 Senator Maziarz moves to discharge, from the 12 Committee on Energy and Telecommunications, 13 Assembly Bill Number 7557A and substitute it 14 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6700, 15 Third Reading Calendar 89. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Substitution ordered. 18 THE SECRETARY: And on page 14, 19 Senator Valesky moves to discharge, from the 20 Committee on Local Government, Assembly Bill 21 Number 1808 and substitute it for the 22 identical Senate Bill Number 3087, Third 23 Reading Calendar 92. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 25 Substitution ordered.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 3 this time can we please move to a reading of 4 the calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 6 Secretary will proceed with the reading of the 7 active bills on today's calendar. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 28, by Senator Perkins, Senate Print 1145A, an 10 act to amend -- 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill 12 aside for the day. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 14 bill is laid aside for the day. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 30, by Senator Schneiderman, Senate Print 17 4407, an act to amend the Environmental 18 Conservation -- 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 bill is laid aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 39, by Senator Young, Senate Print 2420, an 24 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law, 25 in relation to confidentiality.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 59, by Senator Klein, Senate Print 5981, an 13 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 14 granting. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 16 the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 18 act shall take effect on the first of July. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 23 Calendar Number 59: Ayes, 55. Nays, 1. 24 Senator LaValle recorded in the negative. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 67, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1447A, an 4 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 5 authorizing. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 68, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3292, an 18 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 19 authorizing pharmacists. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 23 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 25 the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 77, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 4893, an 7 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 8 prohibiting. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'm 19 going to vote no. Not because we in any way 20 want to further add to the aggravation and 21 heartache of a crime victim, but the problem 22 here is the procedure for protecting the 23 state's rights in trying to collect whatever 24 they've paid by the Crime Victims Board 25 against the potential settlement or verdict

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 against the person responsible for the 2 injuries to the victim. 3 And there's a simple, better way to 4 do it. And that would be rather than filing 5 these documents, these liens in the county 6 clerk's office, a better way is to make it a 7 lien against recovery, just like we have liens 8 against all kinds of recoveries for personal 9 injuries and do that through the CPLR. 10 By simply providing the relief in 11 this bill, it's going to cause a nightmare for 12 title companies and people doing real estate 13 work to determine the effect of these 14 so-called liens that are filed in the county 15 clerk's office. 16 So there's a better way to do what 17 the sponsor intends. For that reason, I vote 18 no. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Senator DeFrancisco to be recorded in the 21 negative. 22 Announce the results. 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 24 1. Senator DeFrancisco recorded in the 25 negative.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 2 bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 79, by Senator Valesky, Senate Print 5440B, an 5 act to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control 6 Law, in relation to allowing. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 8 the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 81, by Senator Duane, Senate Print 4998A, an 19 act to amend the Public Health Law, in 20 relation to -- 21 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay the bill 22 aside, please. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 bill is laid aside. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 88, by Senator Parker, Senate Print 3712, an 2 act to amend the Public Service Law, in 3 relation to gas corporations. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 89, substituted earlier today by Member of the 16 Assembly Cahill, Assembly Print Number 7557A, 17 an act to amend the Public Service Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 19 the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Maziarz, to explain his vote. 2 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 3 much, Mr. President. To explain my vote. 4 Mr. President, this legislation 5 eliminates the peak load limitation on the 6 size of nonresidential solar and wind 7 electric-generating equipment eligible for net 8 metering. 9 This legislation was originally 10 passed in 2008 with some very hard work by my 11 colleague Senator Owen Johnson and Senator 12 Kevin Parker. We worked very diligently in 13 2008 to get a good net metering bill passed. 14 It wasn't a perfect bill. This legislation 15 that we are passing today will improve greatly 16 upon that net metering legislation that we 17 passed in 2008. 18 And this legislation is going to 19 allow commercial and residential users to 20 benefit immensely from investing in net 21 metering in both their businesses and in their 22 residences. 23 And another I think very important 24 point is there is actually, believe it or not, 25 Mr. President, there is actually three-way

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 agreement on this legislation. This piece of 2 legislation is going to become law. I know 3 that's sort of unusual around here. But 4 three-way agreement on this bill which is 5 going to help consumers, businesses, residents 6 throughout our great state. 7 So I passionately vote yes for this 8 legislation. Thank you, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Senator Maziarz to be recorded in the 11 affirmative. 12 Senator Saland. 13 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. I would merely like to 15 piggyback on Senator Maziarz's comments. 16 I do have a business in my district 17 that is very much into renewable energy and 18 has long sought some of the corrections that 19 this bill will now provide. It will probably 20 have an immediate benefit in my district, 21 particularly for this particular company, in 22 that it will open the door to a number of 23 projects that will not only benefit the 24 Hudson Valley but benefit our state, in that 25 it's a commitment to renewable energy,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 creation of jobs that we've all been talking 2 about, and a firsthand example of it right in 3 my own back yard. 4 So thank you, Mr. President, and I 5 vote in support. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 7 Senator Saland to be recorded in the 8 affirmative. 9 Senator Parker, to explain his 10 vote. 11 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President, 12 to explain my vote. 13 I'm voting aye to this bill. 14 Again, that's enthusiastically. We've 15 actually gotten to that point in this bill 16 where, as David Dinkins says, everything has 17 been said but everybody hasn't said it. But I 18 want to congratulate my colleagues for working 19 both in a bipartisan way but also across 20 houses to make sure that we pass this 21 important legislation. 22 Net metering was one of the first 23 steps that we really took in really making 24 sure that New York is in the vanguard of a 25 green-collar economy. This is in fact to make

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 sure that ordinary citizens and small 2 businesses can produce their own power and 3 then sell that energy back to the grid. 4 We have now made some adjustments 5 with this bill that in fact brings us closer 6 to perfection. We're not quite there, and I 7 think there may be some other tweaks as we go 8 down the line. But this is another big step 9 to make sure that New York State is in the 10 lead in energy independence. 11 I vote aye. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 13 Senator Parker to be recorded in the 14 affirmative. 15 Announce the results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 17 0. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 90, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 1172, an 22 act to authorize the Union Graduate College to 23 file an application. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 25 the last section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 7 the negative on Calendar Number 90 are 8 Senators Bonacic and Larkin. 9 Ayes, 57. Nays, 2. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 92, substituted earlier today by Member of the 14 Assembly Morelle, Assembly Print Number 1808, 15 an act -- 16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 bill is laid aside. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 93, by Senator Thompson, Senate Print 4921, an 21 act to amend Chapter 616 of the Laws of 1992, 22 relating to authorizing. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 24 the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 95, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 5906, an 10 act to authorize the Town of Ramapo to file an 11 application. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 20 the negative on Calendar Number 95 are 21 Senators Bonacic and Larkin. 22 Ayes, 57. Nays, 2. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 97, by Senator Squadron, Senate Print 37 -- 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay it aside for 3 the day, please. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 bill is laid aside for the day. 6 Senator Klein, that completes the 7 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 9 this time can we please have a reading of the 10 controversial calendar. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 The Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 30, by Senator Schneiderman, Senate Print 15 4407, an act to amend the Environmental 16 Conservation Law. 17 SENATOR LIBOUS: Explanation. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Schneiderman, an explanation has been 20 requested. 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 This bill corrects an error, I 24 believe, it fills in a gap in the declaration 25 of the policy of the State of New York when it

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 comes to our Environmental Conservation Law. 2 The State of New York, unlike the federal 3 government, does not have as a part of our 4 declaration of policy regarding environmental 5 law any statement that one of the purposes of 6 such law is environmental justice. 7 Unlike the federal Environmental 8 Protection Agency, which has language very 9 similar to the language in my proposed bill, 10 we do not as a state stake out a position that 11 one of the goals of our environmental policy, 12 in addition to health and safety of all of our 13 citizens, is to ensure that no community is 14 discriminated against in terms of the placing 15 of toxic facilities or power plants, that no 16 community suffers an inequitable burden. 17 This language that is proposed in 18 my bill would simply remedy this problem. And 19 it states, Madam President, that no population 20 should be forced to bear a disproportionate 21 share of exposure to the negative effects of 22 pollution or be deprived of locally accessible 23 open space due to a lack of political or 24 economic strength. 25 What this bill would do is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 recognize the fact that in the United States 2 of America, while 58 percent of our white 3 citizens live in counties that do not meet the 4 federal requirements for air pollution, 5 71 percent of Africans live in such counties; 6 that 80 percent of all the Latinos in the 7 United States live in counties which fail to 8 meet federal air quality standards. 9 Environmental injustice, 10 environmental racism is a part of life that we 11 have to recognize. Unfortunately, in the 12 State of New York, unlike the federal 13 government, we have never been able to insert 14 the language in my proposed bill into our 15 statement of policy to ensure that all of the 16 people who work on environmental policy in the 17 Department of Environmental Conservation and 18 elsewhere, anyone whose job it is to enforce 19 the environmental laws of this state, 20 understands that remedying environmental 21 injustice is part of their work. 22 This bill harms no one, this bill 23 does not delete any of our commitments 24 elsewhere in the statement of policy, this 25 bill simply puts us all on the record as

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 supporting the movement to remedy 2 environmental injustice. This is a serious 3 problem in our state. This is a serious 4 problem in our country. 5 African-Americans in New York State 6 are four times more likely than whites to die 7 from asthma. A significant contributing 8 factor, as every study has shown, is 9 environmental injustice. A 2008 report 10 entitled "A Climate of Change" documented in 11 excruciating detail all of these problems. I 12 commend this report to everyone here in this 13 house. 14 And I would urge that all of my 15 colleagues vote in support of this bill. Let 16 us ensure that in the policy of the State of 17 New York, environmental justice is part of our 18 guidelines, part of our standards, part of the 19 mandate that we give to everyone who works in 20 the area of environmental conservation in our 21 state. 22 I hope everyone will vote yes in 23 support of this bill, Madam President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Thank you, Senator.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Bonacic. 2 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 3 Madam President. Will the sponsor yield for a 4 couple of questions? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Schneiderman, do you yield? 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I'd be 8 happy to yield. 9 SENATOR BONACIC: Senator 10 Schneiderman, welcome back. 11 My first question is, doesn't some 12 of the state agencies, as part of a 13 consideration of an application to build a 14 power plant or whether grants are issued, or 15 programs, have this environmental justice as a 16 consideration? 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 18 you, Madam President, there certainly are some 19 programs in which that is specifically a part 20 of our public policy that it's in application 21 forms. But there is no overall requirement 22 that that be the case. 23 We do have -- and I think that 24 there are some environmental justice issues 25 that are covered under our civil rights laws.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 All this legislation would do is it would 2 ensure that we don't have piecemeal 3 enforcement or spotty attention to this issue 4 and that we add to the declaration of overall 5 policy of the Department of Environmental 6 Conservation the commitment to environmental 7 justice. 8 So I would say the Senator is 9 correct. In some cases, it is considered; in 10 some cases, it is not considered. But the 11 overall result is really not what we need and 12 not what the people of the State of New York 13 deserve. 14 When it comes to fairness, when it 15 comes to equity, when it comes to the health 16 of our children, we should not allow any 17 discrimination based on race or class. And 18 this would make it clear that every policy of 19 enforcement of the Environmental Conservation 20 Law would have to take into account the issue 21 of environmental justice. 22 SENATOR BONACIC: Will the 23 sponsor yield for a couple of other questions? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 yield. 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, I 3 will continue to yield. 4 SENATOR BONACIC: What I'm 5 struggling with with this legislation is that 6 it becomes a tool that anyone can cite that 7 there is environmental injustice. 8 So I guess my first question is, 9 can an individual stop a project on the 10 grounds that taxpayer does not meet a standard 11 of environmental justice? Is there a private 12 right of action? 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 14 you, Madam President, no. 15 This law, this statement of policy 16 that is declared in this bill, this particular 17 piece of legislation does not create any new 18 private right of action. It does not actually 19 change the laws regarding torts or liability 20 in any way. 21 But it does provide that in the 22 setting of policy going forward, whoever the 23 governor is, whoever is in charge of the 24 Department of Environmental Conservation -- as 25 we have a great commissioner of environmental

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 conservation now, but who knows who will be 2 there in the future -- that no matter who that 3 is, that they must take into account the issue 4 of environmental justice in setting 5 regulations and enforcing these laws. 6 It does not affect the tort system 7 or any private right of action. 8 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. Will the 9 Senator yield to another question? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to 12 yield. 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, Madam 14 President, I'd be happy to yield. 15 SENATOR BONACIC: In promoting 16 this legislation do you have benchmarks of 17 what would constitute environmental injustice? 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Well, 19 certainly, Madam President, I don't think 20 there is any legitimate dispute that in the 21 State of New York and in the United States of 22 America as of today, in spite of the best 23 intentions of many people over many decades, 24 our environmental laws have not produced 25 environmental justice.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And I would again cite to the 2 Senator the report "A Climate of Change" that 3 was produced by the Environmental Justice and 4 Climate Change Initiative in 2008. This is 5 up-to-date data showing that in spite of, you 6 know, many people of good conscience working 7 over the years, we still have uneven 8 distribution of power plants, of toxic waste 9 sites, of other environmental hazards, and 10 that can be clearly tracked by race. 11 So my benchmark is when all of our 12 children are free from living with exposure to 13 these plants. But certainly it should be 14 unacceptable to anyone, and I trust it's 15 unacceptable to the Senator, that 16 African-Americans in New York State are four 17 times more likely than whites to die from 18 asthma. My benchmark is equality, and I think 19 that should be all of our benchmark. And if 20 you support this bill, we'll be making a 21 declaration that that is our benchmark. 22 SENATOR BONACIC: Will the 23 sponsor yield for one more question? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 yield? 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I'll be 3 happy to yield. 4 SENATOR BONACIC: So if we wanted 5 to locate, meaning the state wants to locate 6 an Article X power plant, fast-track it, for 7 electricity in New York City -- and assuming 8 we want to locate the plant close to where the 9 demand is needed, because the argument is 10 that's where plants should be located, closer 11 to where it's needed -- are you saying that in 12 the name of environmental justice, if it's a 13 poverty area, that plant could not be located 14 there? Or if it's an African-American 15 community, that plant can't be located there, 16 assuming your facts are right that 17 African-Americans are more susceptible to 18 asthma with four times, you know, the 19 incidence of, say, a Caucasian or a Hispanic? 20 Would you say that if your law was adopted, 21 those areas are out of bounds? 22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 23 you, Madam President, no, the law does not say 24 that. 25 It simply adds the broad

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 declaration to the overall statement of policy 2 in our Environmental Conservation Law that it 3 is the policy of the State of New York that 4 all races, cultures, religions, incomes, 5 education levels, and sexual preferences be 6 treated equally with respect to the 7 development and enforcement of environmental 8 laws and regulations. 9 So it would not automatically 10 exclude any community. It requires us to take 11 issues of environmental justice into account. 12 And I assure the Senator that we do 13 not have a problem of power plants and other 14 facilities being excluded from poor 15 communities of color. I do think you will 16 find very few rich white communities that have 17 such facilities in them, and this simply 18 requires us to take these issues into account. 19 But it does not exclude any particular 20 geographical area or community from any 21 specific project. 22 SENATOR BONACIC: I thank the 23 sponsor. 24 On the bill. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Bonacic on the bill. 2 SENATOR BONACIC: I believe the 3 bill is not necessary, number one. I think in 4 the ongoing practice of our state agencies, 5 particularly the DEC, when it comes to 6 programs, when it comes to grants, when it 7 comes to siting of facilities, they take into 8 consideration the concerns as raised by the 9 sponsor. 10 One of the things I am concerned 11 about is that what I have seen over the years 12 in the name of environmentalism, things have 13 been blocked for economic progress, to keep up 14 with commerce, to keep up with the needs of 15 utilities mainly to the metropolitan area. 16 And this language, if implemented, is another 17 obstacle that an applicant or an agency has 18 got to jump through hoops in order to move a 19 project forward. 20 I don't think it's necessary. And 21 as a result, if this becomes law, the spirit 22 of what we would have adopted will give more 23 ammunition to stop all commerce in the State 24 of New York. So I think it's not necessary. 25 I think there are enough protections now, both

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 constitutionally and agency protections, that 2 does not warrant this legislation. 3 I'm going to vote in the negative. 4 Thank you, Madam President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Thank you, Senator. 7 Senator Diaz. 8 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 9 President. Would the sponsor yield for a 10 question or two, please. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Senator Schneiderman, do you yield for a 13 question? 14 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, I 15 will yield, Madam President. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator 17 Schneiderman, I heard you saying, a few times 18 mention that you're doing this for the 19 African-Americans and the Hispanics. And you 20 mentioned a few times about how concerned are 21 you about African-Americans and Hispanics. 22 And also you mentioned there had to be, when 23 it comes to fairness and when it comes to 24 protecting our children, we have to be fair. 25 Why, when Mayor Bloomberg used

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 those same words, knowing that the South 2 Bronx, Hunts Point and the South Bronx, the 3 area that I am, is infested with those kind of 4 transfer station plants and all those kinds of 5 polluters, and when Mayor Bloomberg wanted to 6 build one in Manhattan because he wanted to be 7 fair, you opposed that? 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 9 you, Madam President. Build one what? 10 SENATOR DIAZ: Build a marine 11 transfer station plant in Manhattan last year. 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 13 you, Madam President, I think the proposal was 14 for alternative sites all in Manhattan for 15 marine transfer stations. But I certainly am 16 not opposed to any marine transfer station in 17 Manhattan. 18 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes, you did, 19 Senator -- 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator -- 22 SENATOR DIAZ: Through you, Madam 23 President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Yes, Senator Diaz.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR DIAZ: Would the sponsor 2 yield? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 I will ask the sponsor to yield, but it should 5 be germane to the bill, Senator Diaz. 6 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm on the bill. 7 I'm on the bill. Don't tell me that I'm not 8 on the bill. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 I didn't tell you, I just suggested -- 11 SENATOR DIAZ: I want to speak 12 about the bill. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 14 Thank you. 15 SENATOR DIAZ: And also, Madam 16 President, about the intention of the sponsor 17 to protect blacks and Hispanics. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to 20 yield? 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I am yield 22 for another question, Madam President. 23 SENATOR DIAZ: So when, Senator, 24 when did you suddenly became aware of us 25 blacks and Hispanics being discriminated when

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 it comes to this kind of plant? Because for 2 so many years, they've been building these in 3 the Bronx, South Bronx, and you never came out 4 so strong to defend us. So when did you 5 become aware that we need help? 6 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Well, 7 through you, Madam President, I actually I 8 guess first got engaged in issues related to 9 civil rights and environmental justice 10 probably going back to when I was in high 11 school, where I was a part of an organization 12 that did work on that. 13 I've worked with many 14 organizations, including West Harlem 15 Environmental Action, which I brought lawsuits 16 with as a public interest lawyer and as a 17 volunteer lawyer over the years. When I went 18 through a period of time representing 19 Congressman Jose Serrano, who represents the 20 South Bronx, there were quite a few issues, as 21 you correctly point out. It's an area that is 22 tremendously burdened by toxic environmental 23 facilities. It's an area with a tremendously 24 high asthma rate. I was involved in trying to 25 shut down a plant that was processing waste in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 a way that was particularly harmful. 2 So it's an issue that I've been 3 engaged in for quite some time. My district, 4 in Washington Heights and the Northwest Bronx, 5 is very close, and Washington Heights shares 6 some of the same issues; in particular, the 7 problem of transportation facilities, of the 8 truck traffic and things that affect our 9 children. So it's something that I've been 10 engaged with for a long time. 11 But I would like to point out that 12 this is an issue that is not specifically 13 about my district or your district. This is a 14 bill that's about the statewide policy of 15 New York, that we have for years lagged behind 16 the federal government in terms of our 17 recognition of and acknowledgment of the 18 problem of environmental injustice. 19 I've carried this particular bill 20 since 1998, but it was never able to come to 21 the floor until we were in the majority. I'm 22 happy it's coming to the floor now. And I 23 hope that all of my colleagues will vote yes 24 so we can have this declaration of policy 25 relating to environmental justice in the law,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in the declaration of policy of the 2 Environmental Conservation Law where it 3 belongs. 4 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you. On the 5 bill. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator Diaz, on the bill. 8 SENATOR DIAZ: I am kind of tired 9 of people using the blacks and Hispanics, the 10 Hispanic community when it's convenient to 11 them. We are in power since last year. This 12 bill didn't come to the floor last year. So 13 it comes today, very convenient, when there 14 might be an opening for statewide office. 15 And this is a bill -- and I 16 remember last year when Mayor Bloomberg wanted 17 that transfer station plant in Manhattan 18 because Mayor Bloomberg said that we have to 19 be fair with everyone and that the minority 20 community already have too many of them. 21 Well, I remember Senator Schneiderman and many 22 others strongly opposed that. 23 But now, today, we're talking about 24 fairness and we're talking about how we have 25 to protect blacks and Hispanics. When they

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 have been building and infesting my community 2 in the South Bronx for many -- I didn't see 3 that kind of strong opposition. And this is 4 too little, too late, and I'm voting no. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Thank you, Senator. 7 Senator Saland. 8 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Madam 9 President. Madam President, would Senator 10 Schneiderman yield, please? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Senator Schneiderman, will you yield for a 13 question? 14 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, Madam 15 President. 16 SENATOR SALAND: Senator, you 17 mentioned somewhere during the course of your 18 comments that this language was similar to 19 language that the EPA currently has. Are you 20 familiar with that language, and do you have 21 it before you? 22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 23 you, Madam President, I do not actually have 24 the EPA language in front of me. But it is in 25 the agency's definition of environmental

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 justice. And I know that when we were 2 drafting this, that was one of the sources. 3 SENATOR SALAND: Well, permit me 4 to tell you and the rest of the body what the 5 EPA uses for its definition. And you'll find 6 it on their website in several places. 7 For example, the United States 8 Environmental Protection Agency Office of 9 Environmental Justice defines environmental 10 justice as follows: "Environmental justice is 11 the fair treatment and meaningful involvement 12 of all people regardless of race, color, 13 national origin or income, with respect to the 14 development, implementation, and enforcement 15 of environmental laws, regulations, and 16 policies. EPA has this goal for all 17 communities and persons across the nation. It 18 will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same 19 degree of protection from environmental and 20 health hazards and equal access to the 21 decision-making process to have a healthy 22 environment in which to live, learn and work." 23 That is repeated several times on 24 their website. It's repeated under basic 25 information. In response to what they term

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 "Frequently Asked Questions," "How does EPA 2 define environmental justice," "Environmental 3 justice is the fair treatment and meaningful 4 involvement of all people regardless of race, 5 color, national origin, culture, education or 6 with respect to the development, 7 implementation and enforcement of 8 environmental laws, regulations, and policies. 9 Fair treatment means that no group of people, 10 including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic 11 groups, should bear a disproportionate share 12 of the negative environmental consequences 13 resulting from industrial, municipal, and 14 commercial operations or the execution of 15 federal, state, local and tribal environmental 16 programs and policies. Meaningful involvement 17 means that potentially affected community 18 residents have an appropriate opportunity to 19 participate in decisions about a proposed 20 activity that will affect their environment 21 and/or health, the public's contribution, and 22 can influence the regulatory agency's 23 decision, the concerns of all participants 24 involved will be considered in the 25 decision-making process, and fourth and last,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the decision-makers seek out and facilitate 2 the involvement of those potentially 3 affected." 4 I would respectfully submit that 5 the policy that you cite or define as being 6 the state's policy is well above and well 7 beyond anything that approximates what the EPA 8 is requiring. You are requiring a standard in 9 terms that can only invite litigation. 10 I'm not quite sure what you mean by 11 being treated equally, in the sense that if in 12 fact it's equal, is it demographically equal, 13 it is regionally equal, it is statewide equal? 14 If there's a facility in Buffalo that's 15 contemplated being built, do we have to weigh 16 27 different facilities in 27 different 17 locations throughout the state and determine 18 in fact if there's some kind of balance of 19 equality in terms of the impacts on the 20 environment? 21 And let me ask you to yield to a 22 question, if I might. One of the things that 23 was not discussed by anybody, nor did you 24 approach during the course of your 25 explanation, is on lines 7 through 9: "It is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 a basic right of all New Yorkers to live and 2 work in safe, healthful, productive and 3 aesthetically and culturally pleasing 4 surroundings." 5 If, for example, I worship in a 6 particular faith and that faith calls upon me 7 to pray several times a day, am I required as 8 an employer to ensure that that person can 9 pray several times a day? If I work in a 10 garage where there's a multitude of, let's 11 say, tools, toolboxes, jacks, lifts -- there's 12 nothing aesthetically pleasing about that, but 13 it is a common practice and it is one which 14 certainly would fail the test of whatever 15 aesthetic standard you may use. 16 What constitutes the degree to 17 which something is either aesthetically or 18 culturally pleasing? And is it in the eyes of 19 the beholder, or are we going to have to rely 20 on a court to determine a reasonable person 21 standard? 22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 23 you, Madam President, this is a broad 24 statement of policy. It doesn't address any 25 of the detailed issues in the hypotheticals

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that the Senator has presented. 2 But I would note that the other 3 provisions of the statement of policy in the 4 Environmental Conservation Law are equally 5 broad. There is a statement that follows the 6 language that I would like us to all support 7 inserting in the law to declare our commitment 8 to equality and justice that states that it's 9 the policy of the State of New York to foster, 10 promote, create, and maintain conditions under 11 which people and nature can thrive in harmony 12 with each other and achieve social, economic, 13 technological progress for present and future 14 generations. That's already in the law. 15 There are broad statements of 16 policy that, as the Senator knows, declare our 17 intentions and provide guidance to an agency 18 administering the law. 19 I think it a bad mistake, and I 20 think it does us an injustice here in this 21 house, to suggest that a broad statement of 22 policy that in addition to all the other 23 salutary purposes of the Environmental 24 Conservation Law requests -- no, not requests, 25 but insists that we also take into account the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 issue of environmental justice, somehow 2 creates burdens or imposes challenges that the 3 other broad statements of policy do not. 4 This is simply a recognition of the 5 fact that in spite of all the other statements 6 of policy and the laws and regulations that 7 have been enacted in response to those 8 statements of policy, we in the State of 9 New York have a situation in which there is 10 significant discrimination in terms of 11 exposure to environmental hazards based on 12 race and ethnicity. 13 And I hope that there's no one in 14 this house that would object to adding to our 15 broad statements of the policy that have 16 salutary goals and broad aspirations, not just 17 in this statute but in many other areas of the 18 law, a commitment to justice. This simply 19 states, Madam President, that this policy is 20 based on the concept of fundamental fairness, 21 which implies that no population should be 22 forced to bear a disproportionate share of 23 exposure to the negative effects of pollution. 24 I hope there's no one here who 25 would object to that. I don't think that it

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 is fair to say this would create all sorts of 2 hypothetical situations, because this is a 3 broad statement of policy. It does not 4 establish a new cause of action. It does not 5 create liability for anyone. 6 But I hope that in response to this 7 the laws that we enact and the regulations 8 that are passed in the future would address 9 more effectively the significant problem of 10 environmental injustice and disparity in the 11 State of New York. 12 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. 13 On the bill, Madam President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Senator Saland on the bill. 16 SENATOR SALAND: Madam President 17 and my colleagues, the enormous disparity 18 between the tenets described by the EPA as 19 constituting their policy and the policy that 20 Senator Schneiderman would have us adopt here 21 today are really not merely broad but 22 startling. 23 The current policy which Senator 24 Schneiderman referred to talks about creating 25 conditions under which people and nature can

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 thrive in harmony with each other. I don't 2 think anybody can be troubled by the idea of 3 there being environmental justice. It's the 4 draftsmanship of this that just opens 5 virtually anybody and everything up to 6 lawsuits. 7 Being treated equally, I'm not 8 exactly sure how we define treated equally. 9 Again, as I said earlier in my remarks, are we 10 talking about demographically? Are we talking 11 about geographically? If we're talking 12 geographically, what are the parameters of 13 that geography? Are we talking a 50-mile 14 radius, a 100-mile radius? Are we talking 15 Long Island has to be offset by Buffalo, that 16 it has to be offset by Plattsburgh, that it 17 has to be offset by Syracuse? What is equal? 18 There's no effort in here to tell us what 19 equal is. 20 There are certainly included in 21 here conditions that well exceed anything that 22 the feds have proposed. And as left 23 undiscussed both in the description of the 24 bill and in the dialogue that preceded my 25 engaging with Senator Schneiderman, this idea

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that somehow or other there's a basic right 2 to -- and I'm not even sure what the words 3 mean, "productive and aesthetically and 4 culturally pleasing surroundings." You're 5 opening up a guaranteed lawsuit haven. 6 Now, I guess if I were an attorney 7 general and I aspired to be busy, this could 8 keep me busy for a very long time. 9 I just would suggest that this come 10 back, perhaps in another form, one which is 11 far tighter than what's being proposed here, 12 where I for one might be willing to seriously 13 consider supporting it. 14 But I just view this as a statement 15 that's so overreaching and overly broad and 16 totally lacking in definition as to ensure 17 this as being an absolute treasure trove or 18 marketplace of lawsuits that will certainly 19 keep lawyers busy and will certainly drive 20 employers to despair. And that's not as if 21 they don't have enough to contend with now. 22 So I will be voting in opposition 23 to this bill. And I would urge my colleagues 24 very similarly to do so and would hope that 25 Senator Schneiderman would reconsider -- in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 fact, attempt to come back with a bill that 2 does what he wants it to do but in a fashion 3 that's capable of standing up to more 4 scrutiny. 5 Thank you, Madam President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Thank you, Senator. 8 Senator Montgomery. 9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank 10 you, Madam President. 11 I rise to speak in favor of this 12 legislation. And I want to thank my 13 colleagues Senator Schneiderman and Senator 14 Thompson for introducing it. 15 And all due respect to my 16 colleagues on the other side who complain 17 about what's going to happen and the lawsuits 18 and all of that, I would invite them to take a 19 boat on the Hudson and when you get to the 20 point where you have the beginning of the 21 smokestacks from the treatment center in 22 Farragut and all of the waste transfer 23 stations in Red Hook, in my district, and all 24 of the cement plants in Red Hook, in my 25 district, and all of the power plants along

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the part of my district that is Sunset Park, a 2 little further out, you will know -- and when 3 you get to Gowanus Canal, which my 4 constituents call the Open Sewer Canal, which 5 we've been trying to clean up for the last 30 6 years at least, and when you get to Buttermilk 7 Basin and you see all of those polluting, 8 polluting businesses in an area where there 9 are 10,000 families in the Red Hook East and 10 West Houses, and along Sunset Park, and in 11 Farragut, in my district, you will 12 understand -- it doesn't require a rocket 13 scientist to know -- that that's a cluster of 14 polluting facilities. 15 Now, the Environmental Advocates of 16 New York give us an interesting source of 17 information. They say 78 percent of 18 African-Americans live within 30 miles of a 19 coal-fired power plant, as compared to 20 56 percent of non-Hispanic whites. 21 So there is no secret that there is 22 environmental injustice in this nation. And 23 the proof is right there in the 18th Senate 24 District, which I represent. So we have been 25 fighting year in and year out. Every so often

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 there's a huge organizing effort to avoid 2 having one more waste transfer business sited 3 in that district, in the same area where there 4 are already several. 5 And so I'm happy to support this. 6 It is about time that we have a policy which 7 says equal distribution under the law for 8 those facilities that pollute the 9 environment -- air, water and/or land -- so 10 that none of us bear an unequal burden of 11 having everything sited in one place. 12 So I support this legislation. We 13 should be voting for it. It is way overdue. 14 And there are a large number of people, 15 especially in my district but all over the 16 state, who are going to be very happy when we 17 have a policy that protects all New Yorkers 18 equally. 19 Thank you, Madam President. I vote 20 aye. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Thank you, Senator. 23 Senator Winner. 24 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, Madam 25 President. Will Senator Schneiderman yield

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 for a few questions? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Senator Schneiderman, do you yield? 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, Madam 5 President. 6 SENATOR WINNER: Senator, it's my 7 understanding that in the current DEC there's 8 a commissioner's policy designated as 9 Commissioner's Policy Number 29 that 10 specifically requires under SEQR process that 11 all projects have to be dealt with as far as 12 environment and comply with the principles of 13 environmental justice as you are outlining in 14 this statement of policy yourself. 15 Is that your understanding as well, 16 that since 2003 that commissioner's policy has 17 been in place with respect to the SEQR process 18 to require environmental justice 19 considerations? 20 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 21 you, Madam President, as I indicated in 22 response to an earlier question by Senator 23 Bonacic, there are areas of law and regulation 24 that do make reference to environmental 25 justice, and SEQR is one of those.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 What this legislation does -- and 2 I'm assuming that the Senator is not 3 criticizing the fact that in the SEQRA 4 regulations, environmental justice is an issue 5 that is mentioned. What this bill would do is 6 simply take broad language reflecting our 7 commitment to environmental justice and place 8 it in the statement of policy that governs all 9 of the Environmental Conservation Law, so that 10 this would be noted as a factor to be taken 11 into account for all legislation and all 12 regulations. 13 SENATOR WINNER: Will the Senator 14 yield? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Senator Schneiderman, will you continue to 17 yield? 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, Madam 19 President, I'll continue to yield. 20 SENATOR WINNER: Well, Senator, 21 I'm a little bit confused, and perhaps you can 22 help me, tell me under what circumstances the 23 current policy, as set down by Commissioner 24 Grannis and the commissioner since 2003, 25 operates as it relates to the requirement that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 environmental justice considerations be 2 undertaken. 3 What does this policy, in your 4 mind, in your intent, intend to do to change 5 the existing process under which these 6 projects are determined to be sited or 7 approved as it relates to the Commissioner's 8 Policy Number 29, and how that would then 9 differ, your policy being in place would 10 differ from the current operation of siting a 11 plant or a project or approving a site plan 12 for a business or whatever under SEQR? 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 14 you, Madam President, there are hundreds and 15 hundreds of policies that have been enacted 16 since the Environmental Conservation Law was 17 passed. There are regulations in all areas of 18 environmental policy that relate to this 19 principle. 20 So I don't know that I can cite a 21 specific example of a regulation that exists 22 now that might be altered, but I think that 23 there are quite a few of them. 24 What I would suggest to the Senator 25 is that perhaps he is looking at this the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 wrong way. The issue is not really to say, 2 okay, we're going to go back and criticize 3 regulations and laws that were enacted prior 4 to us making this declaration that 5 environmental justice is a fundamental 6 commitment that we're making in our 7 Environmental Conservation Law, the question 8 is how much better can we do. 9 And I would respectfully submit, 10 without singling out any particular individual 11 for criticism or any particular policy enacted 12 by any of those individuals for criticism, 13 that the net result speaks for itself. 14 The reason we need to insert into 15 the statement of purpose of our Environmental 16 Conservation Law a commitment to environmental 17 justice is that the results aren't what they 18 should be. And as Senator Montgomery just 19 pointed out and as I pointed out and as every 20 study has documented, we have substantial 21 inequities in our state. People in poor 22 communities of color are exposed to 23 environmental hazards at a rate far in excess 24 of that in white communities. 25 I think that the right way to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 approach this is to start with a broad 2 declaration of policy, which is all that this 3 is, and then let us move forward together to 4 try and see where our laws and policies can be 5 improved. 6 But the point of this legislation 7 is not to single anyone out. I mean, a lot of 8 the policies that have produced the results 9 that we're living with today came under prior 10 administrations. And I'm not trying to go 11 back and cast blame, I'm trying to say let's 12 now go forward with a clearer vision, let's go 13 forward with a statement of policy that in 14 addition to talking about health and aesthetic 15 issues and other things that are already in 16 the statement of purpose, that we make it 17 clear that environmental justice is a goal and 18 an objective of New York State's Environmental 19 Conservation Law. 20 And I would challenge the Senator 21 in response and say what area of law would be 22 harmed, what area of law would be made less 23 just, what area of law would be made less 24 effective if we affirm our commitment to 25 environment policy as a state?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR WINNER: Will the sponsor 2 yield for another question? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to 5 yield. 6 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, Madam 7 President. 8 SENATOR WINNER: Senator, I don't 9 want to be difficult, I'm just asking you to 10 be specific with respect to the response to my 11 concerns. 12 My concerns are since 2003 there 13 has been a commissioner's policy in the 14 Department of Environmental Conservation that 15 requires environmental justice to be a 16 consideration in the siting of the power 17 plants, in the siting of solid waste 18 facilities, in the siting of business plans -- 19 roads, highways, you name it, it is there. It 20 is policy. Since 2003, that is the policy of 21 the Department of Environmental Conservation. 22 You have indicated, and I quote 23 you, that there continues to be significant 24 discrimination in environmental policy, 25 unquote. Those are your words. This is your

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 proposal. This isn't my proposal. 2 I'm asking you very specifically 3 how will this proposal change the procedures 4 that currently are required in the Department 5 of Environmental Conservation since 2003? I 6 don't think it's a very difficult question. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And 8 through you, Madam President, I appreciate the 9 fact that the Senator does not want to be 10 difficult. 11 (Laughter.) 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: But I 13 would respond very similarly to the way I just 14 responded. This is a broad statement of 15 policy. This is almost -- this is like our 16 environmental constitution. This sets the 17 framework through which all other policies and 18 regulations should be examined. 19 Now, it is true that there are, as 20 I've repeatedly said, several areas of 21 environmental policy where environmental 22 justice is already included as a factor in 23 those policies. He's referring specifically 24 to SEQRA. Absolutely correct. 25 My purpose in changing the broad

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 statement of policy and making it clear that 2 before you get into the details, everyone 3 should be focused, when you get to the 4 statutes that define the law for which the 5 regulations are issued, you are focusing, in 6 addition to everything else that are already 7 in broad statements of policy in this law, on 8 environmental justice. 9 I think that over the next couple 10 of decades my hope would be that this would 11 provide guidance to us and to the people in 12 the various departments -- not just the 13 Department of Environmental Conservation, but 14 other offices that deal with environmental 15 issues and deal with environmental justice 16 issues -- that this would provide guidance 17 that would lead us in a better direction. 18 Again, I'm not trying to pick on 19 anyone, I'm not trying to cast blame. I think 20 that there are a broad variety of issues that 21 this would help us do better on. 22 Again, I think it's missing the 23 point of this legislation to focus on the 24 language in SEQRA. This is something that 25 amends extremely broad statements of policy

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that set the framework for our environmental 2 conservation laws, to add one more broad 3 statement of policy that is a glaring 4 omission, in my view, from the Environmental 5 Conservation Law of the State of New York, 6 which is to say that no population should be 7 forced to bear a disproportionate share of 8 exposure to the negative effects of pollution. 9 And I don't see how this can do any 10 harm with regard to our revision of any 11 statutes, our revision of any regulations 12 going forward. This is a prospective bill. 13 We are looking forward to things that we can 14 do better. 15 Is it possible we may be able to 16 change the SEQRA rules to do even better? 17 Absolutely. Would I be willing to talk to the 18 Senator about that? Sure. 19 But it's missing the point to say 20 that a broad statement of policy looking 21 prospectively can be judged by past conduct. 22 I mean, it's really a shame that we didn't 23 have this enshrined in our law before. I 24 think we could have done better. But I'm not 25 trying to get into a blame game. The point is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that going forward we can all do better 2 together, Madam President. 3 SENATOR WINNER: Madam President, 4 will the Senator yield for another question? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to 7 yield? 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I will 9 continue to yield for another question. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Senator Winner. 12 SENATOR WINNER: Senator 13 Schneiderman, since 2003 when the 14 commissioner's policy requiring environmental 15 justice to be considered with respect to the 16 projects that are covered by the Department of 17 Environmental Conservation law is required to 18 be made, can you cite me some specific 19 examples of discriminatory projects that have 20 been improved by the Department of 21 Environmental Conservation that would be 22 otherwise covered under your policy statement? 23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 24 you, Madam President, I don't have a list 25 right now, but I would be glad to provide the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator -- it's not a matter of discriminatory 2 projects, it's a matter of a pattern of siting 3 projects in areas that creates the problem of 4 environmental injustice. 5 This is again -- and maybe there's 6 some misunderstanding here. This is not to 7 say that a particular power plant in and of 8 itself is discriminatory. It's saying the 9 overall pattern of how we spread out the 10 burdens has the cumulative effect of affecting 11 some communities badly and unfairly. It's not 12 an issue that is a project-by-project matter. 13 And that's why I am suggesting that 14 it belongs in the broad statement of policy. 15 Because while you may follow the SEQRA 16 proceedings and you may follow them to the T 17 and you may do exactly what you're supposed to 18 do under the regulations as they exist now, 19 the cumulative effect of the application of 20 those regulations and many other regulations 21 may have this sort of discriminatory impact. 22 And that's the reason this belongs 23 in a broad statement of policy. And quite 24 frankly, Madam President, that's why a 25 discussion of which specific projects might

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 have had a worse impact, you know, is really 2 missing the point. 3 SENATOR WINNER: Will Senator 4 Schneiderman yield to a question? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to 7 yield? 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I will 9 yield for another question. 10 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 11 Senator. 12 Your memorandum in support of the 13 legislation which we put in there, 14 specifically in your justification section 15 says that "As the City of New York embarks on 16 finding new locations for solid waste transfer 17 operations, the prospect looms that minority 18 communities will be exposed to even more 19 pollution." 20 Is that one of the primary 21 motivations of the introduction of this 22 measure? It seems to be the only specific 23 area of projects that you are identifying as 24 being concerned with in your justification 25 section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 2 you, Madam President, no, it certainly is not. 3 I think that the reason that we 4 want to, again, add to a broad statement of 5 policy entitled "Declaration of Policy" that 6 frames the Environmental Conservation Law and 7 the State of New York's policies with regards 8 to the environment, the reason that I want to 9 add the language in this bill is that in 10 addiction to the broad statements of policy to 11 conserve, improve, and protect the natural 12 resources of our environment, to prevent, 13 abate, and control water, land, and air 14 pollution -- the broad statements that already 15 exist -- I think that it is incumbent on us to 16 add a provision that a broad commitment to 17 environmental justice, to ending the historic 18 discrimination -- not since 2003, but for 19 hundreds of years -- by which poor communities 20 of color find themselves overburdened with 21 hazardous and polluting sites, projects and 22 frankly, also -- as there's a positive side to 23 this -- lacking the facilities such as parks 24 and recreational facilities that they really 25 deserve. There's a positive as well as a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 negative aspect to this. 2 I think we need a broad statement 3 of policy because we haven't -- over hundreds 4 of years, we haven't gotten the job done. I'm 5 not saying it's not gone better in recent 6 years. I'm not saying there aren't policies 7 that have attempted to address this. I'm 8 saying this should be a part of our overall 9 broad statement of purpose. That's what this 10 does. 11 And I don't, frankly, see any 12 reason why anyone who's concerned about 13 justice or fairness should vote against this 14 bill. 15 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 16 Senator Schneiderman. 17 On the bill. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Winner, on the bill. 20 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, Madam 21 President. 22 You know, I'm not trying to be 23 difficult as far as trying to elicit some 24 responses as to the Senator's complaints over 25 the administration of the Department of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Environmental Conservation as it relates to 2 the enforcement of their own policy on 3 environmental justice. 4 You know, in my colloquy with 5 Senator Schneiderman, it's sort of like trying 6 nail a custard pie to the wall. I really 7 can't quite get much of an answer as far as 8 what the specific complaints are as to how the 9 DEC has in fact administered its regulatory 10 agency as it relates to the projects that are 11 somewhat controversial as it determined on the 12 siting particularly of power plants and solid 13 waste facilities and the like. 14 I just am trying to find out how 15 we're going to be changing the way we do 16 business in New York. Because, you know, 17 believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, we 18 have an uncompetitive state as it relates to 19 doing business. And trying to change the way 20 we permit and operate and approve the SEQR 21 process as it relates to every single site 22 plan and every single town planning board from 23 one end of the state to the other, just adding 24 certain statutory requirements and/or policy 25 directives, as you want to say it, has

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 implications as far as our ability to move 2 forward on an economic prosperous basis. 3 And so I don't take these statutes 4 very, very lightly as it relates to the 5 already existing unfair and oppressive 6 regulatory burden in New York State. 7 So I am going to oppose this bill, 8 because I don't know what the implications of 9 it will be as it relates to economic 10 development in New York. I don't think the 11 sponsor understands what the ramifications 12 will be. He hasn't cited one specific project 13 since 2003 to allege the existence of 14 environmental injustice as it relates to the 15 operations of the Department of Environmental 16 Conservation. I don't think that that was an 17 unreasonable burden to ask. 18 And as such, if we don't know what 19 the implications of that which we're going to 20 do and what that will impact on the way with 21 we do business in New York, I don't think that 22 we can afford to place into the law statutes 23 that are of this vagueness and lack of 24 understanding. 25 And certainly in an area such as I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 represent in upstate New York that needs 2 economic development, I don't think we need 3 any more burdens placed upon them other than 4 encouragements to go forward to create jobs in 5 this state. 6 This would appear to me to be an 7 anti-jobs proposal. And as such, I think that 8 we should be very, very wary as we go forward 9 with this. We already have adequate 10 protections -- which have not been refuted by 11 the sponsor -- to the provisions of the 12 environment justice in this state. So to add 13 further regulatory burden on us and on our 14 business community at this time, in this 15 precarious economic condition of this state, I 16 think would be extraordinarily unwise. 17 And for those reasons, for jobs in 18 New York, I'm going to vote no. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 Senator DeFrancisco. 21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I think I 22 forgot what I was going to ask, quite frankly. 23 But much has been already asked 24 that I would have, but I just had a couple of 25 questions of the sponsor if he would be

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 willing to answer them. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Senator Schneiderman, will you yield for 4 questions? 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, Madam 6 President, I will yield for -- and I 7 appreciate the Senator's concern with not 8 asking questions that have been asked before. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Senator, 10 you had mentioned the empirical data that you 11 had to justify the need for this particular 12 bill, and you talked about asthma rates in 13 minority communities, how they exceed the 14 rates in nonminority communities. 15 Did that -- I didn't see that 16 study, but did that study relate back to 17 decisions made by the DEC or governmental 18 bodies that sited various unhealthy facilities 19 in those areas with higher asthma rates? Or 20 is it just documentation that -- data that 21 says that certain members of certain races 22 have a higher incident rate without any 23 relationship to those sites? 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Well, 25 Madam President, through you, I have to say

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that I feel as though there are things that 2 are right in front of us sometimes that we 3 choose not to see. And in this case, this 4 debate appears to demonstrate that some of my 5 colleagues are willfully blind to something 6 that I think is fairly obvious. I cited the 7 study "A Climate Of Change." There's also an 8 older study that was done by the Commission 9 for Racial Justice of the United Church of 10 Christ, which I cite. There are studies that 11 have been done by a variety of environmental 12 groups that I will be happy to cite for my 13 colleagues. 14 There can be no dispute that poor 15 communities of color are overly burdened with 16 environmentally harmful projects and do not 17 have their fair share of environmentally 18 beneficial projects, such as parks. And I 19 think that this whole dialogue, which really 20 is a dialogue of people who appear to be -- 21 and maybe I'm misreading how they intend to 22 vote -- but appear to be prepared to vote 23 against a broad statement of purpose that the 24 State of New York believes in equality and 25 justice when what it comes to environment law,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 are missing the point. 2 We know this is true. There's no 3 study that finds otherwise. The fact of the 4 matter is that when you have -- you know, a 5 four-to-one disparity in asthma rates, that's 6 not a margin of error issue. And if you just 7 will come and walk, as Senator Montgomery 8 cited numerous facilities in and around her 9 district, if you would just come and look at 10 the poor communities that are unduly burdened 11 by these facilities and these projects, I 12 think the answer will be pretty clear. 13 But there is no question that this 14 issue, the issue of health, the issue of 15 asthma and other health concerns are 16 environmentally related. This is not a 17 finding that there are some groups with a 18 genetic predisposition to asthma. This is a 19 problem of environmental injustice. This is a 20 problem that the Commission for Racial Justice 21 of the United Church of Christ called 22 environmental racism. 23 This is not something that hasn't 24 been documented and discussed over and over 25 again. All we're doing with this legislation

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 is getting into the broad statements of 2 purpose that frame the Environmental 3 Conservation Law of the State of New York a 4 statement that we are opposed to such 5 injustice. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Too bad 7 there's not a judge here that could answer the 8 objection that the answer was not responsive. 9 Because I'd like to ask it again and see if it 10 could be responsive this time, if he would 11 please yield to another question. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 13 Senator Schneiderman, do's you continue to 14 yield. 15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I will 16 yield for another question, Madam President. 17 But if the question continues to miss the 18 point of my legislation, I will provide an 19 answer that returns us to the point of my 20 legislation. 21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: The 22 question is simply this. Do any of the 23 studies that you have cited -- not your 24 feelings and your desire to do justice -- any 25 of the studies that you cited link the asthma

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 rates to bad projects that are in the various 2 communities that you're concerned about? Do 3 the studies say that? I'm not asking what you 4 think or what we should all know by osmosis or 5 just common sense. Do the studies say that? 6 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 7 you, Madam President. Yes, the studies say 8 that. Studies for decades have demonstrated 9 the harmful effects on poor people of -- 10 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you. 11 He's answered -- he's answered the question. 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I'm sorry, 13 Madam President, if the questioner would allow 14 me the courtesy that I've extended to him and 15 his colleagues. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 17 Senator Schneiderman, please continue. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 19 Every study has documented this for 20 decades. If you want to hide and you want to 21 pretend we don't know this, if you want to 22 pretend that we don't know there's 23 environmental injustice in our state, that 24 poor communities of color have a higher 25 proportion of harmful environmental projects

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in them, go ahead. But you're not fooling 2 everyone. You're not fooling the people of 3 this state. You're not fooling your 4 constituents. We know this is a problem. 5 Dozens of studies have shown this. 6 I will be happy to send to Senator 7 DeFrancisco's office a copy of a list of some 8 of those studies. But to suggest that there 9 is somehow or other -- because this is a broad 10 statement of policy and not a list of specific 11 projects, that somehow it's something we 12 shouldn't do, I think is frankly a little bit 13 offensive. It's almost suggesting that the 14 problem that we all know exists of 15 environmental injustice in this state doesn't 16 exist, that we're making it up, that we're 17 asking you to believe in it by osmosis or 18 common sense. 19 This is a problem. We know it's a 20 problem. Let's put in our Environmental 21 Conservation Law a statement of our commitment 22 to justice and equality and the enforcement of 23 the environmental laws and the enforcement of 24 the rules regarding siting of projects, both 25 good and bad projects -- parks and power

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 plants -- let's put that in our statement of 2 policy. That's what this bill does. 3 And to suggest that there's 4 anything else going on here, Madam President, 5 I think is really unfair and dishonest. This 6 is a simple bill. And I am surprised that our 7 discussion has gone on this long, because I 8 would think you'd be able to decide if you 9 want to vote in support of the broad statement 10 of policy in this short paragraph pretty 11 easily. It is the policy of the State of 12 New York, according to this language, which 13 I'm asking you to support, that people of all 14 races, cultures, religions, incomes, education 15 levels and sexual -- it should be sexual 16 orientation -- be treated equally with respect 17 to the development and enforcement of 18 environmental laws, regulations and policies. 19 Not complicated, Madam President. 20 And I really would challenge anyone 21 who would suggest that this is making up a 22 problem, that we are creating the notion that 23 there is environmental injustice, that you are 24 badly out of touch with reality. 25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Now that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 he's answered the question, would he please 2 answer another question, hopefully more 3 succinctly. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 5 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to 6 yield? 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I will 8 yield for one more question. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Senator, 10 since you've obviously done your homework and 11 you've got all of this empirical data to 12 protect minority communities by this 13 particular legislation, my question is what 14 empirical data that you have that shows that 15 religions have to be protected. 16 How do you provide equal treatment 17 to religions? Or better yet, how do you 18 provide equal treatment to sexual orientation? 19 Are there communities where we can identify 20 people of the various sexual orientations that 21 we've got to provide equal treatment for? 22 Could you tell me what empirical data you have 23 to require protection, equal protection for 24 these groups, environmental protection? 25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you, Madam President, statements of policy 2 include very broad language. And the first 3 sentence of this proposed legislation does 4 identify cultures, races, religions. But the 5 point of that language is really to frame up 6 our commitment to equality that's set forth 7 later in the paragraph. 8 The point is that no one should be 9 discriminated against on any basis and that in 10 the application of our environmental laws, we 11 should not accept injustice on any basis. 12 And I would urge the Senator that 13 it was because of the opposition to including 14 certain groups in other civil rights laws that 15 we now are careful to include broad language 16 whenever we refer to the issue of justice and 17 equality in New York. I recall being here for 18 years when the Hate Crimes Law was failing 19 because my colleagues on the other side of the 20 aisle refused to include sexual orientation 21 along with race and religion. 22 I don't think we should be passing 23 laws with broad declarations of our civil 24 rights commitment and our commitment to 25 justice and equality that exclude any

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 particular group. 2 Having said that, you know, I'm not 3 sure I can answer the question specifically if 4 there is a particular community that is 5 suffering environmental injustice because of 6 sexual orientation. I can tell you that there 7 certainly are communities where groups of 8 people who follow a particular religious 9 teaching are clustered, where there are 10 sometimes very crowded communities, in fact, 11 where people who are of a particular religious 12 belief, belong to a particular sect, are 13 concentrated. And it's very possible that 14 some such group could be faced with an 15 environmental justice issue at some point in 16 time. 17 So I think if the complaint is that 18 we're providing for too much justice and 19 equality, then I plead guilty to that 20 complaint. The point is that no one -- and 21 the statement here, after we talk about all 22 the various populations of the state, the 23 statement here that really is the heart of 24 this bill that you will vote against if you 25 vote against this bill, is no population,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 however you define population, should be 2 forced to bear a disproportionate share of 3 exposure to the negative effects of pollution 4 or be deprived of locally accessible open 5 space due to a lack of political or economic 6 strength. 7 That is a statement that should 8 apply to everyone. And frankly, I think it's 9 kind of offensive to suggest that we don't 10 support equality because we may have included 11 categories of people who may have suffered 12 inequitable treatment but we can't necessarily 13 document it. I'm sure the Senator is not 14 suggesting that he would support a policy of 15 environment injustice towards people of a 16 particular religion, but that's what it sounds 17 like from the way he framed the question. 18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I have one 19 last question if the Senator would be kind 20 enough to answer it. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Senator Schneiderman, do you continue to 23 yield? 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I will 25 yield for one last question.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 2 Senator DeFrancisco, one last question. 3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And I 4 trust everyone has empowered you to ask that 5 last question, Senator. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Who has 7 empowered me? It's my own question. I'm not 8 quite sure what you mean by that remark. 9 But whatever you mean, the question 10 is simply this. Senator Montgomery made a 11 compelling case, and apparently it was 12 compelling to you because it's part of your 13 memo, concerning some areas that are 14 disproportionately treated unfairly. 15 If this becomes law, could an 16 attorney general of the State of New York, no 17 matter who that person be, bring a lawsuit to 18 stop the siting of a plant in Senator 19 Montgomery's district because she would not be 20 being treated -- those people would not be 21 treated equally, according to your 22 legislation, because they're already 23 overpopulated with these sites that are not 24 good for health? 25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Madam President. A great last question. 2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Well, I'd 3 love a great answer too. 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Certainly 5 the attorney general of the State of New York 6 has broad powers in the area of environmental 7 protection and can choose to exercise those 8 powers and has a fair amount of flexibility as 9 to how those powers are exercised. 10 This statute does not change the 11 laws that the attorney general enforces and, 12 as I think I've made clear repeatedly, does 13 not create any new rights of action. This 14 statute in and of itself would not change the 15 actions an attorney general could bring, but 16 this statute that puts into our broad 17 statement of purpose in our environmental 18 conservation laws the principle of equality 19 and justice for all New Yorkers I think could 20 lead a future attorney general to propose 21 program bills that could make such 22 modifications, that could build on the work 23 that's been done in other states to ensure 24 that projects are located on an equitable 25 basis, and in fact to ensure that in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 communities that overly burdened by 2 preexisting projects that we take additional 3 steps to provide open space, to provide 4 mitigation for the harmful effects of 5 pollution that is the result of decisions 6 made, in some cases, many decades ago. 7 So I would suggest that while this 8 doesn't change the body of law that the 9 attorney general can enforce, this would be 10 something that I think might inspire an 11 attorney general to have a broader array of 12 program bills dealing with issues of 13 environmental justice and to work together 14 with the Legislature to try and improve our 15 laws in that area. I do think that this would 16 be something that would be welcomed by anyone 17 who wants to enforce the Constitution of the 18 State of New York, be the top law enforcement 19 officer of the State of New York and provide 20 justice and equality to the best of their 21 ability for the people of the State of 22 New York. 23 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: On the 24 bill, please. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator DeFrancisco, on the bill. 2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: You know, 3 it's very difficult to ask questions and get a 4 filibuster about things that have nothing to 5 do with the nature of the question nor the 6 intent of the question. 7 And to somehow imply bad motives or 8 that someone does not want to be just or fair 9 or wants to discriminate or not discriminate, 10 I mean, that kind of rhetoric's going on for 11 years, and quite frankly it's annoying, let 12 alone not accurate. 13 The fact of the matter is I think 14 when you propose a bill, you ought to have 15 some kind of empirical data or something 16 behind the bill and some reasons you want to 17 have the bill passed. And it seems to me that 18 a question concerning whether or not the 19 studies that are being cited actually connect 20 the health hazards to some type of facility 21 that is unequally distributed in a district, I 22 think that's a relevant question. And I think 23 it's pretty important to determine whether or 24 not those studies that are being relied upon 25 are accurate or not.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I don't think there's anything 2 wrong with that, especially since Senator 3 Saland made the excellent point that Senator 4 Schneiderman cited the EPA and the broad 5 language of the EPA that was almost identical 6 to his language and how could we not want the 7 same language in our state, the great State of 8 New York. Well, the language was 9 substantially different once you read it. 10 There's a big difference between 11 saying that all of these groups have to be 12 treated equally, as this legislation says -- 13 that sounds like a head count, or the number 14 of plants in a certain area, a count of those 15 plants depending upon the type of population. 16 As opposed to the EPA language that says 17 "shall have meaningful involvement in the 18 process." There's a huge difference. And I 19 think that was a relevant point made by 20 Senator Saland. 21 And Senator Bonacic mentioned about 22 is there a private right of action. And 23 Senator Schneiderman said there is no private 24 right of action. But the way I understood his 25 answer, and I think I understood it, is that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the attorney general has broad enforcement 2 authority over the laws of the State of 3 New York and could bring suits along the 4 spirit of this bill. 5 For example, the suit that I posed 6 about Senator Montgomery's district. Clearly, 7 if the attorney general felt that her district 8 was being or her population was being treated 9 unequally, because it's got to be equal 10 treatment -- count some numbers of plants and 11 the like -- well, that violates the policy of 12 the State of New York if this bill in fact 13 becomes law. 14 So I don't think any of the 15 questions or responses or argument made by 16 anybody on this side of the aisle showed 17 anything close to discrimination or possibly a 18 desire to discriminate against people. It's a 19 question of whether the legislation makes any 20 sense and whether it's going to create more 21 problems than it's going to correct. 22 And I know everyone wants to 23 include every imaginable group in every piece 24 of civil rights legislation. But how does 25 anybody in the DEC ever administer this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 problem of whether or not there's unequal 2 treatment of religious groups? How do you 3 determine that? I mean, what a burden that's 4 got to be. What religion has more steam 5 plants? The religions are mostly all over the 6 state in different locations. And what a 7 great tool for a religious group that wouldn't 8 want something in their neighborhood to say 9 we're being treated unequally because we have 10 one down the block, even though their religion 11 is spread out throughout the state. 12 And sexual orientation is really 13 the more interesting one. How do you 14 determine where the communities of different 15 sexual orientations are? And how do you 16 determine whether they're being treated 17 equally or not? 18 Now, it's nice to have a broad, 19 general piece of legislation, but generally I 20 think you want to try to enforce these things 21 and have some standards that you can enforce. 22 And if you can't enforce the standards or 23 they're so overly broad that it's going to 24 create more problems than it's going to solve, 25 then under those circumstances you've got to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 think twice about the bill. 2 So those are my concerns about the 3 bill, and that's why I'm going to vote no. 4 Thank you, Madam President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Parker. 7 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, Madam 8 President. On the bill. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Senator Parker, on the bill. 11 SENATOR PARKER: Colleagues, 12 racism exists. Point-blank, period. And I 13 know people here are looking for clarity, so 14 let me be clear. Racism exists. 15 Let me explain to you what racism 16 is. Racism is the ability for one to use 17 racial discrimination and turn it into public 18 policy. Let me be clearer. The only kind of 19 functional racism that exists in the State of 20 New York or the country is white supremacy. 21 When you in fact see racial discrimination 22 being turned into public policy based on 23 discrimination, it is places where white 24 people have in fact discriminated and turned 25 the discrimination of blacks, Latinos, Asians

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 and others into public policy. Clear. 2 This piece of legislation, which I 3 really commend both Senator Schneiderman and 4 Senator Thompson for bringing forth, helps to 5 start the conversation about how we in fact 6 deal with that ugly problem that we have in 7 America, here in the state around the issue of 8 environmental protection. 9 We are in fact used to somebody 10 being called an ugly name, Madam President, 11 and that being the only kind of racism that we 12 understand. But the reality is that there's 13 institutional racism, there's structural 14 racism, there is labor market discrimination, 15 and there's environmental racism. 16 What this bill simply does is 17 create a policy statement that is strong 18 enough to protect everyone, not just around 19 racism, where this is in fact the most obvious 20 problem, but around other categories. 21 Senator DeFrancisco, you are quite 22 wrong when you in fact say that groups of 23 people live in other places. If you look at 24 four years ago, the Harvard School of 25 Education did a study based on Brown vs. Board

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of Education and looked at concentrations of 2 people and demographics. And what you saw in 3 the study is that actually New York City has 4 one of the most segregated cities in the 5 entire country, because you can actually look 6 at communities where in fact people live. 7 If you tell me -- when you live in 8 New York City and you tell me your race or 9 your religion or your ethnicity, I can put you 10 within blocks of your house, for the most 11 part. And we all know that. 12 I represent Borough Park, the 13 largest concentration of Orthodox Jews in the 14 entire country. We all know that. Ask Dov 15 Hikind, my colleague who represents them in 16 the Assembly. Right? So when you look at -- 17 if you want to ask the question of where in 18 fact people of religions live, they live in 19 many cases in very tight concentrations. 20 Senator Montgomery and Senator Squadron 21 represent parts of Boerum Hill, which has a 22 large Muslim population, actually one of the 23 largest concentrations of Muslims, again, in 24 the entire country live in Boerum Hill in 25 Brooklyn. Right?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 These are not things that we're 2 unaware of. There are in fact many, many 3 instances where based on race, religion, or 4 even sexual orientation we know there are in 5 fact concentrations of people. And we 6 understand that we need to protect people 7 regardless of their race, their religion, 8 their sexual orientation, their ethnicity, 9 their handicaps, whatever. We want people to 10 be protected. I know you all want people to 11 be protected. 12 This is a simple bill. And I'm 13 really -- frankly, I'm appalled that we're 14 having this much discussion about it, frankly, 15 because I don't think that it in fact does 16 many of the things that people are fantasizing 17 about. 18 The extrapolations about this being 19 an anti-jobs bill or an anti-business bill 20 frankly are ridiculous. I mean, the reality 21 is we have to do business in a way in this 22 state that does not disenfranchise other 23 people and does not cause harm to them. That 24 has been a theory and public policy practice 25 in this country going back to Teddy Roosevelt,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 when you first started having, you know, state 2 parks being created. Right? 3 I mean, Senator Little, you 4 represent the Adirondacks. How do you in 5 fact, you know, protect the Adirondacks and 6 say that this needs to be a protected area and 7 then don't protect the South Bronx and don't 8 protect Sunset Park and don't protect Staten 9 Island? 10 I mean, the reality is there are 11 places all over this state, both upstate and 12 downstate, that ought to be protected, and 13 where people live in conditions that they 14 frankly ought not to. 15 I'm very surprised that, frankly, 16 the mayor has not come out stronger in terms 17 of support of this bill, inasmuch as he talked 18 about congestion pricing, that he wanted to in 19 fact see, you know, asthma rates go down, and 20 cases in which cancer and other things are 21 affected by environmental problems in our 22 communities. This is the kind of bill that we 23 really need to begin with in terms of making a 24 broad policy statement. 25 And just so you understand, the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 difference between what Senator Schneiderman 2 and Senator Thompson are proposing here and 3 what the EPA has is that that was something, 4 that broad statement was actually created 5 under a Republican administration where 6 Christy Todd Whitman, the former governor of 7 the New Jersey, the toxic shock state -- and I 8 know I'll get some letters behind that. But, 9 you know, that is where the EPA statement 10 comes from. And it's a much weaker statement 11 and frankly does not do the job, which is part 12 of why states are being called on. That's 13 part of why the leadership of this body is 14 being called on to in fact protect our 15 communities. We need to do the right thing 16 here, and we need to pass this simple bill 17 that makes a simple statement, that we as 18 members of the New York State Senate are not 19 going to be allow people to be discriminated 20 upon by companies that want to create waste 21 and create environmental hazards in our 22 communities. 23 Let me get the record straight 24 around SEQRA, Senator Winner. SEQRA does not 25 provide for environmental justice language.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 It does not. I'm being as clear as I can. 2 SEQRA does not provide for environmental 3 justice language. This language in this bill 4 is necessary because SEQRA does not in fact 5 protect black and Latino communities that are 6 put upon by coal-burning plants, they're put 7 upon by garbage stations, that are put upon by 8 chemical plants, that are put upon by other 9 kinds of plants that put toxins into the air 10 and into the water. 11 There are organizations like 12 Sustainable South Bronx that have done 13 numerous studies and numerous actions -- you 14 can call my good friend Majora Carter there, 15 and she can give you a whole dissertation on 16 it if you need to be. 17 I'm surprised that I hear that 18 Senator Diaz is voting against this, because 19 this is in fact the kind of bill that will 20 begin to protect his community. He has the 21 most put-upon community in the entire State of 22 New York as relates to these kind of plants, 23 you know. I think second only to George 24 Onorato, maybe. And actually between 25 George -- if you look at their districts,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 between George's district in Queens and 2 Senator Diaz's district in the South Bronx, 3 right, just separated by less than a mile of 4 water between them, they have, you know, more 5 plants and more carbon and environmentally 6 hazardous plants than almost any other 7 communities in the entire country -- not just 8 the entire state, the entire country. 9 It is for no other reason than for 10 that community, and those are those 11 communities, that we ought to be passing this 12 language. Because SEQRA does not provide it. 13 In fact, part of the argument around creating 14 an Article X, which is a fast-track power 15 plant siting bill that I've worked on and 16 Senator Maziarz has worked on, that Senator 17 Wright before us worked on -- part of the idea 18 of in fact doing that type of bill was in fact 19 to get environment justice language into the 20 debate around the siting of power plants. So 21 it is not just power plants, it is lots of 22 different kinds of plants now. 23 We're in a jobs crisis. Everybody 24 here, when you talk about the idea of creating 25 jobs, it's job one for this body. And I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 certainly would not be voting for this bill if 2 I thought it was something that hurt job 3 creation. But let me say this. Job creation 4 is not more important than the sustainability 5 of life. We cannot create jobs in this state 6 at the expense of the health of our children. 7 We can't create jobs at the expense of another 8 case of asthma, another case of cancer, 9 another case of lymphoma. We can't do it. 10 That being said, is that that's a 11 false dichotomy. It is not a matter of 12 polluting the earth and the environment or 13 creating jobs -- in fact, just the opposite. 14 And this body proved that a few months ago 15 when we passed the green-collar jobs bill. 16 We in fact have an opportunity here 17 to do the good work of this country, and that 18 is to create jobs that in fact are good and 19 sustainable for this nation and for this 20 country. The kind of jobs that are good for 21 me, that are good for your community, that are 22 good for everybody's community in this great 23 state. 24 So we don't have to create these 25 dichotomies between jobs and the environment.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 They in fact have created a beautiful nexus 2 for us where companies can create profits, 3 people can have jobs, people can lower their 4 energy bills and at the same time have the 5 kind of environment and be the kind of 6 stewards of this environment that we ought to 7 be not just for our children but for our 8 grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. 9 Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that 10 we can resolve some of people's concerns both 11 around litigation that's probably likely not 12 to come, because the reality is we're not 13 looking to grandfather existing plants into 14 this, we're really just looking prospectively 15 and in fact saying, as we go forward, let's in 16 fact be sensitive to the makeup of 17 communities, let's make sure that the 18 communities that people are living in are 19 sustainable for their lives. 20 It's not much to ask that all of 21 our children be able to breathe clean air. 22 It's not much to ask to say that every drop of 23 water that our children and our grandchildren 24 drink and that our mothers and our 25 grandmothers and our grandfathers drink is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 clean water. It's not much to ask. Those 2 should be basic things that all of us want for 3 everybody in the state. 4 And I'm saying up until this point, 5 I get that many people -- that we didn't know 6 at one point, you know, what DDT did to our 7 communities. We didn't know what CO2 was, let 8 alone what it did to our lungs and to the 9 atmosphere. We didn't know. But my 10 grandfather always told me, Senator Espada, 11 when you know better, you do better. And now 12 we know better. And what I'm simply asking 13 you is to vote on this bill yes so that we as 14 a state can do better because we now know 15 better. 16 There is a significant amount of 17 distrust between communities of color in 18 particular and corporations. And that extends 19 to government exactly because we have failed 20 to police our communities in the right way. 21 And this is a great opportunity for us as we 22 go forward, as we go forward to make sure that 23 all of our communities have the same kind of 24 environmental protection that every other 25 community has.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 All of us are not, you know, lucky 2 enough to live in, you know, the great, you 3 know, rural communities that some others 4 represent in this state. And so finding a 5 tree in Brooklyn, although easier than it was, 6 you know, a couple of years ago, is not as 7 easy as it is in other places. 8 So that's why particularly in urban 9 areas, this kind of legislation is necessary. 10 And let's be clear. New York City is not the 11 only urban area in the state. If you live in 12 Syracuse, you ought to be concerned about 13 this. If you live in Rochester, you ought to 14 be concerned about this. If you live in 15 Buffalo or Niagara Falls or Albany, you ought 16 to be concerned about this. If you live in 17 Utica or Binghamton, you ought to be concerned 18 about this. Anyplace that we are doing, you 19 know, significant manufacturing or if you 20 have, you know, Senator Aubertine, a power 21 plant in your district, you ought to be 22 concerned about this, because those particular 23 matters are falling on everybody, on the just 24 and the unjust alike. 25 And so, again, I'm pleading with my

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 colleagues to do the right thing, to protect 2 all of our communities, to make sure that the 3 ugly history of our past doesn't continue to 4 dictate the policies of the future. We know 5 better, and we can do better. 6 I'm voting aye. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 Senator Lanza. 9 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you, Madam 10 President. It isn't often enough that I'm 11 able to agree with my good friend Senator 12 Parker, so let me begin by saying that I agree 13 with him. 14 Sadly, of course we know that 15 racism exists and discrimination exists. But 16 I think it is probably a racist notion to 17 suggest that only one race is capable of 18 harboring those type of ignorant and hateful 19 thoughts. 20 And of course let me say that we 21 agree with the justification for this 22 legislation, that there ought to be equality 23 and justice in our community when it comes to 24 everything, including how we treat the 25 environment and how we place facilities that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 may have a negative impact on the environment. 2 I think more than anyone in this 3 room I can speak to the ills that occur when 4 it comes to discriminatorily placing 5 facilities that affect the environment. 6 Senator DeFrancisco was looking for a study. 7 Senator Schneiderman said it was right in 8 front of us. Senator Parker said that clearly 9 you can't ignore what has occurred in this 10 state. And so let me point out to all of you 11 that the greatest environmental crime 12 committed by the people of the City of 13 New York was perpetrated against the people of 14 Staten Island, in a community that is 15 predominantly white. 16 And of course I speak of the Fresh 17 Kills Landfill, an unpermitted, unlined, 18 environmental disaster, more than 2000 acres, 19 which eventually, because of the stroke of 20 many pens that were put down on pieces of 21 paper -- by, it just so happens, Democrat 22 elected officials, mostly in Manhattan, but 23 throughout the rest of the city -- had all of 24 the garbage of the City of New York come to 25 Staten Island.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Now, Fresh Kills Landfill was 2 probably the worst place in the world to even 3 site a landfill. Tribal estuaries, brackish 4 waters, streams, wetlands -- really a unique 5 environmental area that has been decimated and 6 destroyed over 50 years by the people outside 7 of Staten Island who were elected in the City 8 of New York. 9 One of the last things that I was 10 part of when I left the City Council was the 11 solid waste management plan that had -- 12 mindful of that environmental discrimination 13 that was perpetrated against the people of 14 Staten Island -- that had as one of its 15 principles borough-based sufficiency requiring 16 each borough to handle its share of its waste. 17 Part of that plan requires the 18 placement of waste transfer stations. The 19 first, of course, to be established happened 20 and was established on Staten Island. We're 21 still waiting in Manhattan. 22 And I find it ironic that the 23 people and elected officials in Staten Island 24 are trying to prevent marine stations from 25 being placed in Manhattan so that Manhattan

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 can deal with its fair share of garbage. 2 I am all for accomplishing what 3 that legislation sets out to do. But as I 4 listened to Senator Winner try to elicit how 5 this legislation would play out, what rules 6 would be changed, I didn't really get a 7 satisfactory explanation. And so one of my 8 concerns is that this legislation might do the 9 opposite, or allow it. I know that is not the 10 intent of the sponsor. I know that. But my 11 concern is that this might create a cause of 12 action for everyone but the kind of community 13 that I have in Staten Island that's suffered 14 for 50 years the environmental discrimination 15 perpetrated upon it. 16 And that is my concern here, is 17 that this will allow the people of Manhattan, 18 for instance, to prevent a transfer station 19 from being established in Manhattan to deal 20 with their fair share of their own garbage, 21 which would result in this being put back on 22 the people of Staten Island. 23 So that's my concern. Not what 24 that sets out to do -- because I support it -- 25 but what this might actually, in practice,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 allow to happen, and that is the further 2 perpetration of environmental injustice in the 3 City of New York and elsewhere by the creation 4 of a cause of action for some groups and not 5 others. 6 And so, Madam President, 7 unfortunately I will be voting in the negative 8 on this legislation. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Senator L. Krueger. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 12 Madam President. Very briefly on the bill. 13 So everybody is imagining 14 everything, and including imagining that 15 there's not a problem of environmental racism 16 or environmental injustice. 17 So it's not that complex a bill. 18 It says we should factor in discrimination in 19 the context of building, in the future, any 20 kind of project that might in fact be 21 environmentally damaging. It is the concept 22 of fair share. It says government should 23 factor this in. I don't see it as that 24 complicated, that high-risk. And even many of 25 my colleagues who have said we don't need it

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 have pointed out they think they read 2 government policy as already doing this. 3 Well, there's lots of times we have 4 voluntary governmental policy where we as a 5 Legislature say, you know, this one is 6 important enough to turn it into statute, to 7 make it the law of the land, to not just count 8 on some commissioner at some point in history 9 to write regulations in such a way, but to 10 actually say it's the law of the land, when 11 planning for projects that can be 12 environmentally harmful, not to discriminate. 13 I don't know why it's so 14 complicated that it's taken us so many hours 15 to get here. I have no problem supporting 16 this bill. It should be the law of the land 17 in New York State. I vote yes. 18 Thank you, Madam President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 Are there any other Senators wishing to be 21 heard on the bill? 22 Hearing none, debate is closed. 23 The Secretary will please ring the bell. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Montgomery, to explain her vote. 7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 8 President, to explain my vote. 9 I'm supporting this legislation. 10 As I said before, it is about time that we 11 have this kind of protection against siting of 12 environmentally harmful facilities, that the 13 decision be made fairly across the state and 14 not be clustered in districts like mine, in 15 areas where the people who are primarily 16 impacted by this cluster of environmentally 17 harmful facilities are African-American and 18 Latino New Yorkers. 19 And there is no question that these 20 facilities are related specifically to the 21 fact that I have the highest asthma rate in 22 parts of my district in the whole state. So 23 yes, there is a relationship between the 24 environment. And it was not because they were 25 born African-American and they have asthma,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 it's because they were born into an 2 environment that is toxic and polluted and 3 because we have a cluster, oversaturation of 4 these environmentally harmful facilities. 5 So it is time for us to have a 6 policy that says New York State will not do 7 that. So I vote aye. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 9 Senator Montgomery to be recorded in the 10 affirmative. 11 Senator Oppenheimer, to explain her 12 vote. 13 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes. I 14 want to point out that the bill is not that 15 dissimilar to the United States EPA law. So 16 it isn't like we're creating something wildly 17 different from what does exist at the federal 18 level. 19 And also, I can't see that there's 20 any harm in putting this in. I've listened to 21 the other side of the aisle. But I think that 22 all people, regardless of their color, 23 ethnicity, their background, their race, I 24 think everybody is entitled to the same equal 25 protection when it comes to the water we drink

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 and the air we breathe. 2 And I don't see that there could 3 possibly be any harm in putting this into law, 4 because it sounds rather basic, sort of 5 primary. I don't see one could possibly -- in 6 other words, how can it hurt you? It cannot 7 hurt you. So let's see if it can help us. 8 And I think it can help us. 9 I vote aye. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Senator Oppenheimer to be recorded in the 12 affirmative. 13 Senator Onorato, to explain his 14 vote. 15 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes, Madam 16 President, I rise to support this legislation. 17 I'm sorry it didn't come sooner than now. 18 As Senator Parker indicated 19 earlier, I probably have the largest 20 concentration of power plants in the entire 21 country, where we supply the City of New York 22 with over 70 percent of the electricity. And 23 right now National Grid is contemplating 24 building another plant in Astoria -- and not 25 for the consumption of my community, but to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 sell it outside of the state. Now we're 2 producing electricity in my community to 3 transport it out of the State of New York. 4 Where is the justice in that? 5 And I support this bill 6 wholeheartedly, and I ask my colleagues to 7 reconsider. Someday they'll be trying the 8 same thing in your community. Don't let it 9 happen. I vote aye. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Senator Onorato to be recorded in the 12 affirmative. 13 Any other Senator wishing to 14 explain his or her vote? 15 Hearing none, announce the results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 17 the negative on Calendar Number 30 are 18 Senators Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Diaz, Flanagan, 19 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, Leibell, Little, 20 Nozzolio, Ranzenhofer, Saland, Volker, Winner 21 and Young. 22 Ayes, 44. Nays, 15. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 24 The bill is passed. 25 The Secretary will continue to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 81, by Senator Duane, Senate Print 4998A, an 4 act to amend the Public Health Law. 5 SENATOR LIBOUS: Read the last 6 section. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 Read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Announce the results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 17 0. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 The bill is passed. 20 The Secretary will continue to 21 read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 92, substituted earlier today by Member of the 24 Assembly Morelle, Assembly Print Number 1808, 25 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: 2 Explanation. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Valesky, an explanation is requested. 5 SENATOR VALESKY: Yes, Madam 6 President. This bill would require that any 7 taxpayer who is filing their STAR property tax 8 application be provided with a receipt upon 9 request, if in person. If it's made by mail, 10 that it be provided in a self-addressed, 11 postage-paid envelope. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Will the 13 Senator yield to a question? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Senator Valesky, do you yield? 16 SENATOR VALESKY: Certainly. 17 Certainly. 18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: What is the 19 purpose of the legislation? 20 SENATOR VALESKY: Madam 21 President, through you, the purpose of the 22 legislation actually arose several years ago 23 from a situation where an assessor indicated 24 that an application for a STAR property tax 25 exemption was denied and the property taxpayer

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 had no written record -- or the assessor had 2 no written record of that application being 3 received. 4 So this is simply meant to provide 5 a taxpayer with additional information that 6 their application was in fact received and 7 processed. 8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would the 9 Senator yield to another question? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Senator Valesky, do you continue to yield? 12 SENATOR VELELLA: Certainly. 13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Is there 14 any evidence in that example that you gave 15 that the assessor refused to give a receipt 16 upon request? 17 SENATOR VALESKY: There is not. 18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So -- on 19 the bill, please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator DeFrancisco on the bill. 22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: We have a 23 bill here that seems to me to be totally 24 unnecessary. The avowed purpose of the bill 25 is to make sure that people who are denied an

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 exemption are allowed to get evidence of it. 2 And the case cited as to why this is necessary 3 is that a denial was given in the past and the 4 taxpayer didn't have a receipt. But there was 5 no evidence that the taxpayer asked for a 6 receipt. 7 So this bill says taxpayers are 8 entitled to a receipt if they ask for one. 9 Now, doesn't that seem a little bit 10 ridiculous? I can't imagine there's any 11 instance where an assessor has denied anybody 12 who asked for a receipt a receipt for 13 anything. And if there's no known case where 14 that ever happened, why do we have to have a 15 statute requiring assessors to give receipts 16 upon request? 17 Now, I think we have a lot more 18 important things to do than bills like this, 19 creating laws that have absolutely no purpose 20 or no basis for it, no justification why it's 21 necessary. 22 So I'm going to vote no, because I 23 have a great respect for assessors and I think 24 that there's no assessor in this state or in 25 this country that would say to a taxpayer "You

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 cannot have a receipt" once it's requested. 2 And we don't need a law to tell them their 3 responsibility. So I'm voting no on this 4 legislation. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Johnson. 7 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank 8 you, Madam President. 9 I rise in support of this piece of 10 legislation. Because it's not just simply 11 about the assessor, it's about the assessor's 12 staff. And not always is the staff in tune 13 with having to provide a receipt. 14 And I think what Senator Valesky is 15 doing is creating a fail-safe protocol for all 16 taxpayers in New York State. If they want a 17 receipt and ask for it, you've got to provide 18 them a receipt. 19 I don't know why my good friend 20 from up north has a problem with that, but I 21 certainly don't. I don't think our taxpayers 22 will. So I'll be voting yes on this great 23 piece of legislation. 24 Thank you very much, Madam 25 President.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 2 Senator Fuschillo. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 4 President, will the sponsor yield for a quick 5 question? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator Valesky, do you yield? 8 SENATOR VALESKY: Absolutely. 9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Senator, just 10 a quick question. What happens if the 11 assessor does not give a receipt? Is there a 12 penalty? 13 SENATOR VALESKY: There is not. 14 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: So there's no 15 enforcement provision at all. 16 SENATOR VALESKY: That's correct. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you 18 very much. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 Are there any other Senators wishing to be 21 heard on the bill? 22 Hearing none, the debate is closed. 23 Secretary, please ring the bell. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Announce the results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 8 the negative on Calendar Number 92 are 9 Senators DeFrancisco, O. Johnson, Libous, 10 Winner and Young. 11 Ayes, 54. Nays, 5. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 13 The bill is passed. 14 Senator Klein, that completes the 15 controversial reading of the calendar. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 17 can we just briefly return to motions and 18 resolutions. I have one motion. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 Returning to the order of motions and 21 resolutions. 22 Senator Klein. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 24 on behalf of Senator Perkins, on page number 25 10 I offer the following amendments to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Calendar Number 28, Senate Print Number 1145A, 2 and ask that said bill retain its place on 3 Third Reading Calendar. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 5 So ordered. 6 Senator Klein. 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 8 is there any further business at the desk? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Senator Klein, the desk is clear. 11 SENATOR KLEIN: There being none, 12 Madam President, I move that we adjourn until 13 Tuesday, February 23rd, at 3:00 p.m. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 There being no further business to come before 16 the Senate, on motion, the Senate stands 17 adjourned until Tuesday, February 23rd, at 18 3:00 p.m. 19 (Whereupon, at 5:51 p.m., the 20 Senate adjourned.) 21 22 23 24 25

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