What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 45
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to agriculture
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 37–22
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.146
- Referred to agriculture
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to agriculture
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
Show 4 earlier actions
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.92
- Referred to agriculture
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to the wood products development council and contracts for timber or other forest products
In Assembly Committee · Agriculture · Sponsor William Magee
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S2485
Title of bill
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to the wood products development council; and to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to contracts for timber or other forest products
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill would ease burdensome contacting requirements currently required in order to gain permission from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to harvest timber on state lands
Summary of specific provisions
Subdivision 2 of Section 225 of the agriculture and markets law is amended to clarify that the New York State Wood Products Council should work to enhance the timber industry in New York State
Section 9-0505 of the environmental conservation law is amended to allow DEC to have sole contract authority over forestry projects on non-protected state lands that have a timber value under $50,000
Justification
Currently, any contract of more than $10,000 to harvest timber on non-protected state lands must be approved by DEC and the State Comptroller's office. This dual review procedure can be overly time consuming and many times pushes the date for project initiation back by months as the contract wends its way through the bureaucracy of two state agencies. This frustration is compounded by the fact that the current contract threshold is very low and requires extremely small forestry projects to be held up without need
This new legislation would provide breathing room for the forestry industry and DEC by increasing the threshold for dual oversight over forestry projects from $10,000 to $50,000. As a result, any project with a contract of under $50,000 would be needed to be approved by only DEC
This proposal essentially mirrors language put forth by DEC in the Governor's 2010/2011 Executive Budget proposal
Prior legislative history
A.11715 of 2010.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.