Protect Peconic Bay Estuary

Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new article 58 to read as follows:

ARTICLE 58

PECONIC BAY ESTUARY PROTECTION ACT Section 58-0101. Short title.

58-0103. Legislative declaration.

58-0105. Legislative findings and intent.

58-0107. Definitions.

58-0109. Peconic region maritime reserve council.

58-0111. Duties of the council.

58-0113. Peconic Bay regional conservation partnership program.

58-0115. Peconic Bay estuary implementation projects.

58-0117. State assistance payments for Peconic Bay estuary

implementation projects.

58-0119. State assistance application procedure and standards.

58-0121. Contracts for state assistance payments for Peconic Bay

estuary implementation projects.

58-0123. State projects.

58-0125. Severability. § 58-0101. Short title.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Peconic Bay estuary protection act". § 58-0103. Legislative declaration.

The legislature hereby declares it to be in the public interest to protect and manage the Peconic Bay estuary, in the county of Suffolk, by

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD06984-01-9

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establishing a Peconic Bay estuary reserve. It is further in the public interest to establish a council made up of representatives of state and local governments and stakeholders to implement the comprehensive conservation and management plan created for the Peconic Bay estuary system pursuant to the national estuary program. § 58-0105. Legislative findings and intent.

The Peconic Bay system is one of twenty-eight estuaries across the country designated as part of the national estuary program pursuant to the federal clean water act. The purpose of the national estuary program is to develop watershed-based comprehensive management plans for estuaries of national significance threatened by pollution, development, or misuse.

In nineteen hundred ninety-one, the Peconic Bay estuary was nominated as an estuary of national significance under the national estuary program. The Peconic Bay estuary was formally accepted into the national estuary program in nineteen hundred ninety-two. Since nineteen hundred ninety-two, the state of New York, the county of Suffolk, the environmental protection agency together with the local governments, citizens, businesses, industry and environmental groups, and other stakeholders within the Peconic Bay region, collectively known as the Peconic Bay estuary program management conference, have worked together to create a comprehensive conservation and management plan to protect the Peconic Bay estuary.

The economic significance of the Peconic Bay estuary is well established. More than eleven hundred establishments were identified in the Peconic Bay estuary as "estuarine dependent" with gross revenues exceeding four hundred fifty million dollars per year. These stakeholders, establishments and industries are represented by the association of marine industries, the east end marine farmers association, the baymen association of the five east end towns, the Long Island farm bureau and the New York sea food council, among others. The future of this economic base clearly depends on maintaining the quality of the estuary.

Before the completion of the comprehensive conservation and management plan for the Peconic Bay estuary, an action plan was established to provide for early implementation of initiatives to benefit the estuary. Seven million dollars in federal and state funds have been dedicated to fifty-one demonstration and implementation projects, including sewage plant upgrades, agricultural environmental management, storm water mitigation, bay scallop seeding, wetland and eelgrass restoration, and demonstrations of numerous best management practices, including no discharge zones, inventorying of historic depths, water access points, hardened structures, critical natural resource areas and other inventory related items. Further under the State Clean Air/Clean Water Bond Act, a minimum of thirty million dollars has been allocated for the Peconic Bay and South Shore estuaries. Finally, in nineteen hundred ninetyeight, the legislature adopted chapter one hundred fourteen of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight establishing the Peconic Bay community preservation fund which established a two percent real estate transfer tax to fund land preservation efforts in the Peconic Bay region.

The draft comprehensive conservation and management plan has now been completed. It is the purpose of this article to provide for the implementation of recommendations made in the comprehensive conservation and management plan. § 58-0107. Definitions.

As used in this article, the following terms shall mean and include:

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1. "Cost" means the cost of acquiring a parcel of land identified in a partnership agreement authorized pursuant to section 58-0113 of this article, the cost of implementing a project pursuant to the comprehensive conservation and management plan created for the Peconic Bay system pursuant to the national estuary program as well as consultant and legal services, and other direct expenses incident to such acquisition or implementation less any federal assistance received or to be received and any other assistance from other parties.

2. "Council" shall mean the Peconic region maritime reserve council created pursuant to section 58-0109 of this article.

3. "Federal assistance" means funds available, other than by loan, from the federal government, either directly or through allocation by the state for construction or program purposes pursuant to any federal law or program.

4. "Governing body" means:

a. in the case of Suffolk county, the Suffolk county legislature;

b. in the case of a village within Suffolk county, the local legislative body thereof, as such term is defined in the municipal home rule law;

c. in the case of a town within Suffolk county, the town board;

d. in the case of a public benefit corporation, the board of directors, members or trustees thereof;

e. in the case of a public authority, the governing board of directors, members or trustees thereof;

f. in the case of a not-for-profit corporation, the board of directors thereof or such other body designated in the certificate of incorporation to manage the corporation; and

g. in the case of an Indian tribe or nation, any governing body recognized by the United States or the state of New York.

5. "Long Island Pine Barrens maritime reserve" shall mean the Long Island Pine Barrens maritime reserve established pursuant to article fifty-seven of this chapter.

6. "Municipality" means Suffolk county, a local public authority, public benefit corporation, a town or village within Suffolk county or any combination thereof, state agencies, state public authorities and state public benefit corporations.

7. "Not-for-profit corporation" means a corporation formed pursuant to the not-for-profit corporation law and qualified for tax-exempt status under the federal internal revenue code.

8. "Peconic Bay estuary" or "Peconic Bay system" shall mean the series of interconnected bodies or surface waters, including Flanders Bay, Great Peconic Bay, Little Peconic Bay, Noyack Bay, Shelter Island Sound, Southold Bay, Northwest Harbor, Orient Harbor, Gardiners Bay, Napeague Bay, Fort Pond Bay, the western portion of Block Island Sound, other semi-enclosed bays and harbors contiguous thereto, and all of the tidal creeks and freshwater streams that discharge into these interconnected basins.

9. "Plan" shall mean the comprehensive conservation and management plan created for the Peconic Bay system pursuant to the national estuary program.

10. "Traditional uses" means commercial fishing and shell fishing, shellfish farming, recreational boating, recreational fishing and shell fishing.

11. "Work plan" shall mean an advisory recommendation to a state agency or local municipality. § 58-0109. Peconic region maritime reserve council.

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1. There is hereby established a Peconic Region maritime council to assist federal, state and local governments coordinate all efforts to implement the plan.

2. a. The council shall be composed of the following members:

(i) three members appointed by the governor;

(ii) three members appointed by the temporary president of the senate;

(iii) three members appointed by the speaker of the assembly;

(iv) four members appointed by the county executive of the county of Suffolk, with the advice and consent of the county legislature of such county;

(v) the chief executive officers, or their designees, of the town of East Hampton, the town of Riverhead, the town of Shelter Island, the town of Southampton, the town of Southold, the village of Dering Harbor, the village of East Hampton, the village of Greenport, the village of North Haven, the village of Quogue, the village of Sag Harbor, the village of Southampton, the village of Westhampton Beach and the village of West Hampton Dunes;

(vi) a designee of the Empire State Marine Trades Association;

(vii) a designee of the Association of Marine Industries;

(viii) a designee of the Baymen Association of the Five East End Towns;

(ix) a designee of the East End Marine Farmers Association;

(x) a designee of the New York Sea Food Council;

(xi) a designee of the Long Island farm bureau;

(xii) a designee of the New York state sea grant;

(xiii) a designee of the state university of New York at Stony Brook marine science research center;

(xiv) a designee of the Long Island University-Southampton college maritime sciences program; and

(xv) two designees of the Cornell cooperative extension, one of whom shall be a marine program extension educator and the other who shall be an agricultural extension educator.

b. The commissioner, or his or her designee, the secretary of state, or his or her designee, for purposes of matters related to coastal resources and a representative of the federal environmental protection agency shall serve as ex officio members.

c. All members, except ex officio members, shall be residents of the county of Suffolk and shall demonstrate expertise in the functional areas to be addressed by the council. All initial appointments shall be made within sixty days from the effective date of this article.

3. The members of the council shall serve for a term of two years or thereafter until a successor is appointed. The council shall select a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and such other officers as it may determine are necessary for the conduct of its duties.

4. The members of the council shall serve without compensation.

5. The council shall consist of the following committees: a policy committee, a management committee, a technical advisory committee, a citizen advisory committee and a local government committee. The composition of such committees shall be established by the council. § 58-0111. Duties of the council.

1. The council shall have the following powers and duties:

a. to facilitate communication and coordination of the public and private sectors working to implement the plan;

b. to monitor and evaluate progress in implementing the plan, including an annual state of the bays report;

c. to assist in securing funds to implement the plan;

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d. to reassess and update the plan every two years;

e. to develop an annual financial plan to ensure plan implementation;

f. to negotiate commitments between stakeholders to implement the plan;

g. to encourage consistency in regulatory programs and standards consistent with the plan;

h. to provide technical assistance to local government and the private sector;

i. to make rules for the management and regulation of its affairs;

j. to hold public hearings;

k. to conduct scientific and environmental studies;

l. to contract within amounts appropriated for or otherwise available for professional and technical assistance or advice; and

m. to encourage individuals, corporations, associations, and public entities to protect, and preserve the unique resources of the reserve.

2. In addition to the duties set forth in subdivision one of this section, the council shall also complete the following responsibilities by December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-two:

a. identify additional revenue sources to fund the implementation of the plan; and

b. establish a work plan to address the following estuary related issues:

(i) agricultural management plans;

(ii) pesticide reduction;

(iii) priorities for additional scientific and applied research, including the targeting of the restoration of bivalve shellfish populations;

(iv) environmental monitoring, including radiological monitoring;

(v) continued public education and outreach;

(vi) establishment of a nitrogen control program to implement nitrogen reduction policies;