What's happening
This bill extends and updates the New York State Ocean Acidification Task Force, requiring interim and final reports and public hearings.
Why it matters
Mandates timely interim and final reports. The bill introduces clear deadlines for both an interim report (by December 31, 2021) and a final report (by December 31, 2022), adding structure and urgency to the task force’s work and ensuring that findings and recommendations are shared with lawmakers and the public in a timely manner.
Requires public engagement. By mandating at least one public hearing on the interim report and requiring the final report to include an assessment of public comments from these hearings, the bill increases transparency and ensures that community voices and concerns are considered in policy recommendations.
Strengthens scientific and policy review. The task force is charged not only with reviewing the latest scientific evidence on ocean acidification and its effects on marine life and local industries, but also with recommending regulatory or statutory changes, adaptive measures, and ways to increase public awareness—potentially shaping future state environmental policy and coastal economic health.
Extends and revives the task force. By extending the task force through January 1, 2023, and reviving its legal authority, the bill ensures continued state-level focus on ocean acidification, supporting ongoing research, monitoring, and response efforts that could have long-term impacts on New York’s environment and coastal communities.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Extend Ocean Task Force
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 8
History
- Signed chap.398
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading cal.232
- Substituted for A2573
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 61–0
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.80
Show 1 earlier action
- Referred to environmental conservation
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.
Extend Ocean Acidification Task Force
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Steven Englebright
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2411
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 24, 2019
Introduced by Sen. BROOKS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend chapter 464 of the laws of 2016 relating to creating the New York state ocean acidification task force, in relation to reports by the New York state ocean acidification task force and to the effectiveness thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 2 of chapter 464 of the laws of 2016, relating to creating the New York state ocean acidification task force, is amended to read as follows:
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed repealed January 1, [2019] 2023.
§ 2. Section 1 of chapter 464 of the laws of 2016, relating to creating the New York state ocean acidification task force, is amended to read as follows:
Section 1. New York state ocean acidification task force. 1. There is hereby established, within the department of environmental conservation, an ocean acidification task force ("task force") which shall consist of 14 members who shall be appointed as follows:
(a) the commissioner of environmental conservation or his or her designee;
(b) the secretary of state or his or her designee;
(c) the commissioner of the office of general services or his or her designee;
(d) two members appointed by the governor;
(e) two members to be appointed by the temporary president of the senate;
(f) two members to be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;
(g) one member to be appointed by the minority leader of the senate;
(h) one member to be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08649-02-9
S. 2411 2
(i) one member to be appointed by the mayor of the city of New York;
(j) one member to be appointed by the county executive of the county of Nassau; and
(k) one member to be appointed by the county executive of the county of Suffolk.
2. The at large members should include individuals with expertise in one or more of the following areas: climatology; hydrology; economics; marine fisheries including commercial and/or recreational fishing; environmental; aquaculture; oceanography or coastal ocean science; ocean acidification; and ecology or environmental biology.
3. Task force members shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
4. The chairperson of the task force shall be the commissioner of environmental conservation or his or her designee. The task force shall meet no less than four times and at other times at the call of the chairperson.
5. Any vacancies on the task force shall be filled in the manner provided for in the initial appointment.
6. The task force shall be authorized to hold public hearings and meetings to enable it to accomplish its duties and shall at a minimum hold at least one hearing on the interim report.
7. The task force may consult with any organization, educational institution, other government entity or agency or person including, but not limited to, the national [ocean] oceanic and atmospheric administration, in the development of its report required by subdivision 10 of this section.
8. The department of environmental conservation shall provide the task force with such facilities, assistance and data as will enable the task force to carry out its powers and duties. Additionally, all other agencies of the state or subdivisions thereof may, at the request of the chairperson, provide the task force with such facilities, assistance, and data as will enable the task force to carry out its powers and duties.
9. The purpose of the New York state ocean acidification task force shall be to identify the causes and factors contributing to ocean acidification and evaluating ways of addressing the problem by applying the best available science as to ocean acidification and its anticipated impacts.
10. No later than December 31, 2021, the task force will prepare an interim report containing the criteria identified in subdivision eleven of this section.
11. No later than December 31, [2018] 2022, the task force shall transmit to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly a final report containing the following:
(a) an assessment of the anticipated impacts related to ocean acidification;
(b) recommendations related to mechanisms New York could establish to provide stronger, more protective standards, and the implementation and enforcement of such standards in the context of ocean acidification;
(c) recommendations regarding adaptive measures which may be taken to respond to ocean acidification, including measures to:
(i) identify and monitor early effects of ocean acidification on marine life, animals, plants and natural communities; and
(ii) integrate ocean acidification mitigation and adaptation strategies into state environmental plans;
S. 2411 3
(d) recommendations on state and local regulatory and/or statutory alterations to respond to the impacts of ocean acidification;
(e) review existing scientific literature and data on ocean acidification and how it has directly or indirectly affected or may potentially affect commercially harvested and grown species along the coast;
(f) identify and monitor the factors contributing to ocean acidification; [and]
(g) recommendations to increase public awareness of ocean acidification[.]; and
(h) an assessment of the public comments received at any hearing.
§ 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of article 5 of the general construction law, the provisions of chapter 464 of the laws of 2016, relating to creating the New York state ocean acidification task force, as amended by sections one and two of this act, are hereby revived and shall continue in full force and effect as such provisions existed on January 1, 2019.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amendments to section 1 of chapter 464 of the laws of 2016 relating to creating the New York state ocean acidification task force made by section two of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend chapter 464 of the laws of 2016 relat- ing to creating the New York state ocean acidification task force, in relation to reports by the New York state ocean acidification task force and to the effectiveness thereof
Purpose or general idea of bill
To extend the authorization for New York's Ocean Acidification Task Force to facilitate research, public education, and information-sharing regarding ocean acidification and its impacts on the State.
Summary of specific provisions
This bill would extend, from 2019 to 2023, the authorization for the fourteen-member Ocean Acidification Task Force within the Department of Environmental Conservation to identify the causes and factors contribut- ing to ocean acidification and evaluating ways of addressing the problem by applying the best available science. In addition to the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of State, and the Office of General Services, the Task Force would include at large members who would have expertise in one or more of the following areas: climatology; hydrology; economics; marine fisheries; aquaculture; oceanography; or ecology.
Justification
Atmospheric carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid when dissolved in water. As a result, the increased levels of carbon dioxide resulting from climate change have contributed to oceans becoming increasingly acidic. Ocean acidification can be further exacerbated by runoff and nutrient influx from land. According to information provided by the Maine Ocean Acidification Commission, "Scientific data indicates that the rate of acidification is at least 100 times faster at present than at any other time in the last 200,000 years and may be unprecedented in earth's history." In addition, it is thought that the Atlantic Ocean along the Northeast shore will be especially vulnerable to ocean acidification because carbon dioxide is increasingly soluble in cold water and the Northeast will be subject to increasingly intense rain events leading to more intensive runoff.
Although the science is still developing, it is believed that ocean acidification will have an adverse impact on the marine fisheries indus- try, especially shellfish. The Draft Ocean Action Plan 2015-2025 prepared by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Department of State indicates "In 2011, commercial fishing industries landed more than 27 million pounds of finfish and shellfish worth $37.6 million, generated $5 billion in sales in local communities, contributed $1.8 billion to the gross state product, and supported 42,000 jobs. That same year, recreational anglers generated $369 million in sales, contributed $212 million to gross state product, and supported 3,000 jobs."
The Task Force has only recently begun its work. This bill will extend the Task Force's timeframe to complete its important work while ensuring accountability by requiring an interim annual report.
Prior legislative history
This is new legislation.
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
Minimal.
Effective date
This act shall be take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.