Bills, Bans and Grant Award Announcements

In the coming year, New York will continue its commitment to protect the environmental health and welfare of its residents with new environmental laws and bold initiatives regarding environmental justice, climate change, and environmental protection.

Permanent Environmental Justice Advisory Group

Governor Cuomo recently signed legislation establishing a statewide environmental justice policy, creating a permanent Environmental Justice Advisory Group and creating an Environmental Justice Interagency Coordinating Council.

The permanent environmental justice advisory group will adopt a model environmental justice policy to apply generally to all agencies that engage in activities or operations that may have a significant effect on the environment.

The interagency coordinating council will coordinate the activities of agencies required to adopt EJ policies and serve as a clearinghouse for state agencies and the public for EJ policy information and related activities.

Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act

Last year, Governor Cuomo signed the historic Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. This legislation establishes the New York State Climate Action Council, which will draft a scoping plan outlining the recommendations for achieving statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits, reducing emissions beyond 85 percent and net zero emissions across all sectors of New York's economy. Also, within the legislation are commitments for environmental justice including targeting investments to benefit disadvantaged communities.

The 22-member Council will be co-chaired by DEC and NYSERDA and will craft a scoping plan of the policies needed to achieve the law's mandates including input from the public during public comment hearings and informed by sector specific working groups and advisory panels.

The working groups a Just Transition Working Group consisting of 13 – 17 members, including environmental justice communities’ representatives, that will advise the Council on issues related to workforce development and training as it relates to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean technology.

This legislation also creates a Climate Justice Working Group to establish criteria to identify disadvantaged communities for the purposes of co‐pollutant reductions, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, regulatory impact statements, and the allocation of investments as described above.

Plastic Bag Ban Starts March 1: #BYOBagNY

Did you know New Yorkers use more than 23 billion plastic bags a year? That’s around 1,000 bags per person annually. When we improperly dispose them, plastic bags create pollution, and are often seen stuck in trees or floating in our waterways. They pose threats to fish and wildlife, clog machinery at recycling facilities, and litter the pristine outdoor places we love and enjoy spending time in with our friends and family.

Starting March 1, 2020, a new plastic bag waste reduction law will take effect in New York State, and your reusable bag should be in hand when going shopping. Whether you’re going to the grocery store, clothes shopping, or to a home improvement store, make sure to bring your reusable bags. You don’t need to wait until March 1st to take action! Start bringing your reusable bags to the store ahead of the ban to build a new habit. Remember, your reusable bag means conserving natural resources, creating less litter, and keeping New York beautiful for future generations.

Additionally, stores covered under the NYS Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse and Recycling Act will still be required to collect plastic bags and other film plastics from consumers for recycling. Film plastics include items such as bread bags and plastic wraps that come over cases of water, paper towels and other similar items. Consumers can help by continuing to recycle these items at participating retailers.

Questions on the upcoming plastic bag ban? E-mail plasticbags@dec.ny.gov.

Styrofoam Bans

Polystyrene is a synthetic, aromatic, hydrocarbon polymer used to make a variety of products we consume daily. This versatile plastic is found in laboratories, appliances, electronics, toys, and even in our cars. However, the most familiar use is as a foam material used in shipping and food service, known more commonly as Styrofoam.

While Styrofoam has its superficial benefits - is lightweight, provides insulation for products, and inexpensive to manufacture - polystyrene is not biodegradable and cannot be recycled. Additionally, it is a non-renewable product that breaks easily into small pieces, making it easier to enter our waterways, thus negatively impacting aquatic species.

To combat this, many municipalities and states have issued bans on polystyrene foam food and beverage containers in an effort to reduce our dependency on single use plastics. The states of Maine, Maryland and Vermont have issued such bans, as well as New York City, and the counties of Nassau, Westchester, Albany, Suffolk, and Ulster.

In his 2020 State of the State, Governor Cuomo highlighted proposed legislation to prohibit the distribution and use of expanded Styrofoam containers used for prepared foods or beverages served by food service establishments, including: restaurants, caterers, food trucks, retail food stores, delis and grocery stores. The proposed legislation would also ban the sale of polystyrene loose-fill packaging, commonly known as packing peanuts by 2021.

Visit Governor Cuomo's website to read more about the proposal for a Styrofoam ban and the 2020 State of the State.

$1.9 Million Awarded to Community Based Programs

DEC's Office of Environmental Justice awarded $1.9 million in Environmental Justice Community Impact Grants to 21 community-based organizations to support projects that address environmental and public health concerns.

DEC awarded grants to the following organizations:

Capital District

• Columbia Land Conservancy, Inc. fiscal sponsor for The Friends of Oakdale Lake: $100,000, Oakdale Lake Watershed Analysis and Amelioration Project - To undertake research, public information, and improvement recommendations with regards to the water at Oakdale Lake.
• Radix Ecological Sustainability Center: $100,000, Albany South End Environmental Justice Project Expansion 2019 - To expand the Albany South End Environmental Justice Project, a partnership between the Radix Ecological Sustainability Center and A Village, Inc.
• Affordable Housing Partnership of the Capital Region Inc. fiscal sponsor for Sheridan Hollow Neighborhood Association: $43,321.25, Sheridan Hollow Memorial Park and Rain Garden - To reestablish the Sheridan Hollow WWII Memorial Park and create a rain garden.

Central New York

• Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition: $97,017.94, Binghamton Community Power: Promoting Environmental Protection, Fiscal Stability, and Public Health in Environmental Justice Neighborhoods - To measure the rate of energy poverty, its impact on residents, and the barriers to adopting energy conservation practices.
  
  
• Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments Inc: $100,000, Community & Home Gardens: Growing Safely in the Greater Binghamton Area - To build five new community gardens on vacant properties and 35-50 raised bed gardens at homes located in the City Binghamton, Village of Johnson City, and Town of Union to enable more people to safely grow food for themselves and their families.

Hudson Valley

• Poughkeepsie Farm Project: $100,000, Poughkeepsie Food Power - To develop its on-site, school, and community garden programming to include research, hands-on workshops, and educational programming around crops that reflect the City’s cultural diversity.
  
  
• Kingston Land Trust Inc. fiscal sponsor for Hudson Valley Bee Habitat: $100,000, Conserving Pollinators through Community Engagement - To increase habitat for pollinators, to create greater connection to green space, to educate about the environmental harms to pollinators and humans, and to foster understanding of pollinators through educational workshops and creative place making engagements.
  
  
• Community Foundation of Orange County fiscal sponsor for Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative: $100,000, Promoting Health and Wellness Through Urban Agriculture in the City of Newburgh - To support Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative's efforts to promote health and wellness through urban agriculture/gardening in the City of Newburgh.
  
  
• Groundwork Hudson Valley: $99,999, Heat Island Mitigation and Risk Reduction in Southwest Yonkers - To analyze, prioritize, and make recommendations that address heat island issues in Southwest Yonkers and its 80,000 residents.

New York Metropolitan

• The Bronx is Blooming: $100,000, Grow, Revitalize, Engage, Educate, Nurture (GREEN) - To expand The Bronx is Blooming's community engagement by providing students and community groups with after-school, school-day, and weekend programming to steward their local parks.
  
  
• Eastern Queens Alliance, Inc.: $100,000, Assessing Airport-Related Air and Noise Pollution in Southeast Queens - To collect air and noise pollution data to provide a better understanding of levels of pollution and health concerns of the community.
  
  
• Friends of Van Cortlandt Park: $88,383, Garden 2 Market Internship - To continue their Garden 2 Market internship program while expanding it to include a research project to determine if there is a correlation between urban soil contamination and heavy metal levels in honey.
  
  
• Rockaway Waterfront Alliance, Inc: $100,000, Shore Corps: Open Space Green Stewards Youth Internship & Workforce Development Program - Shore Corps is green steward’s youth internship and workforce development program for 90 low-income youth, ages 14-18, who reside in Far Rockaway.
  
  
• Human Impacts Institute: $94,011.5, Brooklyn Environmental Health Lab - To launch the Brooklyn Environmental Health Lab to implement workshops, ambassador leadership training, pollution testing, and a display that residents will use to engage in activities that further their understanding of environmental pollutants.
  
  
• Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Inc: $99,999.75, Gowanus Blue Schools Expansion - To incorporate stormwater management design and practices into middle and high school STEM curriculum, while working toward long-term viable strategies to construct and maintain green infrastructure on school properties.
  
  
• West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc: $100,000, Community-Driven Solutions to the Growing Urban Heat Island Threat - A community-driven planning project that will address the climate change related environmental and public health threat of extreme heat.
  
  
• Neighbors Allied for Good Growth: $100,000, Clean Air, Safe Soil in the Urban Environment - To gather data from air samples and soil samples in public areas, partner with residents and local youth to teach them about soil contamination and air pollution and to develop a comprehensive public awareness campaign that reaches community residents.

Western New York

• North Tonawanda Botanical Garden Organization Incorporated: $47,162, North Tonawanda Sustainable Community Project - To educate and engage middle and high school students in preserving water quality through living/green infrastructure and best practices to foster environmental sustainability and biodiversity in the City of North Tonawanda.
  
  
• Buffalo Neighborhood Stabilization Co: $100,000, Renewing Community Trust and Green Spaces to Prevent Stormwater Runoff in Buffalo's African-American Heritage Corridor - To 1) improve stormwater management in the city using green infrastructure; 2) improve community knowledge of environmental risks; and 3) improve community knowledge and participation in the use of rain gardens for stormwater management.
  
  
• Groundwork Buffalo, Inc.: $100,000, Green Team Education, Fruit Belt Restoration Program - Groundwork Buffalo will enlist a group of teens and young adults between the ages of 14-24 to help plant, harvest, upkeep and deliver fresh produce to the residents of the East Side of Buffalo.

Long Island

• Starflower Experiences Inc: $33,000, Waste Reduction and Recycling in Wyandanch - To plan and carry out a successful educational campaign for Wyandanch that will result in less trash, less single-use plastic, and more participation in recycling.