by Alexander F. (Sandy) Treadwell
Last November, New York State voters renewed their commitment to a clean environment by approving Governor Pataki's $ 1.75 billion Clean Water / Clean Air Bond Act. Bond Act funding will assist local governments in completing environmentally important projects all across the state.
The Bond Act will provide funding in five broad categories of projects, including a "clean water" project category. Within this Category, the act targets certain water bodies which could benefit substantially from clean water projects and for which a management plan has been or is being developed. The South Shore Estuary is one such water body.
As directed in the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve Act, the South Shore Estuary Reserve Council is preparing a comprehensive management plan for the estuary. In view of available Bond Act funding, the Council is interested in advancing the plan's wetland and nonpoint source pollution components. These components are expected to lay groundwork for two types of water quality improvement projects eligible for Bond Act Funds: 1) aquatic habitat restoration projects and 2) nonpoint source pollution abatement projects.
The Department of State, which provides technical support for the Council, has been hard at work with subcommittees of the Council's Technical Advisory Committee to complete the wetland and nonpoint components of the plan. When the Council is satisfied with recommendations drawn from the plan, it will seek comments from the public.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a series of workshops for local officials covering all five Bond Act categories. The South Shore Estuary Reserve Council may hold supplemental workshops for officials from south shore communities to help focus their clean water project proposals on achieving recommendations in the south shore plan. Workshop details will be publicized at a later date. For more information, call Diane Hamilton Bell at the New York State Department of State, (518) 474-6000.
Alexander R (Sandy) Treadwell is the New York State Secretary of State and Chairman of the South Shore Estuary Reserve Council