Bill Text: NY A04729 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Eliminates term limits for members on regional fish and wildlife management boards.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2011-09-23 - signed chap.511 [A04729 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-A04729-Amended.html
                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                        4729--A
                              2011-2012 Regular Sessions
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                   February 7, 2011
                                      ___________
       Introduced by M. of A. REILLY -- read once and referred to the Committee
         on  Environmental  Conservation -- committee discharged, bill amended,
         ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
       AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to elim-
         inating term limits for regional fish and wildlife management boards
         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section  1.  Paragraph  a  of  subdivision 4 of section 11-0501 of the
    2  environmental conservation law, as amended by chapter 64 of the laws  of
    3  1987, is amended to read as follows:
    4    a. A regional fish and wildlife management board shall be appointed in
    5  each  of  the  regions  established under subdivision 3 of this section.
    6  Such regional board shall consist of  three  members  from  each  county
    7  within  the  region which has appointed its members. In each county, one
    8  member shall be a member of or represent the  board  of  supervisors  or
    9  county  legislative  body,  one member shall represent the landowners of
   10  the county and one member shall represent the sportsmen of  the  county.
   11  Such  members from each county shall be appointed by the chairman of the
   12  board of supervisors of such county with the approval of  the  board  of
   13  supervisors, except that in a county having a county president, a county
   14  executive  or other chief executive officer, the chief executive officer
   15  shall appoint the members representing such county with the approval  of
   16  the  board  of supervisors of such county. In a county having an elected
   17  legislative body the presiding officer shall appoint the members repres-
   18  enting such county with the approval of the legislative body.  If  there
   19  is  no presiding officer then the members representing such county shall
   20  be appointed by the legislative body as a whole.  If  a  member  of  the
   21  board  of  supervisors  or legislative body is not available to actively
   22  participate on the fish and wildlife management board, a  representative
   23  shall  be  selected who is an elected county official or who is employed
   24  by the county government in a position having administrative or  manage-
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD05834-02-1
       A. 4729--A                          2
    1  rial  authority.  A  landowner  representative must actually reside upon
    2  rural lands within the county and actually be engaged in  the  operation
    3  of  such  lands  for  production  of  agricultural commodities or forest
    4  products.  If a landowner representative with such qualifications is not
    5  available to actively participate on the fish  and  wildlife  management
    6  board,  a representative may be appointed who has been for at least five
    7  of the past ten years, before commencing his first term in any series of
    8  consecutive terms, engaged in such operation of  rural  lands,  and  who
    9  resides  within the county he represents. If no landowner representative
   10  with either of these qualifications is available to actively participate
   11  on the fish and  wildlife  management  board  a  representative  may  be
   12  appointed  who is a resource manager engaged in such operations on rural
   13  lands, and designated by the corporate owner of those lands to represent
   14  the landowner's agricultural or silvicultural interests. In the case  of
   15  certain  counties  designated by the full state board with a scarcity of
   16  rural lands operated  for  production  of  agricultural  commodities  or
   17  forest products, the landowner representative shall own such rural lands
   18  in New York state, whether or not those properties lie within the county
   19  wherein  he resides and represents. A sportsman representative must be a
   20  resident of the county.   The said chief  executive  officer,  presiding
   21  officer  or  legislative body shall receive and consider for appointment
   22  as the landowner representative, the recommendations made by the  county
   23  farm  bureau  and  Pomona grange, and for appointment as the sportsmen's
   24  representative, the recommendations made by the county units  of  organ-
   25  ized  sportsmen's  groups,  AS WELL AS CONSIDERING THE ADVANTAGES OF NEW
   26  REPRESENTATIVES.  The term of office of regional board members shall  be
   27  two  calendar  years. A member shall be eligible [to succeed himself not
   28  more than three times and shall thereafter be eligible for reappointment
   29  only after one term out of office] FOR REAPPOINTMENT TO SUCCESSIVE TERMS
   30  OF OFFICE WHERE OTHERWISE QUALIFIED. The term of the sportsmen's  repre-
   31  sentative and the board of supervisors or county legislative body repre-
   32  sentative shall expire at the end of the odd numbered years; the term of
   33  the  landowner  representative  shall  expire  at  the  end  of the even
   34  numbered years. An alternate board of supervisors or county  legislative
   35  body  representative, sportsmen's representative and landowner represen-
   36  tative may also be appointed, who shall be available  to  serve  in  the
   37  event  of  the  temporary  inability of the member sportsmen's represen-
   38  tative or member landowner representative or  board  of  supervisors  or
   39  county  legislative  body  representative  to  so function. A vacancy in
   40  membership of a regional board shall be filled in the same manner as the
   41  original appointment for the balance of the unexpired term during  which
   42  the  vacancy  occurs;  if a supervisor member or county legislative body
   43  member shall cease to be a supervisor or member of the legislative  body
   44  before  the  expiration of his term as a member of the regional board, a
   45  successor shall be appointed for the unexpired balance of the term as  a
   46  member  of the regional board. The chairman of the Board of Directors of
   47  each soil and water conservation  district  and  the  chairman  of  each
   48  regional  forest  practice board within the fish and wildlife management
   49  region, or his or their representatives, shall be advisory members with-
   50  out vote.
   51    S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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