Bill Text: NY S06191 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to setting a conservation goal for the state and including an effort to combat the biodiversity and climate crises in the state's land acquisition policy.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 22-6)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-05-23 - SUBSTITUTED BY A5390B [S06191 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S06191-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6191--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     April 14, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced   by   Sens.  KAMINSKY,  ADDABBO,  BIAGGI,  BOYLE,  GAUGHRAN,
          GOUNARDES,  HARCKHAM,  HELMING,  HINCHEY,  HOYLMAN,  JACKSON,  KAPLAN,
          KAVANAGH,  KRUEGER,  LIU,  MANNION, MARTUCCI, MATTERA, MAY, OBERACKER,
          ORTT, REICHLIN-MELNICK, SEPULVEDA, STAVISKY, THOMAS -- read twice  and
          ordered  printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
          Environmental Conservation -- recommitted to the Committee on Environ-
          mental Conservation in accordance  with  Senate  Rule  6,  sec.  8  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the  environmental  conservation  law,  in  relation  to
          setting  conservation  goals  for  the  state and including efforts to
          combat the biodiversity and climate crises in the state's land  acqui-
          sition  policy;  and  providing for the repeal of such provisions upon
          the expiration thereof

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a
     2  new section 49-0113 to read as follows:
     3  § 49-0113. Thirty by thirty conservation goal.
     4    1. It shall be the goal of the state  to  support  and  contribute  to
     5  national  efforts  to  conserve at least thirty percent of United States
     6  lands and inland waters and at least thirty  percent  of  United  States
     7  ocean areas by the year two thousand thirty.
     8    2.  The department in consultation with the commissioner of the office
     9  of parks, recreation and historic preservation, shall develop strategies
    10  and a methodology to achieve the goal, including but not limited to:
    11    (a) coordination with the state land acquisition plan;
    12    (b) prioritizing protections for water sources and sole  source  aqui-
    13  fers, including wetlands protections;
    14    (c) protections and restoration projects for preserving and increasing
    15  biodiversity, including habitat restoration, with a focus on habitats of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10880-03-1

        S. 6191--A                          2

     1  endangered  and  threatened  species  including  resilient and connected
     2  lands and corridors providing means for wildlife migration  and  habita-
     3  tion;
     4    (d)  expanding  access  to  nature and nature's benefits and equitable
     5  outdoor access in communities in every region;
     6    (e) consideration of a broad  range  of  landscapes  including  urban,
     7  suburban and rural natural areas, wetlands, forests, and watersheds;
     8    (f)  consideration  of  the state's economic sustainability, including
     9  preservation of food security and consultation with  the  department  of
    10  agriculture  and  markets  on issues related to farmland preservation of
    11  working lands;
    12    (g)  increasing  climate  resilience,  including  reducing  risk  from
    13  extreme  weather  events  including cooling urban landscapes and natural
    14  solutions to prevent erosion and flooding;
    15    (h) collaboration with federal  and  state  research  institutions  to
    16  utilize  innovative  scientific  observation technology to better under-
    17  stand the state's conservation needs and biodiversity and threats there-
    18  to;
    19    (i) implementing actions in a manner that  includes  consideration  of
    20  the  urgency of meeting the goal while still preserving public input and
    21  involvement;
    22    (j) collaboration with tribal partners to incorporate tribal expertise
    23  and traditional ecological knowledge to better  understand  the  state's
    24  conservation needs and biodiversity and threats thereto; and
    25    (k)  participating in regional, national, and international efforts to
    26  advance biodiversity protection, including preventing extinctions.
    27    3. Conservation measures shall be undertaken in ways  that  serve  all
    28  communities, including low-income, disadvantaged and vulnerable communi-
    29  ties.
    30    4.  The  department  and  office  shall prepare a draft plan and shall
    31  propose no later than July first, two thousand twenty-two, a schedule of
    32  public hearings thereon.
    33    5. On or before July first, two thousand twenty-three and every  three
    34  years  thereafter,  the  department and office shall submit the plan and
    35  any recommendations to the governor and legislature.
    36    § 2. Section 49-0207 of the environmental conservation law,  as  added
    37  by chapter 146 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
    38  § 49-0207. State land acquisition plan.
    39    1.  The  department and the office shall prepare a state land acquisi-
    40  tion plan to guide selection of projects for  state  acquisition  taking
    41  into account regional advisory committee priorities and the department's
    42  and office's assessment of need for land acquisition projects. Such plan
    43  shall  also  take  into  account the goal of the state to facilitate the
    44  conservation of at least thirty percent of land in New York state by the
    45  year two thousand thirty pursuant to section 49-0113  of  this  article.
    46  Such plan shall include an identification of:
    47    a.  lands,  by region and category, for which acquisition is of a high
    48  priority in order to carry out the purposes of this title;
    49    b. lands, by  region,  having  statewide  or  regional  environmental,
    50  historic, cultural or recreational significance that are threatened with
    51  diminishment of resource value;
    52    c.  the department's and office's priorities of categories of land, by
    53  region, for future acquisition; and
    54    d. lands, by  region,  having  statewide  or  regional  environmental,
    55  historic,  cultural or recreational significance which should be consid-

        S. 6191--A                          3

     1  ered for state acquisition, but which do  not  qualify  for  acquisition
     2  under present law.
     3    2.  Such  plan  shall  include consideration of the inventory prepared
     4  pursuant to section 49-0205 of this title and shall identify those areas
     5  within the state which are not adequately protected in such categories.
     6    3. In preparing such plan, the department and office shall:
     7    a. conduct one or more public hearings in  each  of  the  department's
     8  administrative regions.
     9    b. consult with:
    10    (i) the regional advisory committees;
    11    (ii)  officials of departments and agencies of the state having duties
    12  and  responsibilities  concerning  the  protection  of  open  space  and
    13  natural, environmental, historic, cultural or recreational resources;
    14    (iii) officials and representatives of local governments in the state;
    15  and
    16    (iv) persons, organizations and groups interested in the protection of
    17  open space and natural, environmental, historic, cultural or recreation-
    18  al resources of the state.
    19    c.  request  and receive from any department, division, board, bureau,
    20  commission or any other agency of the state or any political subdivision
    21  thereof or any public authority such  assistance  and  data  as  may  be
    22  necessary to enable the department and office to carry out its responsi-
    23  bilities under this section.
    24    4.  The  department  and  office  shall prepare a draft plan and shall
    25  propose, no later than January thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-
    26  one, a schedule of public hearings thereon.
    27    5.  On or before January thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-two and
    28  every three years thereafter, the department and office shall submit the
    29  plan to the governor, the majority leader of the senate and the  speaker
    30  of  the assembly. Upon approval by the governor such plan shall become a
    31  guide for the implementation of the acquisition programs of the  depart-
    32  ment and office.
    33    §  3.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
    34  deemed repealed January 1, 2031.
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