Hochul administration faces legislative scrutiny on climate, water infrastructure funding, among other issues
By Gwendolyn Craig
Legislators made known their multitude of concerns with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed $252 billion state budget on Tuesday during an environmental conservation and energy hearing in Albany.
Many Democratic lawmakers expressed their disappointment to leaders in the Hochul administration that the governor had paused a cap-and-invest program, which was supposed to create a funding source for climate mitigation projects and skepticism over a $1 billion pot of money she proposed in the interim. Upon closer look at budgetary language, the $1 billion is over five years.
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Republican lawmakers criticized the state’s renewable energy transition and what they considered a lack of planning and assistance for residents and businesses subject to the new emissions regulations.
Upstate lawmakers also got to the heart of several Adirondack Park issues within the first hour of questioning the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s interim commissioner, from forest rangers’ mental health, land acquisition hangups, water infrastructure funds and environmental bond act dollars.
Mahar, who has served as the DEC’s interim commissioner since Basil Seggos stepped down last spring, held firm on Hochul’s commitments to the environment. So did Doreen Harris, CEO and president of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
The hearing was the second in what will be a month-long marathon of hearings before the state Assembly and Senate release their one-house budgets. A final state budget is due by April 1, though in recent memory the budgets have been late.
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Land acquisition issues
In her State of the State agenda, Hochul acknowledged that the land acquisition process needs to be streamlined. She mentioned the state would look at purchasing title insurance.
The state’s policy to have perfect title and not purchase title insurance has been a hang-up in North Hudson in Essex County. A conservation easement between the town and the DEC at Frontier Town Campground and Day Use Area has been on hold over a more than century-old foreclosure case. The town is spending thousands to contact the heirs of a Frontier-era owner of the property to settle the matter.
Land trust organizations and watchdog groups have also been particularly critical of the state’s slowed land conservation efforts considering it has a goal of protecting 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. Mahar told lawmakers that the state has protected about 20% so far.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle asked Mahar for more information, as Hochul’s executive budget did not include any details on the purchase of title insurance.
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State Sen. Pam Helming, R-Canandaigua, said land trusts are holding about $150 million in lands for the state. “We need to speed it up,” she said.
State Sen. Rachel May, D-Onondaga and Cayuga, had a bill last year that would have allowed the state to purchase title insurance. May also asked Mahar for an update on the governor’s State of the State proposal.
Mahar said the DEC is in discussion with the state Attorney General’s Office and title insurance language could come in the governor’s budget amendments. If the DEC and AG cannot come to an agreement, the matter may go back to the state legislature, he said.
Rangers
State Assemblyman Matthew Simpson, R-Lake George, had forest rangers’ mental health on his mind. There was no line item in Hochul’s budget, he noted, for any mental health resources for law enforcement.
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Forest rangers have been vocal about the impact their jobs can have on their mental health, particularly after the deaths by suicide of two colleagues, both who served in some capacity in the Adirondack Park.
Mahar said the DEC continues to work with the Employee Assistance Program, the state Office of Mental Health Services and others to provide rangers with support. Such programs don’t usually need much funding, he said.
Clean Water Infrastructure funding
Many lawmakers and stakeholders want the Hochul administration to increase the proposed $500 million for clean water infrastructure projects to at least $600 million.
Since the Clean Water Infrastructure Act’s inception in 2017, the state has allocated $6 billion to projects. Lawmakers asked how much of that money has been spent. Mahar did not have an exact figure.
Lawmakers also urged Mahar to make sure those funds get out the door quicker.
Environmental bond act
In 2022, voters passed a $4.2 billion environmental bond act, the first such initiative since 1996. Mahar said about $1.2 billion has been committed so far.
State Sen. Liz Kreuger, D-Manhattan, said she understood some of the 1996 bond act funds were still unspent. She asked Mahar if they could be utilized this year.
The Explorer took a deep dive into the 1996 bond act, passed under Republican Gov. George Pataki, and found about $82 million of it is left as of 2022.
Mahar said in 1996, the state Legislature created restrictions on how the remaining funds can be spent. In the 2022 bond act, the funds will not be tied up in the same way based on the eligibility requirements in the legislation.
Climate
New Yorkers may be feeling whiplash over Hochul’s position and focus on climate change and the renewable energy transition. While she passed the Climate Superfund Act, which collects funds from businesses who are large-scale polluters, she paused a cap-and-invest program. The program would create a state pollution cap, which would decrease annually, and charge polluters for going over the cap.
Harris denied that Hochul has paused the program, noting the state was making progress on draft regulations. But the release of the draft regulations have been delayed at least twice now.
In response to lawmakers, Mahar said the draft could be released in the coming months.
Several Republican lawmakers criticized the state leaders for not pausing other climate initiatives, such as zero-emissions school buses. Some Democratic lawmakers agreed. Infrastructure and funding are not caught up with the legal requirements, they said.
Simpson also asked Mahar and Harris about why private, new homes must be electrified, but New York state’s own facilities do not have to be. The Olympic Regional Development Authority’s expansion of North Creek Ski Bowl project at Gore Mountain is powered by over a dozen propane tanks, Simpson said.
Harris said she could not comment on ORDA or the Office of General Service’s plans for the North Creek project, but said the state is working on electrifying its own buildings. She pointed to electrification investments proposed in Hochul’s budget for the Empire State Plaza in Albany.
Simpson said Harris’s point shows that such electrification projects are costly.
“It’s very expensive and when it comes to the consumer, they have to decide how they’re going to move forward with these mandates, but the state makes these decisions and doesn’t have to comply with the same rules,” he said.
Other Republican lawmakers also highlighted the cost of the renewable energy transition. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which sets a statewide goal of reducing carbon emissions by 85% below 1990 levels by 2050, will cost the state between $270 and $295 billion in that timeframe, according to NYSERDA.
Some Democratic lawmakers pushed back about the cost of inaction. NYSERDA noted the value of the benefits of the renewable energy transition is between $400 and $415 billion over that time frame.
Harris said inaction on climate change exceeded more than $115 billion.
Top photo: Sean Mahar, interim commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, testifies before legislators on the proposed 2025 state budget on Tuesday in Albany. Photo by Gwendolyn Craig
Anyone question why NYS is spending 30++++++ million to run basically empty trains to Tupper Lake, construct a maintenance facility and platforms for ONE group to operate when the Trail converted section from Tupper to Placid is already spawning new businesses and creating many varied activities for all to enjoy with much less environmental impact than the trains?????
It’s called money laundering.