Thiele applauds one environmental bill: Calls veto of second ‘missed opportunity’
Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a bill authored by Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (D-Sag Harbor) and Senator Jim Gaughran (D-Syosset) to block polluters from benefiting from State assistance payments, or grants, provided to municipalities by the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC).
The EFC provides money aimed at funding water supply projects to comply with State and federal goals and standards.
“Polluters should never benefit from State taxpayer dollars,” Mr. Thiele said, adding that polluters, not ratepayers or municipalities, must be held accountable for the damage they cause to drinking water.
“I was glad to work with the Suffolk County Water Authority and Senator Gaughran to pass this crucial piece of legislation,” the assemblyman said. “I am thankful to the governor for approving it.”
Mr. Gaughran said he was grateful to both the governor and Mr. Thiele for their efforts in protecting “our rights as drinking water providers to hold accountable those responsible for contaminating our groundwater.”
“Polluters, not ratepayers and New York taxpayers, should be required to pay for the costs of cleaning up their pollution, and this new law will ensure that they will,” said SCWA Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Szabo.
In a second case, the governor vetoed a bill that would have allowed the leasing of State-owned underwater lands for seaweed cultivation. In vetoing the legislation, the governor said a pilot project is already underway and doesn’t end until 2026. Accordingly, she said, before expanding the areas open to leases, she wants to see the results of that project.
Mr. Thiele, who wrote the legislation with Senator Todd Kaminsky (D-Rockville Centre), called the governor’s veto a “missed opportunity to boost our economy and create new jobs for our maritime businesses.”
“Legislation that authorizes leases for seaweed farming, including kelp, in Gardiners and Peconic bays was signed into law in 2021,” Mr. Thiele said. The bill that was vetoed would have further promoted a growing industry that would have restored water quality and fish habitats on the East End and in the rest of New York, he said.
The legislation would have authorized the Department of Environmental Conservation to lease additional State-owned underwater lands for the purpose of seaweed cultivation, a valuable and eco-friendly product that requires little environmental disruption.
“As New York continues to fight climate change and nitrogen pollution, this bill would have allowed more kelp farmers and local enterprises to participate in a growing industry that can provide substantial environmental benefits for the state,” Mr. Thiele said.
