URGENT:
Expand Stream Protections (S4162/A6652): Streams designated as supporting fisheries and suitable for non-contact activities (Class C) are not protected from pollution or overdevelopment.
What you can do: Please call Governor Hochul at (518) 474-8390 and urge her to sign S4162/A6652 to protect NYS’s Class C wildlife and secondarily communities and wildlife!
Protect Environmental Justice Communities (S.8330/A.2103D): If signed into law, the “Cumulative Impacts” bill will save the lives of millions of New Yorkers, requiring comprehensive evaluation of pre-existing environmental and public health stressors in the community surrounding the location of any newly proposed facilities and deny the re-issuing of permits for existing facilities if they fail to reduce their emissions in the communities where they operate.
What you can do: Please call (518) 474-8390 and urge Governor Hochul to sign this bill immediately. It’s time for New York State to stop placing disproportionate pollutant burdens on disadvantaged communities.
IMPORTANT UPDATES!
NYNJ Harbor Storm Surge Barrier: Your voices were heard!
The major barriers originally proposed have been removed from consideration as a result of significant public outcry. This fall the Army Corps of Engineers released a new NY & NJ Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study (HATS), eliminating the previously proposed barriers which would have closed the mouth of the Hudson River during storm events, causing irreparable harm to the estuary – restricting tidal flow and movement of migratory fish without mitigating sea level rise flooding.
What Now?: The newly proposed feasibility report, opting instead for shoreline walls and a dozen smaller storm gates across tributaries, and its potential impacts require careful evaluation. Let your voice be heard! The comment period currently is open until January 6, 2023.
For more information, review the Sept 2022 Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement and interactive story map.
Emerging Concern: Invasive Species identified as potential threat to Hudson River: The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is a highly invasive bottom-dwelling fish with voracious appetites, allowing them to displace and outcompete native species. Last summer DEC Marine Fisheries caught four round gobies in the Hudson River within 25 miles of the Troy Dam, entering the Hudson from the Great Lakes through the Erie Canal and Mohawk River. In July of 2022, the New York State Canal Corp and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation released an Interim Rapid Response Plan to Round Goby Rapid Response Plan to Round Goby.
NYS Climate Action Council:
Recently, former State Senator and Ulster County Executive-elect Jen Metzger joined the Hudson Valley Climate Action Coalition (HVCAN) members to emphasize the benefits to New Yorkers of fully implementing the Climate Act scoping plan, including health and safety benefits, an additional 189,000 new jobs this decade, and $90 billion in savings statewide compared to avoiding action.
New York’s Climate Action Council (CAC) has until the end of the year to finalize a plan for the state to achieve the urgently needed climate commitments.
What can you do?:
Attend the last two Climate Action Council meetings before the end of the year. The final meeting of the year is scheduled for Monday, December 19, from 1-5pm – access more information about upcoming and present meetings here.
Additional notes:
The climate commitments were established by law in 2019 with the passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA or “Climate Act”).
Senator Metzger highlighted a few changes the CAC is likely to make in the next few weeks as it finalizes the plan based on public input, including
-
Better recognition of regional differences across the state;
-
More emphasis on supporting local government emissions reduction efforts;
-
Addressing challenges in siting renewables; and
-
Recommending an economy-wide tool, likely in the form of a cap-and-invest program that would restrict emissions from regulated sources while generating revenue.
Looking for More Ways to Take Action? Check Out These Upcoming Events:
-
Join Clearwater as we support the Rockland Water Coalition, the Newburgh Clean Water Project, and others in the Emerging Contaminants Coalition Virtual Press Conference to call for more action on PFOS.
-
When: Dec. 12, 2022, at 12:00p
-
-
Join the Utility Debt Bill Relief Enrollment Workshop Series
What?: Learn about a New York State program eliminating utility debt of eligible rate payers, receive assistance in determining eligibility for the program, and take advantage of application support through in-person and virtual offerings.
When?:
-
Thursday, December 1st from 6-8pm at Kingston YMCA- 507 Broadway, Kingston, NY
-
Thursday, Dec. 8 from 5-7pm at the Newburgh Free Library-124 Grand St, Newburgh, NY
-
Friday, December 9th Online from 12-1pm
How to Participate: Register here, or e-mail info@communitiesforlocalpower.org with questions.
Additional Notes: For the in person sessions, there will be snacks, free filing assistance and postage for the mailing of eligible applications. Enrollment deadline for debt cancellation is December 31, 2022. The series is organized by Communities for Local Power and the Utility Law Project.
-
Upcoming Forum: Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board (DOB)
-
Three Mile Island monitoring expert, Eric Epstein, has provided recommendations regarding the Indian Point Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP)
-
What Do We Think?
-
Clearwater is raising concerns about the release of treated but still highly radioactive water into the Hudson River. Releases from the fuel pools, even if diluted, adds a health burden to the river and the surrounding region. 7 communities take their drinking water from the Hudson. A reasonable alternative is to store the fuel pool water on sites, as is being done with the fuel rods. We are seeking the best possible scientific expertise on this aspect of decommissioning.
-
-
What Are We Doing?
-
Clearwater is calling for the deletion of Section 310 of the Senate Appropriations Bill, to weaken an important provision in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act that requires that a permanent repository for high level nuclear waste must be designated before interim storage is permitted.
-
-
Be On the Look Out!
-
Planning for 2023: The Board of Director’s Environmental Action Committee is developing an Action Plan for 2023! As a platform of grassroots advocacy, your input is welcome as we prioritize achievable goals for the upcoming year.
What advocacy issues would you like to see Clearwater tackle in 2023?
Clearwater’s mission is to preserve and protect the Hudson River by inspiring stewardship of this magnificent natural resource through innovative education and advocacy programs.
Contact: mannajo@clearwater.org and cc: ea2@clearwater.org
-
Funding for Clean Water: As information on funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the NYS Clean Water, Clean air and Green Jobs Bond Act becomes available, Clearwater will open discussions with a representative list of elected officials from Hudson River municipalities.
