November 21, 2023
Governor Kathy Hochul
Executive Chamber
New York State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
RE: FY2024-25 New York State Budget | Click here for a PDF of this letter.
Dear Governor Hochul,
On behalf of the undersigned members of New Yorkers for Clean Water and Jobs, a large coalition of conservation, environmental justice, labor, business, local government, outdoor recreation, and public health groups, thank you for your leadership on environmental conservation. State funding is essential for communities to leverage federal funds and deliver clean water, clean air, access to nature, and local jobs to New Yorkers. We applaud your dedication to growing environmental funding through the state budget, and the work of your agencies to efficiently award grants to projects throughout the state.
Thank you for your leadership on promoting the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, and educating communities and organizations on the potential for programs through the recently concluded Bond Act listening tour. We were thrilled to see stakeholders come out across the state to learn about how they can work with your administration to implement this historic measure. We also thank you for working with the Senate and Assembly to ensure this year’s budget authorized necessary capacity at state environmental agencies to achieve urgently needed work to address pollution and environmental degradation across New York and realize our state’s ambitious conservation goals.
We ask that you continue to dedicate environmental funding to enable communities to thrive now and long into the future. In your 2024-25 Executive Budget Proposal, we urge you to include:
Implement the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act
Our organizations were proud to support and work towards the overwhelming passage of the Environmental Bond Act in the 2022 General Election. This measure was needed to ensure environmental funding levels – when combined with other programs including those outlined below – are better able to address the significant needs that exist in communities throughout the state. We commend you for thoughtfully beginning the implementation of this measure, including the authorization of new staff at state agencies in the last budget, the statewide listening tour, and initial program design and solicitations for proposals for some of the first disbursements.
We look forward to seeing additional information from the interagency working group regarding feedback received through the listening tour, and on program designs with processes for funding applications that are both transparent and competitive. It is important that Bond Act programs are designed to ensure distribution of funding to communities throughout the state, including to partners such as local governments and non-governmental organizations. While state agencies may directly undertake Bond Act projects as well, implementation should ensure disbursements of funding reach communities and address needs identified on the ground. This will also increase the state’s capacity for implementation by leveraging partners to deliver projects.
As you prepare your Executive Budget Proposal and your administration continues the implementation of the Bond Act, we urge you to maintain other sources of environmental funding – including the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), Clean Water Infrastructure Act, and capital funding for the Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The Bond Act is a necessary long-term investment for New York State to thrive; it is additive funding, not a substitute for existing programs.
While the State’s fiscal situation is strained, reducing environmental funding, which is a very small percentage of the state budget, will not bring budget relief and will in fact set communities back as we work to provide clean water, clean air, and access to natural resources.
In order to support passage of the Bond Act, we built a strong and diverse coalition. The coalition continues to welcome opportunities to partner with the State now to ensure the Bond Act is implemented effectively and transparently.
At Least $400 Million for the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF)
As part of your Executive Budget Proposal, we urge you to continue the EPF appropriation of at least $400 million and continue to work towards increasing the appropriation to $500 million sustained annually over the long term. We appreciate that your administration has provided historic funding to the EPF and has avoided problematic proposals such as offloading agency operating costs into the fund. We urge you to continue to support agencies as they find efficiencies for program administration in order to speed up annual disbursements from the EPF to enable valuable projects across the state.
The EPF has consistently enjoyed bi-partisan support in the Legislature and has funded beneficial projects in every county of the state, including every borough of New York City. The EPF is essential to the resiliency, sustainability and quality of life in New York. EPF programs protect clean water; support our zoos, aquaria, and botanical gardens; invest in environmental justice organizations; conserve land and water including local farms and forests; create new parks and trails that promote equitable access to nature; support climate adaptation and mitigation projects on farms, in forests and in urban areas; fund community recycling programs; and prevent pollution. EPF programs also support hundreds of thousands of jobs across the state, and EPF-supported industries generate approximately $40 billion in economic activity every year. Many EPF programs have yearslong waiting lists for funding and continuing to effectively move these programs forward will complement the work that can now be done through the recently enacted Environmental Bond Act and other environmental programs that protect clean water and create jobs.
$600 Million for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act as Part of a New Five-Year $4 Billion Commitment for Clean Water
We respectfully urge you to enable New York communities to leverage significant federal funding for water projects by providing at least $600 million in new appropriations for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act (CWIA) in your upcoming budget, as a first installment in a new $4 billion commitment to clean water funding over the next five years. We support the appropriation to direct funding to specific programs so it is clear what types of projects will be funded.
We urgently need to modernize New York’s aging and failing drinking water and wastewater infrastructure that can’t keep up the state’s current needs. We have seen the tragic consequences of our infrastructure failing, from massive flooding and property loss recently in the City of Troy to an entire population of residents going without water in Watertown. These infrastructure failures put public health and safety at risk and we must continue the critically important work of upgrading across the state. At least $75 billion is needed to address New York’s outdated water infrastructure systems. The State has made important investments in water infrastructure programs, including the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, to upgrade infrastructure, protect clean drinking water, and prevent pollution from reaching our lakes, rivers, and streams.
Your administration’s continued work to award grants to projects has been effective, and we appreciate the hundreds of millions of dollars in funding that have been announced for water quality improvement projects throughout the State since you took office. Furthermore, we understand that a significant portion of this funding is reaching disadvantaged communities. We ask you to continue this important work and discuss with stakeholders opportunities to create further efficiencies and program flexibility to expand access to these funding programs even more.
Capital Funding for New York State Parks and Department of Environmental Conservation
This year marks the centennial of our world-class state parks system, an incredible asset to all New Yorkers. Throughout the COVID crisis, state residents relied on these parks to recreate, exercise, and find solace during extremely difficult times. We can expand these benefits by creating new parks and improving existing parks, including in disadvantaged communities throughout the state. While the crisis phase of the pandemic has ended, New Yorker’s rediscovery and increased engagement in outdoor recreation and our state parks has not. Visitation remains high, and this demand requires additional investment that will generate important returns for our state’s economy. Every dollar invested in state parks generates $5 of economic activity. Local construction jobs associated with park development have been an economic lifeline for many communities. We urge you to continue to invest at least $250 million in State Parks Capital funding and announce a new goal as part of the centennial celebration to sustain this level of investment annually for the next decade.
We also ask you to invest at least $100 million in capital funds for the DEC in your budget proposal. Annual capital appropriations to DEC enable critical projects, including the “Adventure New York” program, aimed at creating new recreational opportunities and infrastructure to support the record visitation our state lands are now experiencing. These projects protect natural resources, enhance visitor safety and enjoyment, and create new access to the outdoors in all regions of the state. In addition to Adventure New York, capital funding for DEC supports critical health and safety projects that protect the environment and the people of New York State.
With your strong leadership, we can advance policies and programs in New York State that will ensure a healthy, sustainable, and prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.
Sincerely,
