A half-billion-dollar loan for the new Tappan Zee Bridge is riling environmentalists but being praised by pro-business groups that say the loan can help keep the bridge”™s tolls low.
The state Environmental Facilities Corp. approved $511.45 million in low-interest loans Thursday, tapping into a clean water fund to offset part of the cost of the $3.9 billion, twin-span bridge that will replace the 60-year-old Tappan Zee.
The EFC board voted unanimously to support the project despite a petition against it from the New York League of Conservation Voters and a letter from the regional director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that called the loan an “unconventional use” of the clean water fund.
Ross J. Pepe is president of the Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley Inc. and the Building Contractors Association of Westchester and Mid-Hudson Inc., which represent 600 local firms combined. Pepe praised the loan, which must still be approved by the state Thruway Authority, which owns the bridge, and the state Public Authorities Control Board.
“Anyone who says they are against these EFC loans are fooling themselves and short-changing the public,” Pepe said in a statement. “Let”™s do the math: Higher environmental protection costs means higher tolls on the new bridge. Lower loan financing costs means lower tolls on the bridge.”
The current bridge has a $5 cash toll, but estimates say the toll on the new bridge may have to reach triple that to pay for its construction. The cost of a new toll has alarmed commuters as well as business leaders on the Rockland side of the Hudson River who say the toll could hurt commerce by discouraging shoppers from crossing over from Westchester County.
Questions linger over the financing of the bridge, with $1.6 billion coming from a U.S. Department of Transportation loan but other sources remaining more elusive. Of the EFC loan, $256 million will be paid back at zero interest, with the remaining $256 million to come with a market-rate interest rate. The EFC estimates the Thruway Authority would save $17 million over three years when compared to traditional bonds, which would in turn mean a cheaper toll for the new bridge.
Environmental groups like Riverkeeper said the loan was a misuse of clean-water funds, which were intended to be used for sewage and water infrastructure projects in local communities. Paul Gallay, the group”™s president, called tapping into the clean water fund “bad public policy.”
“Like it or not, the state should establish a funding plan for the Tappan Zee Bridge construction that relies on appropriate transportation funding sources, and is conducted with the most public transparency possible,” he said.
The EFC responded to criticisms by saying that the loan would finance environmental projects associated with the bridge construction, including Hudson River dredging and protection of aquatic life.
Joseph Martens, chairman of the EFC board of directors, said the projects “promote the health of the Hudson River estuary.”
Both major business advocacy groups in Westchester County, The Business Council of Westchester and the Westchester County Association, supported the loan for its impact on future tolls but said the projects had environmental benefits.
William Mooney, CEO of the WCA, said aside from its fiscal benefits the loan “will also be able to mitigate environmental impacts, protecting our wildlife.”
Marsha Gordon, CEO of the Business Council, said, “Balancing protections for local wildlife along with the needs of taxpayers and drivers is critical to the project”™s ultimate success, and that is why allocating EFC funding is the right thing to do.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who announced the loan last week, said the awarding of funds for the Tappan Zee replacement wouldn”™t affect issuing financing for other projects throughout the state. The new Tappan Zee, which is yet to be named, began construction in October and is expected to be completed in 2016.
The monies would be even better used to build wastewater and water treatment systems which is what the EFC is supposed to fund with our Federal tax dollars to the EPA. There is a long list of projects and an even longer list of projects not yet approved to treat wastewater and water. Funding a bridge is not the responsibility of The EFC.
Bob Eichinger