A state board has approved a loan from a clean water fund for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement but cut the amount in half after an outcry from environmental groups.
The New York State Public Authorities Control Board voted to approve $256 million in low-interest loans Wednesday, half of the $511 million that was approved by the state”™s Environmental Facilities Corp. in June.
Paul Gallay, president of the environmental group Riverkeeper, said the loan ”“ whatever the amount ”“ was an illegal use of funds that are tagged for river restoration projects and sewage infrastructure work. He said there was a unified front of municipal groups, legislators and others that opposed the loan.
“This unprecedented alliance for good governance warned Senate and Assembly power brokers: ”˜This is bad business. Don”™t go along with it,”™” he said. “But they did just that, with barely a whisper of protest.”
Gallay said litigation seemed inevitable, although Riverkeeper is holding out hope the funds will be blocked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The agency’s regional director said in a letter earlier this year the loan was an “unconventional” use of the clean water fund.
The initial loan was praised by pro-business groups that said it would help keep low the cost of the toll on the new, $3.9 billion twin-span 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 administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has touted approval of the new bridge as a marquee achievement of his administration, has said the loan would pay for environmental projects such as protecting oyster beds in the Hudson River.
Marcia Bystryn, president of The New York League of Conservation Voters, said the project had “nothing to do with drinking water or wastewater systems.”
“It is simply not true to say that the $255 million loan is ”˜environmental”™ funding, when the vast majority of that sum is for bridge construction and related work,” she said in a statement.
The state Thruway Authority, which will own and maintain the new bridge, released a statement in support of the reduced loan calling it a “first installment.”
“The Thruway Authority is committed to an unprecedented level of environmental stewardship on the New NY Bridge project, and also to keeping tolls on the new spans as low as possible,” said Thomas J. Madison, executive director. “This innovative financing package helps us achieve both goals.”
Madison said there will be no increases on the existing Tappan Zee toll this year and that there are no planned increases for 2015.
