SAVE THE SOUND AGENDA FOR 2024 NYS LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Save the Sound is prepared to enter New York’s state legislative session to build on last year’s successes by advocating for several environmental priorities to be reflected in the state budget and passed in standalone bills.

“We are coming out of one of the warmest years on record, and one of the wettest years in New York history. We experienced a surge in severe rain events and witnessed the skies over our region turned orange by the smoke of wildfires hundreds of miles away,” said David Ansel, vice president of water protection for Save the Sound. “These events no longer can be considered anomalies, and their increased frequency highlights the urgent and unprecedented challenge we are faced with. During this legislative session, we must protect the health of Long Island Sound and all the communities within its watershed. We need to solve our longstanding wastewater infrastructure problems, to manage stormwater runoff that causes devastating floods and diminishes water quality, and to invest in green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. And we must transition away from fossil fuel emissions that are the root cause of these worsening storms.” 

Save the Sound’s priorities for this session are as follows:

Clean Water:

Pass the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act to empower county residents to vote on their clean water future.

Strengthen protections for waterways and wetlands at the state level after a Supreme Court decision last year weakened federal protections.

Reduce or eliminate contaminants – particularly the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS – from entering our waterways.

Enhance mechanisms for funding investments in wastewater, stormwater and drinking water infrastructure at the local level.

Stormwater Management and Resiliency:

Establish systems and equitable sources of funding that support and empower local municipalities in addressing the prevention and mitigation of stormwater pollution.

Build on the passage of the Living Shorelines Act to find nature-based solutions to create more resilient communities.  

Climate, Energy and Environmental Justice:

Lead the transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean, renewable sources of energy.

Advance environmental justice and public health.

Environmental Budget:

Implement the $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act.

Invest in the Clean Water Infrastructure Act ($600 million), which provides essential funding for communities to address failing wastewater and drinking water infrastructure.

Maintain spending levels for the Environmental Protection Fund ($400 million).

Support the parks and open spaces New York residents rely on by providing Capital Funding for New York State Parks.

Fully fund the Interstate Environmental Commission, as required by the Tri-State Compact.