In her proposed state budget, Governor Hochul included provisions to expand and strengthen freshwater wetland protections.
Currently, the DEC is tasked with mapping and having jurisdiction over wetlands of more than 12.4 acres or that are of “unusual local importance”. This leaves over a million acres of wetlands unprotected because they haven’t been mapped.
The US EPA estimates that New York has already lost as much as 60% of our wetlands. On Long Island this is particularly critical because of our sole source aquifer. Even tiny wetlands serve to cleanse and recharge our drinking water. In addition to removing heavy metals, sediment, toxic contaminants, and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, wetlands also provide habitat for birds and animals.
Wetlands store 35% of the world’s carbon. But when wetlands are disturbed or destroyed, the carbon is released adding to climate change. Wetlands also provide protection from flooding but absorb floodwaters.
The greatest threat to Long Island’s remaining small freshwater wetlands is human development, which is responsible for most of the losses over the last century. Invasive species, mostly plants like phragmites, (giant reed) and a variety of choking vines degrade the wetland habitat. Pollution from industries, homes and businesses threatens to overwhelm wetlands capacity to cleanse.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service studied wetland loss on Long Island, comparing 1900 with 2004, and found that Nassau and Suffolk Counties may have lost almost 39,000 acres or about 48 percent of wetlands since the early 1900s: about 3,500 acres of beaches (27% loss), 11,798 acres of freshwater (nontidal) wetlands (54% loss), and nearly 24,000 acres of tidal marshland (50% loss). Nassau County lost over half (59%) of its wetlands including 62 percent of its tidal wetlands (14,033 acres).
The new law would streamline the process for recognizing and permitting freshwater wetlands. Currently, the DEC can only regulate a wetland if it is more than 12.4 acres in size and identified on regulatory maps held by the Department, or if it is less than 12.4 acres and of “unusual local importance.”
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos has stated that more than 1 million acres of wetlands are not currently on the state’s jurisdictional maps and do not receive state protection. Most of the State’s freshwater wetland maps have not been updated in over 25 years.
Federal protection is limited and under threat by lawsuits. Under the new law, the requirement for mapping would be eliminated. The requirement for certified mail notification would also be eliminated, saving over a hundred thousand dollars per watershed.
The new law would give permitting authority for smaller wetlands that are “unusually important.” Because of our sole source aquifer many of Long Island wetlands could fall under this description, as will wetlands in a watershed that has experienced significant flooding, urban wetlands, wetlands that provide habitat for rare plant species or vulnerable wildlife, wetlands currently classified as Class I wetlands by the DEC, and wetlands important to the state’s water quality.
Other needed updates include the establishment of a rebuttable presumption, which would establish that all freshwater wetlands are presumed to be subject to regulation and permitting until proven otherwise, by presenting information to the DEC that establishes that the area is not a freshwater wetland.
The law currently requires that each wetland has a 100-foot buffer. Wetlands buffers are critically important and provide wildlife with critical habitat and corridors for migration, reduce human disturbances, prevent erosion, help maintain water quality, and minimize the spread of invasive or aggressive plant species.
In a letter to Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Sen Todd Kaminsky, and Assemblymen Carl Heastie and Steve Englebright, the Save New York State Wetlands Coalition stated, “Updating the law this year is also important because of the Governor’s proposal to add $1 billion to the “Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act.”
The Bond Act will provide increased funding for restoring and enhancing our wetlands, which is an essential component of successful climate change adaptation and resiliency strategies.
The Save NYS Wetlands Coalition strongly supports this increase but undertaking this critical work at the landscape level will be difficult to achieve unless the DEC is given more flexibility to protect wetlands as they are integrated into resiliency plans.”
You can take action with Audubon by contact your legislator: https://act.audubon.org/a/nys-pass-wetlands-reform
Save New York State Wetlands
https://save-nys-wetlands-audubon.hub.arcgis.com/
@savenywetlands
