The Adirondack Council

News Release

RELEASED, Wednesday, May 1, 2002

ELIZABETHTOWN, NY -- The Adirondack Council today called on the NYS Legislature to reject a plan proposed by Gov. George E. Pataki to raid unspent funds from the state's only dedicated funding source for big-ticket environmental projects such as open space protection, recycling and landfill closure.

"Last year, the Legislature and Governor could not come to an agreement on how to spend a single dime from the Environmental Protection Fund," said Adirondack Council Acting Executive Director Bernard C. Melewski. "That means our open space, recycling and solid waste projects went unfunded for the past 13 months. The EPF's priority list was the only section of the entire state budget not to receive a penny last year."

At the time of the creation of the EPF, environmental projects had for a long time competed unsuccessfully with other demands on the General Fund of the State. The result was a decade long backlog of capital projects that went undone.

"The wisdom of the decision to create a dedicated fund for environmental projects was quickly clear to everyone," Melewski said. "The State's water quality has improved, the air is cleaner, and millions of New Yorkers enjoy new parks and open spaces.

"The most frustrating part of this delay in fulfilling our environmental needs is that the money has already been collected, is sitting unspent in the account and could have been doing everyone some good by now," Melewski said. "Instead, the Governor and Legislative leaders are considering a raid even larger than the $100-million sweep-out proposed by the Governor in January.
"We should be doubling the rate of EPF spending to make up for more than a year with no money," Melewski said. "We should not be cutting back yet again. Pretty soon, we won't have a fund at all."

The Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) was created in 1993 as a permanent, dedicated source of money for major environmental investments that were being neglected, especially when the state's fiscal condition was poor. The fund was given a guaranteed, dedicated revenue source (the Real Estate Transfer Tax, among others) to ensure that environmental priorities were met even when the state's General Fund revenues slumped.

"This is a rainy day fund for the environment," Melewski said. "And boy, is it ever raining. In the Adirondacks, two major open space conservation projects hang in the balance, awaiting funding from the EPF. In addition, long-overdue maintenance projects on the septic and sewage treatment facilities at Park campgrounds can no longer be ignored. There are too many of them polluting the Adirondack Park's water and causing unsafe conditions."

Melewski noted that the EPF contained more than enough money to correct these problems, but that the Legislature and Governor also needed to recognize the overall benefits to the Adirondacks and its residents that the EPF can bring. Because the Park's economy and culture are so dependent upon a clean environment, the EPF has the potential to enhance all three. In testimony before the joint Senate and Assembly budget committee earlier this year, he reminded the Legislature what a potent tool the EPF has been in the Park, and can be in the future:

"...The Adirondack Council has a three-part vision for the future of the Adirondack Park, which would sustain both the natural and human communities of the region," he said. "First, the State must carefully manage and expand the "Forever Wild" Forest Preserve to protect its host of biological, scenic, watershed, recreational and other open space treasures. Second, the vast stretches of privately owned working forests in the Adirondacks must be protected from fragmentation and conversion to other uses. Third, strong local economies and vital communities for Park residents must be promoted. The presence of a reliable source of funding is essential to accomplish all of these goals.

In the Adirondack Park, the Environmental Protection Fund has already protected tens of thousands of acres of pristine wilderness and recreational rivers. Even more acreage has been protected from fragmentation and sustained as privately owned working forests. Communities throughout the Park have received assistance in closing landfills, creating parks, protecting drinking water quality, and saving farmlands. From our perspective, the Environmental Protection Fund is an unqualified success story...

But., there is no question that, in an economic down-turn, farmers will be hard hit. Is there a better time to launch an aggressive effort to conserve our small farms through the cooperative purchase of development rights? Let's help farmers with their bottom line.

Similarly, the pressure on the timber industry to dispose of surplus lands, especially within the Adirondack Park, will only increase. Should we not be prepared to act in the public interest and protect these precious forests and waters for all time? Cannot the fund be used to support sustainable harvesting in areas of the State that are dependent on a timber economy?

You are all familiar with the pressures in a down-turned economy on local government officials to balance their budgets. Its is also true that, under such pressures, the first instinct of local officials is to defer capital projects. What better time to increase our State assistance for local water quality projects? Are we content that we have done all we can to improve the air quality in our cities?

We urge you to preserve the integrity of the Environmental Trust Fund and to work cooperatively and creatively, and quickly, to protect the environment and enhance the economy, not only in the Adirondack Park, but in every legislative district of the State."

In the Adirondack Council's State of the Park 2002 report, the Council gave a "thumbs down" to the members of the State Legislature for their failure to act to appropriate any money from the "locked box" of the Environmental Protection Fund. The Governor also received a "thumbs down."