Superfund law approved, but others don’t get to floor
Environmentalists and lawmakers began the final week of New York’s legislative session with optimism, as several key pieces of climate legislation moved through the Senate and Assembly.
Then, on June 5, Gov. Kathy Hochul surprised everyone by announcing that she was “indefinitely pausing” New York City’s plan to charge drivers for entering Manhattan below 60th Street, which was to begin at the end of June.
The congestion-pricing plan had been expected to raise $1 billion a year for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, revenue that would help the agency obtain a $15 billion bond for upgrades, including on Metro-North’s Hudson Line, which serves the Highlands.
The announcement and its effect on the MTA’s budget upended negotiations on two climate-related bills, according to Richard Schrader, director of New York government affairs for the Natural Resources Defense Council. New York is attempting to reach ambitious goals set in 2019 by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which says that, among other benchmarks, at least 70 percent of New York’s energy must come from renewable sources by 2030.
“We’re behind the eight ball,” said Schrader. “I don’t think it’s fatal. But, man, we have to move quickly.”
Not everyone was on board with congestion pricing. New Jersey sued to stop it, and Rep. Mike Lawler and Rep. Pat Ryan, whose districts include Philipstown and Beacon, respectively, are against it. But as recently as last month, the governor endorsed it. Last week, Hochul changed course, saying she feared the plan would weigh on New York City’s economy.
Steven Higashide, a Beacon resident who is director of the clean transportation program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, believes “blowing a $15 billion hole in the MTA capital program will have a much larger impact on New York’s ability to recover from the pandemic. This could mean higher fares if the MTA has to borrow more money for basic repairs. It’s hardly a win for the Hudson Valley.”
For passenger vehicles, the congestion-pricing toll was set at $15 during the day and $3.75 at night, with discounts for lower-income drivers, disabled commuters and those who pay tunnel tolls. According to an analysis by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, it would have affected only 2 percent of Putnam County commuters and 1.1 percent in Dutchess.
The state has already spent $500 million to install cameras and hire staff, money that can’t be recouped, said Neal Zuckerman, a Philipstown resident who represents Putnam County on the MTA board and is chair of its finance committee.
The MTA had planned to spend billions of dollars on upgrades such as emissions-free electric buses, making more subway stations accessible to riders with disabilities, improving the pumping system to combat subway flooding and improving signals to reduce delays.
Zuckerman said that finding funds to provide basic services is now the priority. “We can never re-enter the era that we were in the ’70s,” he said. “We’re all focused on figuring out how we can make the MTA fiscally sustainable.”
Schrader noted that it’s unclear if the governor’s order, made at a news conference, is binding. “We don’t see anything in terms of a legal brief or any type of a memo of understanding,” he said.
Nevertheless, advocates believe Hochul’s announcement killed the momentum for two climate bills, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and the New York Home Energy Affordable Transition Act (NY HEAT), by forcing legislators to focus on the MTA budget gap.
The nonprofit Beyond Plastics has been lobbying for the Packaging Reduction Act, which would require packaging to be reusable or recyclable and exclude 15 chemicals, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), PFAS, formaldehyde and mercury. Companies that use packaging that can’t be recycled would be responsible for disposal costs.
“It’s about the polluters taking responsibility for their plastic pollution,” said Judith Enck, executive director of Beyond Plastics.
California recently passed similar legislation, and although the most recent version of New York’s bill was more stringent, Kate Donovan of the NRDC said the passage of both would have sent a powerful message to the plastics industry. Introduced in the state Senate by Pete Harckham, a Democrat whose district includes eastern Putnam County, it passed last week, 37-23 (Rob Rolison, a Republican whose district includes the Highlands, voted no). In the Assembly, it came through four committees by comfortable margins but never came up on the floor.
Beacon Climate Action Now has spent the last few months rallying for the passage of NY HEAT. It would cap the amount lower-income residents could be charged for energy while eliminating the “100-Foot Rule” that requires gas companies to provide hookups at no charge to new customers within 100 feet of infrastructure — an expense that utilities pass on to other ratepayers to the tune of $200 million annually, Schrader said.
Supporters of the bill say it would not only reduce sticker shock for consumers but encourage construction and renovation projects to move away from gas, which would reduce emissions. Schrader said the law also would give the Public Service Commission “more elbow room to begin an orderly process of transition away from gas and fossil fuel” in favor of renewable sources.
For the second year in a row, the bill passed the Senate (40-22, with a no vote from Rolison) but did not come up for a vote in the Assembly. “Working-class families in the state will be paying for this inaction, as Central Hudson and several other utilities are planning to raise rates,” said Jessie Van Amburg of Beacon Climate Action Now.
One environmental bill did pass before the legislative session ended on June 6. The state’s Climate Change Superfund Act, modeled after a federal law that imposes penalties on companies for the pollution they create, is expected to generate $3 billion annually for 25 years, with at least a third earmarked for disadvantaged communities. It passed the Senate 43-17 (Rolison voted yes) and the Assembly 92-49 (Dana Levenberg, a Democrat whose district includes Philipstown, and Jonathan Jacobson, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, each voted yes).
Vermont passed similar legislation in May. “This is all part of a broad overall effort to make the fossil fuel industry more accountable for its impacts on the climate, which it’s denied,” Schrader said. Several companies have signaled that they intend to sue any state that passes this type of legislation.
The revenue created by the law could be a godsend for the MTA. “This bill showed a way to bring some money in,” said Schrader. “That’s what gave it a really favorable review by legislators at the last minute.”
Asked Tuesday about Rolison’s votes, his chief of staff, Dain Pascocello, said the senator “believes that statewide initiatives ought to be balanced by local interests and the well-being of everyday New Yorkers. To that end, local concerns surrounding the timing and scope of a major new state mandate on packaging materials and its effects on our small-scale producers were not adequately incorporated into the bill’s final version.
“Likewise, the NY Heat Act, while well-intentioned, goes further than simple emissions cuts and seeks to ban the natural gas delivery system, something which the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act itself does not require. Affordability for all utility customers and the pace of electrification’s effects on the quality and reliability of the state’s grid were also not sufficiently addressed.”
I very much appreciate Mr. Cronin’s coverage of these issues but I wonder why he chooses to write “In the Assembly, it came through four committees by comfortable margins but never came up on the floor” without mentioning the one person who determines whether or not a bill comes up on the floor of the Assembly for a vote: Speaker Carl Heastie.
Sure enough, our state senator, Rob Rolison, voted against reducing plastic pollution. Not a big surprise, since he refused to co-sponsor the plastic packaging reduction bill, which would also have required plastic packaging producers to pay for a significant part of the municipal costs of disposal of plastics.
A majority of the state Senate voted in favor of the bill — it passed in the senate, but time ran out for the bill in the Assembly. So Rob Rolison was in the minority of state senators who voted against the bill.
Yvette Valdes Smith, who will be running against Rolison to represent District 39, has promised to support plastic packaging reduction, as well as other pro-environment legislation in our area, unlike Rolison, who votes against all or nearly all environmental legislation.
We asked Dain Pascocello, Sen. Rolison’s chief of staff, about his voting record on the environment. He responded:
“This year the Senate passed more environmental legislation than the Assembly, and Sen. Rolison proudly supported many transformational conservation bills in the upper chamber. Sen. Rolison routinely crossed the aisle to cosponsor and vote for the following bipartisan measures, all of which were supported by the state League of Conservation Voters: the Clean Fuel Standard, Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act, Wildlife Crossing Act, Expansion of Food Donation and Scraps Program, NYC Green Roof Tax Abatement and the ban on PFAS chemicals in menstrual products. Last year he cosponsored the Save the Hudson Act, which was unanimously passed by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Hochul.
“Sen. Rolison’s passion for protecting the environment and fighting climate change was also reflected in his support for key budget bills in 2024. He supported major appropriations such as $400 million for the state’s Environmental Protection Fund and $500 million for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act, both of which had been threatened with cuts. Further, Sen. Rolison cast an affirmative vote to support the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s budget of $1.6 billion, an increase from the governor’s Executive Budget earlier this year. He was one of two Senate Republicans to support responsible renewable energy siting in order to mitigate damage to agricultural lands and reduce future stress on the statewide electric grid. He also voted to add thermal-energy networks to the list of covered renewable energy systems to be eligible for labor protections under New York law.
“Sen. Rolison believes that statewide initiatives ought to be balanced by local interests and the well-being of everyday New Yorkers. To that end, local concerns surrounding the timing and scope of a major new state mandate on packaging materials and its effects on our small-scale producers were not adequately incorporated into the bill’s final version. Likewise the NY Heat Act that, while well-intentioned, goes further than simple emissions cuts and seeks to ban the natural gas delivery system, something which the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act itself does not require. Affordability for all utility customers and the pace of electrification’s effects on the quality and reliability of the state’s grid were also not sufficiently addressed. Sen. Rolison looks forward to continuing these conversations with members of both parties so that legislators can craft a responsible environmental policy which is both effective and equitable for residents of the Hudson Valley.”
Sen. Rob Rolison’s office makes him out to be a champion of the environment. The record reflects otherwise.
The New York League of Conservation Voters posts a scorecard for each of our legislators. Our Assemblymember Dana Levenberg has a perfect score on environmental bills in 2023. Meanwhile Rolison has a low score compared to Democrats in the Senate and even compared to many Republicans on bills before the Senate that the New York League of Conservation Voters has listed as important for benefiting the environment in 2023.
In other words, Rolison scores poorly on environmental legislation. Do not take the word of his staffers – look at the website by an objective voice, the New York League of Conservation Voters. We in the Hudson Valley need far better representation in the Senate than Rob Rolison to protect our environment.
It is infuriating and irresponsible that Gov. Hochul has derailed congestion pricing for Manhattan. We are facing more hot and humid days because of climate change; this causes an increase in bad air quality days.
Congestion pricing would immediately positively impact air quality in Manhattan, which would in turn lower the number of emergency-room visits from people with asthma and heart disease. There are far more people walking, biking and riding public transit in Manhattan than there are private vehicle drivers. It’s time to improve New York City’s air quality and return some of the street real estate to the majority users.
By pulling congestion pricing at the last minute, Gov. Kathy Hochul is wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours of work that were spent gearing up for implementation.
She has ripped the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget to shreds with no time to create a responsible and considered alternative.
During this legislative session, the NY Heat Act wasn’t passed, the Packaging Reduction Act wasn’t passed and New York is way behind its planned targets for adding wind power and battery storage. By stopping congestion pricing, Hochul is again failing to put the needed policies in place to meet New York’s mandated emissions targets.
Gov. Hochul, a reminder: You received 53 percent of the vote in 2022. The Environmental Bond measure received 68 percent of the vote. If you want to pander, pander to the voters who want breathable air, clean drinking water and a future where we have put the brakes on global broiling. We are the majority.
Hochul has somehow become a truly awful governor in a very short period of time. [via Instagram]