Section
910. Legislative findings.
911. Definitions.
912. Declaration of policy.
913. Functions; powers and duties.
914. Coastal area boundary.
915. Optional local government waterfront revitalization
programs for coastal areas and inland waterways.
915-b. Water dependent uses.
916. Benefits of approved waterfront revitalization
programs.
917. Technical assistance.
918. Financial assistance.
919. Coordination of state actions and programs.
920. Data collection and inventory.
921. Amendment of coastal zone management program.
922. Comprehensive harbor management plans.
923. Long Island Sound coastal advisory commission.
S 910. Legislative findings. The legislature
hereby finds that New York States coastal area and inland
waterways are unique with a variety of natural, recreational,
industrial, commercial, ecological, cultural, aesthetic and
energy resources of statewide and national significance. The
resources of the states coastal areas and inland waterways
are increasingly subject to the pressures of population growth
and economic development, which include requirements for
industry, commerce, residential development, recreation and
for the production of energy. These competing demands result
in the loss of living marine resources and wildlife, the
diminution of open space areas, shoreline erosion, permanent,
adverse changes to ecological systems and a loss of economic
opportunities. The social and
economic well-being and the general welfare of the people of
the state are critically dependent upon the preservation,
enhancement, protection, development and use of the natural
and man-made resources of the states coastal area and inland
waterways.
The legislature further finds that it is in
the interest of the people of the state that coordinated and
comprehensive policy and planning for preservation,
enhancement, protection, development and use of the states
coastal and inland waterway resources take place to insure the
proper balance between natural resources and the need to
accommodate the needs of population growth and economic
development.
S 911. Definitions. As used in this article,
the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed to them,
unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Coastal area" shall mean (a) the states
coastal waters, and (b) the adjacent shorelands, including
landlocked waters and subterranean waters, to the extent such
coastal waters and adjacent lands are strongly influenced by
each other including, but not limited to, islands, wetlands,
beaches, dunes, barrier
islands, cliffs, bluffs, inter-tidal estuaries and erosion
prone areas. The coastal area extends to the limit of the
states jurisdiction on the water side and inland only to
encompass those shorelands, the uses of which have a direct
and significant impact on the coastal waters. The coastal area
boundaries are as shown on the coastal area map on file in the
office of the secretary of state as required in section nine
hundred fourteen of this article.
2. "Coastal area boundaries" shall mean the
boundaries prepared by the secretary of state pursuant to
section forty-seven of chapter four hundred sixty-four of the
laws of nineteen hundred seventy-five.
3. "Coastal waters"
means lakes Erie and Ontario, the St. Lawrence and
Niagara rivers, the Hudson river south of the federal dam at
Troy, the East river, the Harlem river, the Kill von Kull and
Arthur Kill, Long Island sound and the Atlantic ocean, and
their connecting water bodies, bays, harbors, shallows and
marshes.
4. " Inland waterways" shall mean (a) the
states major inland lakes consisting of lakes Big Tupper,
Black, Canandaigua, Cayuga, Champlain, Chautauqua, Conesus,
Cranberry, George, Great Sacandaga, Honoeye, Indian, Keuka,
Long, Oneida, Onondaga, Otisco, Otsego, Owasco, Raquette,
Sacandaga, Saratoga, Schroon, Seneca, Skaneateles, and
Saranac; (b) the states major rivers comprised of the
Ausable, Black, Boquet, Chemung, Delaware, Genesee, Grasse,
Hudson north of the federal dam at Troy, Indian, Mohawk,
Oswegatchie, Racquette, Salmon, Saranac, Susquehanna and
Tioughnioga rivers; (c) the Barge Canal System as defined in
section two of article one of the canal law; and (d) the
adjacent shorelands to the extent that such inland waters and
adjacent lands are strongly influenced by each other
including, but not limited to, islands, wetlands, beaches,
dunes, barrier islands, cliffs, bluffs and erosion prone
areas.
5. "State agency" means any department, bureau,
commission, board, public authority or other agency of the
state, including any public benefit corporation any member of
which is appointed by the governor.
6. "Comprehensive harbor management plan" shall
mean a plan to address the problems of conflict, congestion
and competition for space in the use of harbors, surface
waters and underwater lands of the state within a city, town
or village or abounding a city, town or village to a distance
of fifteen hundred feet from shore. A harbor management plan
must consider regional needs and, where applicable, must
consider the competing needs of commercial shipping and
recreational boating, commercial and recreational fishing and
shellfishing, aquaculture and waste management, mineral
extraction, dredging, public access, recreation, habitat and
other natural resource protection, water quality, open space,
aesthetic values and common law riparian or littoral rights,
and the public interest in such lands underwater.
7. "Water dependent use" means an activity
which can only be conducted on, in, over or adjacent to a
water body because such activity requires direct access to
that water body, and which involves, as an integral part of
such activity, the use of the water.
S 912. Declaration of policy. It is hereby
declared to be the public policy of the state of New York
within the coastal areas and inland waterways:
1. To achieve a balance between economic
development and preservation that will permit the beneficial
use of coastal and inland waterway resources while preventing
the loss of living marine resources and wildlife,
diminution of open space areas or
public access to the waterfront, shoreline erosion,
impairment of scenic beauty, or permanent adverse changes to
ecological systems.
2. To encourage the development and use of
existing ports and small harbors including use and maintenance
of viable existing infrastructures, and to reinforce their
role as valuable components
within the states transportation and
industrial network.
3. To conserve, protect and where appropriate
promote commercial and recreational use of fish and wildlife
resources and to conserve and protect fish and wildlife
habitats identified by the department of environmental
conservation as critical to the maintenance or
re-establishment of species of fish or wildlife. Such
protection shall include mitigation of the potential impact
from adjacent land use or development.
4.
To encourage and facilitate public access for
recreational purposes.
5. To minimize damage to natural resources and
property from flooding and erosion, including proper location
of new land development, protection of beaches, dunes, barrier
islands, bluffs and other critical coastal and inland waterway
features and use of non-structural measures, whenever
possible.
6. To encourage the restoration and
revitalization of natural and man-made resources.
7. To encourage the location of land
development in areas where infrastructure and public services
are adequate.
8. To conserve and protect agricultural lands
as valued natural and ecological resources which provide for
open spaces, clean air sheds and aesthetic value as well as
for agricultural use.
9. To assure consistency of state actions and,
where appropriate, federal actions, with policies of the
coastal area and inland waterways, and with accepted
waterfront revitalization programs of the area defined or
addressed by such programs.
10. To work cooperatively with the federal
government, local governments and private parties to implement
programs to control and abate sources of nonpoint source
pollution that may affect coastal and inland waterways.
11. To cooperate and coordinate with other
states, the federal government and Canada to attain a
consistent policy towards coastal and inland waterway
management.
12. To encourage and assist local governments
in the coastal area and inland waterways to use all their
powers that can be applied to achieve these objectives.
13. To facilitate the redevelopment of urban
waterfronts.
14. To encourage local governments to enter
into intermunicipal agreements to protect their shared
environment and improve their regions economic strength.
15. To encourage state agencies to provide
technical and financial assistance for implementation of local
waterfront revitalization programs.
16. To encourage local governments and state
agencies to celebrate, protect and enhance the special places
that made waterfronts distinct ecological systems and the
preferred locations for people to live, work and recreate.
S 913. Functions; powers and duties. The
secretary shall have the following functions, powers and
duties:
1. To advise the governor and agencies of state
government concerning planning, programs and policies for the
achievement of wise use of the land and water resources of
coastal areas and inland waterways, giving full consideration
to ecological, cultural, historic, aesthetic values and the
needs for economic development and to encourage public and
private institutions to preserve, protect, enhance, develop
and use coastal and inland waterway resources in a manner
consistent with the purposes and policies of this article.
2. To evaluate and make recommendations on
federal, state and local programs and legislation relating to
coastal and inland waterway resources issues;
3. To review and approve acceptable waterfront
revitalization programs as herein provided;
4. To review, evaluate and issue
recommendations and opinions concerning programs and actions
of state agencies which may have the potential to affect the
policies and purposes of this article, including but not
limited to, programs within the jurisdiction of the
departments of state, agriculture and markets, environmental
conservation, public service, commerce and transportation, the
offices of energy and parks and recreation and the office of
general services.
5. To enter into contracts with any person,
firm, corporation, municipality or governmental agency;
6. To adopt, amend or rescind such rules and
regulations as may be necessary or convenient to the
performance of the functions, powers and duties of the
secretary; and
7. To do all other things necessary or
convenient to carry out the functions, powers and duties
expressly set forth in this article or as may from time to
time be confined upon the secretary by the legislature of the
state.
S 914. Coastal area boundary. 1. The coastal
area boundary is hereby adopted as part of this article as
though fully incorporated herein. Such boundary delineates the
coastal area, which shall be the area within which the coastal
policies and purposes shall apply.
2. A representation of the coastal area
boundary shall be on file in the office of the secretary. The
secretary shall file with the clerk of each county and local
government which has any portion of its
jurisdiction within the boundaries of the
coastal area, a copy of the representation of such affected
portion of the coastal area boundary and a copy of the
representation of the coastal area boundary of the affected
portion of any adjacent municipality. The secretary shall
provide a copy of the representation of the coastal area
boundary to each state agency having jurisdiction over
programs identified pursuant to this article. The secretary,
on its own initiative or on petition submitted in such form or
manner as the secretary may prescribe by rule or regulation,
may amend the coastal area boundary to correct errors or make
changes that are in furtherance of the policies and purposes
of
this article. All such changes shall be filed
with the clerk of each county and local government affected
thereby.
S 915. Optional local government waterfront
revitalization programs for coastal areas and inland
waterways.
1. It is the intention of this article to offer
the fullest possible support by the state and its agencies to
those local governments that desire to revitalize their
waterfronts. Accordingly, any local government or two or more
local governments acting jointly which has any portion of its
jurisdiction
contiguous to the states coastal waters or
inland waterways and which desires to participate may submit a
waterfront revitalization program to the secretary as herein
provided.
2. The secretary may provide technical and
financial assistance as provided in sections nine hundred
seventeen and nine hundred eighteen to any local government
for the preparation of a waterfront revitalization program for
the purposes of this article.
3. A local government or two or more local
governments acting jointly which intends to submit a
waterfront revitalization program for the purposes of this
article is strongly encouraged to consult, during its
preparation, with other entities that may be affected by its
program, including local governments, county and regional
agencies, appropriate port authorities, community based groups
and state and federal agencies. On request by the local
government, the secretary shall take appropriate action to
facilitate such consultation.
4. The secretary shall prepare and distribute
guidelines and regulations for local governments desiring to
prepare, or cause to be prepared, a waterfront revitalization
program (hereinafter referred to as the "program"). Such
guidelines shall provide that the program will be consistent
with the policies and purposes of this article generally and
shall include, but not be limited to:
a. Boundaries of the waterfront area;
b. An inventory of natural and historic
resources of the waterfront area to be protected;
c. A statement of the goals and objectives of
the program;
d. Identification of the uses and projects,
public and private, to be accommodated in the waterfront area;
e. Description of proposed means for
long-term management and maintenance of waterfront development
and activities including organizational structures and
responsibilities and appropriate land use controls;
f. Description of necessary and appropriate
state actions for successful implementation of the program;
and
g. Specification of the adequate authority
and capability of the local government to implement the
program.
5. The secretary shall approve any local
government waterfront revitalization program as eligible for
the benefits set forth in section nine hundred sixteen of this
article if he finds that such program will be consistent with
coastal policies and will achieve the waterfront
revitalization purposes of this article. In making such
determination, the secretary shall find that the program
incorporates each of the following to an extent commensurate
with the particular circumstances of that local government:
a. The facilitation of appropriate industrial
and commercial uses which require or can benefit substantially
from a waterfront location, such as but not limited to
waterborne transportation facilities and services, and support
facilities for commercial fishing and aquaculture.
b. The increased use of and access to coastal
waters and the waterfront for water-related activities such as
boating, swimming, fishing, walking and picnicking.
c. The promotion and preservation of scenic,
historic, cultural and natural resources as community
amenities and tourist designations.
d. The strengthening of the economic position
of the states major ports and small harbors.
e. The redevelopment of deteriorated or
formerly developed waterfronts through the re-use of existing
infrastructure and building stock and the removal of
deteriorated structures and unsightly conditions that have
negative effects upon the waterfront area and adjacent
neighborhoods, and appropriate new development.
f. The application of local aesthetic
considerations in the design of new structures and the
redevelopment of waterfront sites.
g. The protection of sensitive ecological
areas, including but not limited to dunes, tidal and
freshwater wetlands, fish and wildlife habitats, and the
protective capability of coastal land features. Such
protection will assure that land use or development will not
affect such areas.
h. A statement identifying those elements of
the program which can be implemented by the local government,
unaided, and those that can only be implemented with the aid
of other levels of government or other agencies. Such
statement shall include those permit, license, certification
or approval programs, grant, loan, subsidy or other funding
assistance programs, facilities construction and planning
programs which may affect the achievement of the waterfront
revitalization program.
i. The establishment of a comprehensive
harbor management plan and the means for its implementation.
* 5-a. Nothing herein shall preclude the
secretary from approving a portion or component of a local
waterfront revitalization program provided such portion or
component constitutes a discrete and cohesive, yet
comprehensive, treatment of the subject or subjects addressed,
which may be related to environmental, social, regional growth
management or economic considerations.
* NB Effective upon approval by the secretary
of commerce
6. Before approving any such waterfront
revitalization program, or any amendments thereto, as eligible
for the benefits of this article, the secretary shall consult
with potentially affected state and federal agencies; the
secretary shall not approve any such program if he finds after
such consultation that there is a conflict with any state or
federal policies.
7. Where there is a conflict between a
submitted waterfront revitalization program and any state or
federal policy, at the request of the local government or the
state or federal agency affected, the
secretary shall attempt to reconcile and
resolve the differences between the submitted program and such
policies and shall meet with the local government and involved
state and federal agencies to this end.
8. Subsequent to approval of the local program
by the secretary, state agency actions shall be consistent to
the maximum extent practicable with the local program.
Provided, however, that nothing in this article shall be
construed to authorize or require the issuance of any permit,
license, certification, or other approval or the approval of
any grant, loan or other funding assistance which is denied by
the state agency having jurisdiction, pursuant to other
provisions of law or which is conditioned by such agency
pursuant to other provisions of law until such conditions are
met. Where implementation of an approved local program depends
upon the availability of other than local funds and program
actions, the secretary shall meet with the involved state and
federal agencies to explore the possibility of programming of
such assistance, including pre-permitting of sites for
waterfront redevelopment, in a manner that would provide the
maximum practicable assistance toward the implementation of
the local program.
9. Before undertaking any action pursuant to
any programs identified pursuant to paragraph (h) of
subdivision five of section nine hundred fifteen of this
article the affected state agency shall submit, through
appropriate existing clearing house procedures including but
not limited to the state environmental quality review law,
information on the proposed action to local government. The
local government shall identify potential conflicts and so
notify the secretary. Upon notification of
the conflict, the secretary will confer with
the affected state agency and the local government to modify
the proposed action to be consistent with the local plan.
10. Any local government which has had a
waterfront revitalization program approved pursuant to this
section may withdraw its program at any time by filing with
the secretary a copy of a resolution of its legislative body
providing for such withdrawal. Upon receipt of such
resolution, the secretary shall immediately notify all
affected state agencies.
S 915-b. Water dependent uses. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, water dependent use activities as
defined in subdivision eleven of section nine hundred eleven
of this article, shall not be considered a private nuisance,
provided such activities were commenced prior to the
surrounding activities and have not been determined to be the
cause of conditions dangerous to life or health as determined
by the commissioner of health, the local health officer, or
local board of health pursuant
to sections thirteen hundred, thirteen
hundred-a, thirteen hundred three and thirteen hundred four of
the public health law and any disturbance to enjoyment of land
has not materially increased.
S 916. Benefits of approved waterfront
revitalization programs. In recognition of the state policy
set forth in this article to encourage the revitalization of
waterfront areas in a manner consistent with local objectives,
the following benefits shall apply where a local government
waterfront revitalization program has been approved pursuant
to section nine hundred fifteen or section nine hundred
fifteen-a of this article.
1. a. The secretary shall examine programs
operated by state agencies which may have the potential to
affect the policies and purposes of an approved waterfront
revitalization program. Such examination shall include
programs which involve issuance of permits, licenses,
certifications and other forms of approval of land use or
development, the provision of grants, loans and other funding
assistance which leads to or influences land use or
development, directly undertaken land use or development and
planning activities. The secretary shall, within sixty days
after approval of a waterfront revitalization program,
identify actions under such state agency programs which are
likely to affect the achievement of the policies and purposes
of such approved program, and shall notify the affected state
agency. The secretary may at any time identify additional
actions and notify the affected state agencies thereof.
b. The state agency program actions so
identified shall be undertaken in a manner which is consistent
to the maximum extent practicable with the approved waterfront
revitalization program. Reviews by state agencies of proposed
actions to determine consistency with approved waterfront
revitalization programs shall be coordinated with and made a
part of other agency procedures, including reviews conducted
under the state environmental quality review act as provided
in article eight of the environmental conservation law.
2. The office of business permits shall
conduct continuing studies of means of expediting development
called for in approved programs. The secretary shall assist
the office of business permits in the conduct of such studies,
which should address the consolidation, simplification,
expediting or otherwise Improving permit
procedures which may affect development called for in such
areas taking into account the state policy set forth in this
article to provide consistency of program actions at all
levels of government for such areas.
3. The secretary shall consult and work with
state agencies, including, but not limited to, the urban
development corporation, the job development authority, the
environmental facilities corporation, the office of parks,
recreation and historic preservation and the departments of
economic development and transportation, to seek to identify
additional means of effectuating approved waterfront
revitalization programs. The secretary shall make
recommendations to local, state and federal agencies and the
legislature, as appropriate.
S 917. Technical assistance. The secretary
shall encourage and assist local governments in the
preparation of waterfront revitalization programs and in the
administration and implementation of approved programs. Such
assistance shall be provided on request by the local
government and shall include, as may be deemed appropriate by
the secretary, the provision of maps, data, criteria, model
implementation provisions, and technical counsel and advice.
In addition, the secretary
shall facilitate consultation and coordination
among local, county, regional, state and federal agencies and
community based groups in connection with the preparation and
administration of approved waterfront revitalization programs,
and to facilitate the development of projects called for by
approved programs.
S 918. Financial assistance. 1. The secretary
may enter into a contract or contracts for grants to be made,
within the limits of any appropriations therefor, for the
following:
a. To any local governments, or to two or
more local governments, for projects approved by the secretary
which lead to preparation of a waterfront revitalization
program; provided, however, that such grants shall not exceed
fifty percent of the approved cost of such projects;
b. To any local government or local
government agency for research, design, and other activities
which serve to facilitate construction projects provided for
in an approved waterfront revitalization program; provided,
however, that such grants shall not exceed ten percent of the
estimated cost of such construction project.
2. Funds available for the purposes of this
section shall be allocated in a fair and equitable manner;
such allocation shall reflect the initiative shown by local
governments in preparing waterfront revitalization programs
and in carrying them out.
S 919. Coordination of state actions and
programs.
1. Actions directly undertaken by state
agencies within the coastal area including grants,
loans or other funding assistance, land use and
development, or planning, and land transactions shall be
consistent with the coastal area policies of this article.
Provided, however, that nothing in this article shall be
construed to authorize or require the issuance of any permit,
license, certification, or other approval or the approval of
any grant, loan or other funding assistance which is denied by
the state agency having jurisdiction, pursuant to other
provisions of law or which
is conditioned by such agency pursuant to other
provisions of law until such conditions are met.
2. The secretary shall review actions proposed
by state agencies which may affect the achievement of the
policies of this article and shall make recommendations to
such agencies with respect to achievement of such policies.
3. The commissioner of environmental
conservation shall amend the regulations promulgated pursuant
to article eight of the environmental conservation law as
necessary and appropriate to assure adequate consideration of
impacts on the use and conservation of coastal resources.
S 920. Data collection and inventory. 1. The
secretary shall maintain a resource inventory of information
collected pursuant to coastal and inland waterways program
planning including significant natural areas, historic sites,
agricultural lands and water dependent use areas.
2. The secretary may collect additional
information to supplement the inventory and may delegate the
preparation of such information to appropriate state and local
agencies.
3. The secretary shall make this inventory
available to state agencies, local governments and the public
for planning purposes.
S 921. Amendment of coastal zone management
program.
1. The secretary shall amend this states
coastal zone management program submitted to
the United States secretary of commerce
pursuant to section fourteen hundred fifty-five of the coastal
zone management act (16 USC SS 1451 et seq.), to incorporate
the requirements of this section and the findings and purposes
specified in title sixteen of article fifteen of the
environmental conservation law and shall formally submit the
proposed amendments to the United States secretary of
commerce.
2. After approval by the United States
secretary of commerce of the amendments submitted pursuant to
subdivision one of this section, the secretary shall, under
section nine hundred nineteen of this article, consider the
requirements, findings and purposes specified under
subdivision one of this section, if applicable, when reviewing
actions proposed by state agencies which may affect the
achievement of the policies of this article, and make
recommendations to such agencies with respect to achievement
thereof.
S 922. Comprehensive harbor management plans.
1. In order to implement a comprehensive harbor
management plan the local legislative body of a
city, town or village may adopt, amend and
enforce local laws or ordinances, not inconsistent with the
laws of this state or the United States, to regulate the
construction, size and location of wharves, docks, moorings,
piers, jetties, platforms, breakwaters or other structures,
temporary or permanent, in, on or above waters and the use of
surface waters and underwater lands within a city, town or
village or bounding a city, town or village to a distance of
fifteen hundred feet from the shore. Such local laws or
ordinances may provide for the imposition of fees for
reasonable expenses incurred by the city, town or village in
carrying out this regulatory authority.
2. No 1oca1 1aw or ordinance adopted pursuant
to the powers granted by this section shall take effect until
it shall have been submitted to and approved in writing by the
secretary of state, nor shall such 1oca1 1aw or ordinance
affect projects and facilities undertaken or constructed by
public authorities for which a statutory
exemption has been provided or public authorities formed by
compact with another state or any subsidiary thereof formed
pursuant to bi-state legislation. The
secretary of state shall not approve any local
law or ordinance without first consulting with the
commissioner of general services and other interested state
agencies administering state-owned lands underwater, nor shall
the secretary approve any local law or ordinance not in
accordance with any comprehensive harbor management plan
adopted as part of a local waterfront revitalization program
by the local legislative body of the city, town or village and
approved by the secretary pursuant to this article.
3. (a) Municipalities on lakes, other than
those lakes identified in subdivision four of section nine
hundred eleven of this article, may, pursuant to this section,
develop cooperative lakewide local waterfront revitalization
programs and harbor management plans.
(b) Where no local waterfront revitalization
program and harbor management plan exists which has been
cooperatively prepared by all of the municipalities which
border the shores of such a lake, no local law or ordinance
adopted by one such municipality pursuant to a harbor
management plan shall be approved without a finding by the
secretary of state that the local law or ordinance is
consistent as well with the management of the lake by, and
interests of, the lake residents and its
municipalities as a whole.
(c) Where an organization or entity has been
created by statute to provide lakewide planning or regulation,
such local laws or ordinances shall be consistent with the
plans developed by such organization or entity pursuant to the
procedures required in such statute.
4. No provision of this chapter shall be deemed
to diminish the authority of any city, town or village
pertaining to the regulation of harbors, surface waters and
underwater lands granted by any other law, charter, patent or
other instrument. Nor shall it be read to authorize local
harbor management plans displacing conforming water-dependent
businesses in existence on the effective date of this section.
5. Any conveyances of interests pursuant to
subdivision seven of section seventy-five of the public lands
law and any permits issued pursuant to subdivision one of
section 15-0503 of the environmental conservation law shall be
consistent, insofar as possible, with approved comprehensive
harbor management plans adopted pursuant to this section.
S 923. Long Island Sound coastal advisory
commission. 1. Definitions. As used in this section, the
following words and terms shall have the following meanings
unless the context indicates another or different meanings or
intent:
(a) "Long Island Sound coastal management
program" or "program" shall mean that regional program
prepared by the department pursuant to the recommendation of
the governors task force on coastal resources.
(b) "Long Island Sound coastal advisory
commission" or "commission" shall mean that commission created
pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
2. Long Island Sound coastal advisory
commission. (a) The Long Island Sound coastal advisory
commission is hereby created in the department. The commission
shall consist of seventeen members. The legislature shall
appoint six members, all of whom must be local government
officials, two of whom shall reside in Westchester county, two
of whom shall reside in Nassau county and two of whom shall
reside in Suffolk county. Of these six, two voting members
shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate,
and two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the
assembly. One voting member shall be appointed by the minority
leader of the senate and one member shall be appointed by the
minority leader of the assembly. In addition five members
shall be appointed by the secretary, one of whom shall be
chair; one of whom shall represent builders, one of whom shall
represent recreational anglers, one of whom shall represent
commercial fishing, one of whom shall represent recreational
boaters and one of whom shall represent birders; in addition,
membership on the commission shall include one member, a New
York state resident, appointed by and from the
Long Island Sound study management conference; the Long Island
Sound study citizens` advisory committee co-chair residing in
New York state; the director of New York sea grant; and the
commissioners of economic development, environmental
conservation and parks, recreation and historic preservation;
one member shall be appointed by the commissioner of economic
development and shall represent business; one member shall be
appointed by the commissioner of environmental conservation
and shall represent environmental protection; and one member
shall be appointed by the commissioner of parks, recreation
and historic preservation and shall represent recreation. The
commission shall meet at least once a year and shall encourage
attendance at such meetings of representatives from local
governments on the sound and other interested parties. Copies
of the minutes of each meeting shall be forwarded to the
secretary.
(b) Every state agency and public corporation
having jurisdiction over land or water on or in the sound, or
over programs relating to the purposes and goals of this
article shall, to the fullest extent
practicable, offer full cooperation and
assistance to the council in carrying out the provisions of
this section.
(c) Every local agency with programs relating
to the sound shall offer assistance to the commission, to the
extent practicable, in carrying out the provisions of this
section.
(d) In the event of a vacancy occurring in
the office of any member, such vacancy shall be filled in the
same manner as the original appointment. The members of the
commission shall serve without compensation.
3. Powers and duties of the commission. The
commission shall have the power:
(a) to make by-laws for the management and
regulation of its affairs;
(b) to utilize, to the extent practicable,
the staff and facilities of existing state and local agencies;
(c) to annually review the Long Island Sound
coastal management program and policies and recommend
revisions thereto;
(d) to assist in the coordination of this
program with other programs and activities affecting Long
Island Sound;
(e) to hold public hearings to solicit input
and comment from the public on implementation of the program;
and
(f) to prepare an annual report on the
conduct of its activities.
|