Will BarclayHeadline-chasing environmental policies that lack common sense and fiscal awareness continue to inhibit progress in New York state. In addition to a completely unworkable green-energy plan dictating nearly every environmental policy in the state, a newly enacted regulation governing freshwater management is threatening economic development even further.
The new provisions amend New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act of 1975 and will greatly expand the amount of land subject to wetland restriction. New York’s wetland restrictions are intended to protect the state’s water quality and the habitats of endangered species. The law will phase in over the next several years, affecting 1 million new acres of protected land.
I recently penned a letter to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), expressing concerns shared by my constituents about these burdensome rules and an overall pattern of DEC and governmental overreach. I get these calls a lot, and I suspect many upstate New Yorkers have grown tired with the heavy hand of Albany constantly meddling in what car they drive, how they heat their homes and, now, where they can build the businesses, developments, and homes that help drive our economy.
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Additionally, the fully implemented version of this law comes with hundreds of dollars or more in fee increases for applications associated with development permits. For example, a $900 application fee for a “subdivision of land or new commercial or industrial structures or improvements” is going to rise to $2,000. This represents yet another set of restrictions on what you can do with the property you own, and an increase in your costs to do so. It is the embodiment of death by 1,000 cuts.
Environmental conservation and stewardship are extremely important, and as a lifelong resident of upstate New York, I appreciate the need to protect these natural resources. These policies, though, must be informed by objective science, practical economics, and the needs of the people who live in these regions. Gov. Kathy Hochul and her political allies do not seem to appreciate the challenges property and small-business owners in New York state already face. They also have taken it upon themselves to force an environmental agenda on New Yorkers that they did not ask for and do not want.
The unfortunate reality for New Yorkers is they are forced to spend more time figuring out how to undo the damage of their state government than doing what every free citizen of our nation has the right to do: live, be free, and pursue the happiness and prosperity they deserve.
William (Will) A. Barclay, 55, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses all of Oswego County, as well as parts of Jefferson and Cayuga counties.
