Environment

July 1, 2010

Congressman Tim Bishop's legislation to protect and enhance America's estuaries reached an important milestone yesterday when it was approved by a Senate committee. The Clean Estuaries Act of 2010 (H.R. 4715) passed the House in April by a bipartisan majority vote of 278 to 128.

The legislation reauthorizes Section 320 of the Clean Water Act, commonly referred to as the National Estuaries Program (NEP), which supports 28 approved estuary programs through grant funding. Each program is a consensus-based, stakeholder driven organization that develops and implements a management plan for restoration and protection of the estuary.

Bishop's bill was amended by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and cleared for consideration by the full Senate. The Senate amendments, including a provision that would increase the authorized funding level for the NEP to $75 million from the House-passed $50 million, must be reconciled with the House version before the legislation can be sent to the President.

"These cherished waterways are vital to America's environmental health and economic well-being," Bishop said, noting that coastal counties account for 40 percent of the employment and 49 percent of the economic output for the nation. Estuaries are also vital to the health of our beaches, which produce between $6 and $30 billion for coastal communities each year.

Congressman Bishop's Long Island district includes two of the 28 Estuaries of National Significance:Peconic Bay and Long Island Sound. The Clean Estuaries Act of 2010 is supported by the Nature Conservancy, Citizens' Campaign for the Environment, and the Peconic Baykeeper.

---

Hauppauge, NY – County Executive Steve Levy was joined by Legislator Tom Cilmi at a meeting of key Suffolk departmental commissioners on June 7 as they considered steps that could be taken to minimize the potential impact of the Gulf oil spill on area waterways.

Top managers from Suffolk’s departments of Environment and Energy, Parks, Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, Public Works, Economic Development and Workforce Housing and Health Services participated in the session. The officials reviewed existing plans for responding to similar emergencies and discussed ways in which those plans can be updated to account for specifics associated with the Gulf incident.

According to government estimates, anywhere from 20 million to 43 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the catastrophic accident at an offshore rig, Deepwater Horizon. While efforts continue to contain the plume and to stem the flow of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, officials along shoreline communities all the way up the eastern seaboard are scrambling to determine how to deal with the situation if the oil makes its way around the Florida panhandle and up the coast.

“The oil slick is probably not going to hit here,” Levy told participants, “but if it does, we want to be ready.”

Among the options that were raised for dealing with the slick if it becomes problematic were controlled burning, oil vacuuming and the establishment of physical barriers known as booms within Suffolk’s inlets at Shinnecock, Moriches and Fire Island. Levy and Cilmi voiced strong support for protecting area wetlands in any way possible should it become clear that the spill will enter the New York waterway region.

---