By GREGORY ZELLER //
Not only is Gov. Kathy Hochul listening when it comes to statewide clean-water concerns, she’s all in.
Two important developments regarding clean water and related issues surfaced Monday, with the governor’s office announcing $425 million in fresh grants for “critical water-infrastructure projects” across the state and the launch of a statewide “educational listening tour” centered on the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, approved by New York voters in 2022.
The listening tour – which kicks off May 30 in Buffalo – will give the public and potential funding applicants several chances to learn more about the Bond Act, which authorizes $1.5 billion in state spending for climate-change mitigation; $1.1 billion for flood-damage restoration and flood-risk reduction; and hundreds of millions of further dollars for water-quality improvement, infrastructure resiliency, open space conservation and more.
Kathy Hochul: All ears.
Trumpeting a “historic and significant investment in our environment,” Hochul said the tour – which will include to-be-determined stops on Long Island and across Central New York, New York City, the upper and lower Hudson Valley and the Adirondack regions, as well as two virtual sessions – will “connect with key state officials” to fine-tune Albany’s ecological and economic crusade.
“The listening tour will offer an opportunity for the public, municipalities and other potential applicants to learn how they can leverage these funds to help New York State reach our climate goals while growing our economy,” the governor said Monday.
While figuring out how to best allocate the bulk of its $4.2 billion environmental war chest, Albany is already making $425 million available through the next round of its Water Infrastructure Improvement Act and Intermunicipal Water Infrastructure grant programs.
Launched in 2015 and 2017, respectively, both competitive grant programs are administered by the state’s Environmental Facilities Corp. and collaborate with the New York State Department of Health and Department of Environmental Conservation to prioritize water-quality improvement projects and promote critical water-infrastructure resilience.
Basil Seggos: Multiple benefits.
Past Long Island-focused WIIA grant awards include $2.7 million in 2017 for Village of Ocean Beach drinking-water reserves and $4 million in 2021 for a drinking-water distribution system in the Massapequa Water District.
The grant programs are now fueled by the chunky Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, supersizing their purses and potential payouts.
Applications (and full eligibility criteria) for the new funding round will be posted May 3, according to the governor’s office, but however the round breaks down, both grant programs – and the projects they support – will benefit greatly from the “record funding now available through the Environmental Bond Act,” according to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos.
“Municipalities have more opportunities to implement necessary projects that protect water quality,” added Seggos, who also chairs the Environmental Facilities Corp. Board of Directors. “The DEC continues to work with Gov. Hochul, the EFC and our local partners to invest clean-water resources in our communities and advance environmental, public health and economic benefits.”
