Home > ADVOCACY > Where We Stand > Wetlands Testimony

STATEMENT BY THE BUFFALO NIAGARA PARTNERSHIP
To the Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation
October 20, 2009

On behalf of the 2,500 employer members of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, we stand in firm opposition to the proposed New York Wetlands Bill; proposed legislation through which the state legislature is trying to step ahead of Federal environmental regulations and, in turn, will place Upstate’s economic development efforts at a severe competitive disadvantage with other parts of the country.

We are quite certain that an evaluation of the economic impact of the drastic changes proposed in this legislation will show that it is not in the best interests of Upstate economic development.

Even by discussing legislation that will lower the jurisdictional threshold on wetlands from 12.4 acres to one acre, New York continues to send a message to the economic development world that we are closed for business. Given the cost of the state budget borne by business and personal taxpayers, IDA legislation that would impose wage mandates on private sector businesses, Empire Zone benefits being rescinded based on parameters devised after the program was already in place and now this proposed legislation that would make development in Upstate virtually impossible, the cost of doing business and overregulation is killing the Upstate economy.

Moreover, such a dramatic change in the state’s wetlands policy would supersede “smart growth” efforts taking place here in the Buffalo Niagara region. Erie and Niagara counties have spent the last decade crafting and beginning to implement a “Framework for Regional Growth,” a planning document to guide development utilizing existing infrastructure and optimizing our region’s strengths. The proposed wetlands regulations would threaten farmland, homeowners in existing subdivisions, municipal lands slated for public improvement and significant tracts of land – within sewer districts – where development has been anticipated and encouraged for decades. In a region that is crying for economic growth, the Wetlands Bill would be a tremendous deterrent.

Finally, this legislation promotes “overgovernment.” The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) already has the power to regulate wetlands of any size if they are determined to be of “unusual local importance.” This is a preferred method because: (1) it allows for a more subjective view of the possible wetland than simply its size; and (2) through this legislation, DEC would have the authority to restrict constitutionally-guaranteed rights on existing private property and extend jurisdiction over private lands – without paying for the privilege to do so.

The Partnership understands the need to protect our natural environment – our full support for the Framework for Regional Growth as our region’s planning policy is testimony to that. However, in keeping with the smart growth principles Erie and Niagara counties have adopted in the Framework, we need the flexibility to promote economic development in the places where it is wise – from all perspectives – to do so. The Wetlands Bill places onerous overemphasis on the environmental argument and will be a deterrent to economic development should it become law.  The current implementation of DEC rulings is not consistent throughout New York State.  In Western New York, it is often the case that the rulings have become tools to prohibit development of specific projects and/or economic development activity.

The Partnership recommends that greater emphasis be placed on the weighing standards of wetlands and the delineation process.  The developer of any identified parcel needs to be provided with certainty when examining the viability of a project.  Moreover, with greater certainty, a municipality is better able to incorporate its land use and zoning into the comprehensive plan for the community.