Environmental Conservation Updates

Senator Mark Grisanti recently sponsored a bill that will reduce the amount of pesticides that are unnecessarily released into the environment. The bill also has environmental and economic benefits by reducing the amount of pesticides needing to be applied or disposed of as hazardous waste.

Senator Grisanti’s bill (S.6401A), which has also been approved by the state Assembly, allows New York’s retailers to continue repairing minor damage to containers, under proper conditions, so that the product can be sold and used as intended.

The measure helps alleviate concerns with the unnecessary disposal of pesticide products and will continue to significantly reduce the amount of pesticides that are disposed of as hazardous waste.

With billions of gallons of untreated sewage released in New York’s waters each year, including a recent accident where over 200 million gallons of raw sewage entered the Hudson River, the New York State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee held a major hearing on the issue.

The hearing, organized by Senators Adriano Espaillat and Mark Grisanti, focused on preventing untreated sewage from entering our waterways and establishing strong notification systems to protect the public. 

The hearing took testimony from various experts and activists, including New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Administrator Venetia Lannon.