BILL NUMBER:S2395

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
authorizing residents of the counties of St. Lawrence, Jefferson and
Oswego to collect downed lumber from state owned forest lands outside
the forest preserve; and providing for the repeal of such provisions
upon the expiration thereof

PURPOSE:

To empower the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental
Conservation to set forth rules and regulations that allow the
residents of St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Oswego counties to collect
downed lumber from state owned forest land outside of the forest
preserve for a period of three years.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 3-0301 of the Environmental Conservation Law
by adding new paragraph dd to empower the Commissioner of the
Department of Environmental Conservation to set forth rules and
regulations that allow the residents of St.  Lawrence, Jefferson and
Oswego counties to collect downed lumber from state owned forest land
outside of the forest preserve for a period of three years.
              

Section 2 provides the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

New York had approximately 16,000 acres of forest which were eligible
in 2011 to be logged under the Department of Environmental
Conservation's (DEC) sustainable harvest plan in the 2011 New York
State Best Management Practices Guide. However, New York harvested
less than 7,000 acres during that same year. By neglecting forests
ready for harvest some of our most precious resources are left to
decompose.

The loss of this valuable commodity is compounded by big storms like
Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. In the North Country, forests
are especially susceptible to damage because of their age. Thus, these
traumatic weather events result in abundant deadfall. Brush and
deadfall also make these forests more vulnerable to fire. Neighboring
states, including Massachusetts, have planned to lift lumbering
moratoriums on hundreds of thousands of acres of forest lands after
large storms.

For residents of regions of the state where winters are especially
cold, the rising cost of fuel has left rural communities scrambling to
find alternate sources of heat. Increasingly, these communities are
turning to wood-based heat sources, which have become the fastest
growing source of home heating fuel across the United States.
According to US Census, the number of households in New York that use
wood as their primary fuel source has increased by more than 65
percent, since the year 2000. Furthermore, the percentage of
wood-heated homes exceeds the national average in 40 of New York's 62


counties, including some counties with the highest rates of poverty
and unemployment.

This bill will empower the Commissioner of the DEC to set forth rules
and regulations that allow the residents of St. Lawrence, Jefferson
and Oswego counties to collect downed lumber from state owned forest
land outside of the forest preserve for a period of three years. The
collection of this downed lumber will offset residents' heating costs
while protecting the state's wooded land from forest fires.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2011-2012: S.7381 Committed to Rules
2013-2014: S.2114-A Committed to Rules

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law and shall expire three years
after such effective date when upon such date the provisions of this
act shall be deemed repealed. Effective immediately, the addition,
amendment and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the
implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be
made on or before such date.