(ALBANY, N.Y.) As our state continues to reckon with how to more effectively follow through on its environmental initiatives, Senator Jeremy Zellner and the Senate Democratic Majority advanced a package of legislation demonstrating their commitment to further protecting New York’s environment and better meeting the state’s ambitious climate goals. Since taking the Senate Majority, the Democratic Conference has launched and continued to support historic environmental efforts, including The Environmental Bond Act, The Environmental Protection Fund and The Climate Superfund Program.  

The package includes legislation that would propose stricter standards for toxic air and lead contaminants; call for certain businesses to annually disclose their emissions; provide municipalities with funding to remediate drinking water site contamination; prohibit the sale of many consumer goods containing PFAS; and require heavy distribution warehouses to reduce their air pollution impacts on disadvantaged communities and demonstrate their operations comply with federal and state air quality standards. 

"No one in the 61st Senate District should have to worry about breathing toxic air or drinking contaminated water in the very communities they call home," said Senator Jeremy Zellner. "This legislation holds polluters accountable where they operate, gives our towns and cities the funding and tools they need to fight contamination, and delivers real, measurable results to protect the health and future of Western New York families. We are taking decisive action — because the people of the 61st District deserve nothing less."

The legislation being passed by the Senate Democratic Majority includes: 

● Establishing an Indirect Source Review for Warehouse Operations: This bill, S.1180B, sponsored by Senate Deputy Leader Gianaris, would require qualifying heavy distribution warehouses to obtain a permit ensuring that they reduce hazardous air pollution for local communities, and demonstrating that their operations do not contribute to violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards. 

● Enacting the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act: This bill, S.9072A, sponsored by Senator Harckham, would protect against greenwashing by requiring businesses with a yearly revenue above $1 billion to annually disclose their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. 

● Prohibiting the Sale of Products Containing PFAS: This bill, S.9073A, sponsored by Senator Harckham, would prohibit and penalize the sale of certain consumer and household products containing PFAS. 

● Enacting the Emission Tampering Act: This bill, S.9074, sponsored by Senator Harckham, would codify prohibitions against disabling, removing, or interfering with emission control devices, or selling, distributing, or installing emission tampering devices.

● Proposing Stricter Lead Contamination Standards: This bill, S.122A, sponsored by Senator Cleare, would direct the Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health to propose stricter standards for lead contamination in air, in soil, on floors, and on windowsills. 

● Limiting Toxic Air Contaminant Emissions: This bill, S.4030A, sponsored by Senator Fernandez, would direct the Department of Environmental Conservation to establish new ambient air quality standards for certain toxic air contaminants, and fenceline monitoring to ensure those standards are met. 

● Providing Funding for Municipal Environmental Remediation: This bill, S.672A, sponsored by Senator Hinchey, would allow municipalities to use funding obtained through the Environmental Restoration Program to remediate contaminated drinking water sites, would expand the program to make PFAS contamination eligible for remediation, and would earmark $20 million from the Environmental Bond Act of 1996 for municipal environmental remediation. 

● Enacting the PFAS Discharge Disclosure Act: This bill, S.4574B, sponsored by Senator May, would require certain industrial dischargers of wastewater likely to contain PFAS and publicly owned wastewater treatment plants to conduct testing for PFAS and report the results. 

● Ensuring Permits Issued by The DEC Meet Environmental Standards: This bill, S.4513, sponsored by Senator Ramos, would require applicants for all major permits from the Department of Environmental Conservation to comply with environmental justice community engagement standards and would prevent such permits from being issued until the applicant satisfies those environmental requirements. 

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