Hochul Set To Act on 2 Environmental Bills

Governor Kathy Hochul has until the end of the year to sign or veto over 100 key bills. As Karen DeWitt reports, two  key environmental measures involving deforestation and the health of the state’s honeybee population have been sent to the governor and she has 10 days to decide whether to accept or reject them.

Governor Hochul says she’s been busy in December, working on two major upcoming presentations and delving into the details of dozens of bills that remain to be acted on before December 31^st. Hochul spoke after a recent public event.

“You're lucky I'm here today because I spend most of my hours now working on the budget, working on the state of the state and the remaining 125 bills or so we have to do,” the governor said.

Two bills that need to be acted on by Saturday-December 23, concern environmental issues.

One, known as the New York Tropical Deforestation-Free Procurement Act, would help prevent the destruction of tropical rainforests by banning state contracts with companies that use tropical hardwoods to make their products. It also prohibits the state from buying products including beef, soybeans, palm oil, coffee, cocoa and paper that come from an at-risk forest area. Contractors would have to certify that their products don’t contribute to tropical deforestation or degradation.

Vanessa Fajans-Turner with Environmental Advocates says ongoing deforestation has led to 15% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.

“This is hands-down the most important large-scale climate bill still facing Governor Hochul that she has the opportunity to lead on at a critical moment in the world,” Fajans-Turner said.

Senate sponsor Liz Krueger says the European Union has already adopted a ban. And she says similar standards in New York will help businesses here.

“Because they want to sell their products to the EU. And so if they're not meeting these standards, they're not going to be competitive in the world markets,” Kruger said. “This is a win for our New York businesses.”

Some business groups, including the New York State Business Council, don’t see it that way.  The lumber and building trades industry warns that the bill could have unintended consequences. They say it could severely affect supply chains, cause job losses, drive up the already high costs of building materials and worsen the state’s affordable housing crisis. 

Senator Krueger says legislative staff members have been working with the governor’s aides on possible changes to the bill, known as chapter amendments. But so far, no final agreement has been reached.

She says she’s “cautiously optimistic” that Hochul will sign the measure.

Another bill would ban the use of a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. The chemical is used on seed coatings to help farmers more easily control harmful pests.

Advocates, including the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Dan Raichel, say neonicotinoids are among the most potent pesticides ever created and are contributing to the alarming decline of the honeybee population.  

“We now know that their ecologically destructive impacts are likely worse than any class of pesticides since DDT,” Raichel said.

The state’s Farm Bureau is lobbying against the bill. The group’s Jeff Williams says the ban would have adverse consequences and would require farmers to spray much larger amounts of pesticides directly onto their crops in order to control crop-destroying insects.

“When it comes to seed treatments, an active ingredient of that pesticide is only an ounce per acre at most,” Williams said. “If farmers were spraying pesticides on the field, the same pesticides, it would be gallons per acre.”

The farmers are encouraged by Hochul’s veto earlier this year of another bill that would regulate the use of some pesticides on freshwater wetlands. The governor said that bill would undermine the integrity of the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s pesticide program.

Hochul has made it a tradition not to tip her hand in advance on whether she will accept or reject a piece of legislation.

“All will be known by the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve so stay up late,” the governor joked.

Those concerned about the fate of the two bills — and numerous other measures — might just do that.