N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 11-0306: The Hudson River estuary management program

§ 11-0306. The Hudson River estuary management program.

1. There is established a Hudson River estuarine district which shall

include the tidal waters of the Hudson River, including the tidal waters

of its tributaries and wetlands from the federal lock and dam at Troy to

the Verrazzano-Narrows.

2. The department shall establish a Hudson River estuary management

program for the Hudson River estuarine district and associated

shorelands, with consideration to the remainder of the Hudson River, New

York bight, and the waters around Long Island only as they impact the

Hudson River estuary, in order to protect, preserve and, where possible,

restore and enhance the Hudson River estuarine district.

3. The commissioner shall appoint a Hudson River estuary management

advisory committee with whom he or she shall consult on regulatory,

policy and other matters affecting the management, protection and use of

the Hudson River estuarine district and on the formulation of a Hudson

River estuary management program. Such committee shall consist of not

less than eleven members who represent interests directly involved in

the Hudson River estuarine district and shall include representatives of

commercial fishing, sportsmen, research, conservation, and recreation.

For the purpose of immediate implementation of this section, the

committee shall consist of the current members of the Hudson River

fishery advisory committee.

4. The commissioner shall maintain in the department the position of

Hudson River estuary coordinator to manage the Hudson River estuary

management program and to assist the commissioner and the advisory

committee in its development and implementation.

5. There is established a Hudson River estuarine sanctuary for the

purpose of protecting areas of special ecological significance within

the Hudson River estuarine district and associated shorelands. The

estuarine sanctuary shall be managed as a long-term estuarine field

laboratory for research and education concerning the Hudson River

ecosystem. The estuarine sanctuary shall be composed initially of the

four sites now within the Hudson River national estuarine research

reserve (HRNERR). The department shall adopt the Hudson River national

estuarine research reserve program as a program of the department for

the purpose of operating the estuarine sanctuary. The sanctuary shall be

managed by the department in cooperation with the Hudson River estuary

management advisory committee and the commissioner shall have the

authority to designate additional sites for inclusion within the

estuarine sanctuary. The estuarine sanctuary shall be open to those

activities that are compatible with the primary purposes and management

goals of the estuarine sanctuary and its individual sites.

6. The department, in cooperation with the Hudson River estuary

management advisory committee, shall report to the chairpersons of the

assembly committee on environmental conservation and the senate

committee on environmental conservation on or before March first,

nineteen hundred eighty-eight with an estuary management strategy for

the development of a continuing fifteen-year estuary management program

for the preservation, protection, restoration and enhancement of the

Hudson River estuarine district and associated shorelands including but

not limited to its natural resources, its fish and wildlife and the

habitats within it. The estuary management strategy shall include but

not be limited to the following:

a. A discussion of how the Hudson River estuary functions and the

relative role of different species and an explanation of the role of the

Hudson River estuary as a distinct ecosystem, as a habitat for fish and

wildlife, as a commercial fishery and as a recreational resource.

b. Identification of areas of special ecological significance within

the estuarine district and associated shoreland including but not

limited to spawning, nursery, wintering, feeding and foraging habitat

for marine, anadromous, catadromous, riverine, and freshwater species

and a description of the annual dynamics of such habitats including the

geochemical, thermodynamic, biological, hydrodynamic and hydrological

states and mechanisms critical to habitat maintenance.

c. A plan for the development and operation of the Hudson River

estuarine sanctuary which shall include criteria for the identifcation

of additional areas of special ecological significance and for additions

to the Hudson River estuarine sanctuary and a program of education and

research which shall be consistent with the purposes of subdivision five

of this section.

d. A status report on the populations and relative abundance of

species that have potential or existing recreational or commercial value

or that play a key role in the functioning of the estuary and on the

diversity of species in the estuarine district, including a plan for

maintaining an accurate evaluation of populations and relative abundance

and diversity on an annual basis.

e. Evaluation of the impact of the uses of water on the Hudson River

estuarine district including present and future demands for water and

their impact on the balance of fresh and salt water in the estuary and

the role of the location of the salt front in the estuary.

f. Identification of areas of potential ecological significance which

may require rehabilitation.

g. A status report on the levels of toxicants in and their effects on

important estuarine indicator species and for species that have

potential or existing recreational or commercial value.

h. Identification of the anthropogenic activities and the conservation

and management problems that pose an existing or potential threat to the

resources and the functioning of the estuary.

i. An inventory of ownership and tenancy of underwater lands in the

estuarine district.

j. Recommendations for developing the economic potential of the Hudson

River fishery and maintaining its traditional commercial fishery.

k. Recommendations for implementation of a fifteen-year estuary

management program including a list of tasks that must be accomplished

to implement the purposes stated in this subdivision and address the

findings and implement the recommendations of the estuary management

strategy.

l. Evaluation of the existing resources and authority of the

department to implement the estuary management program including

research, information and data needs and legislative, administrative and

regulatory recommendations and the potential role of private sources and

institutions.

7. On or before January first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, the

commissioner shall present the department's Hudson River estuary

management program at a public hearing. This public hearing shall be

advertised in official newspapers in each county along the Hudson River

corridor from the city of New York to Albany and Rensselaer counties.

The program and public comments regarding it shall be included in a

report on the program to be filed with the chairperson of the assembly

environmental conservation committee and the chairperson of the senate

committee on environmental conservation on or before March first,

nineteen hundred eighty-nine.

8. On or before the first day of March of each year, commencing on

March first, nineteen hundred ninety, the commissioner shall prepare a

report detailing the progress of the estuary management program

including but not limited to consideration of those matters listed in

subdivision six of this section as well as any planned or anticipated

regulatory or policy changes which may affect the estuarine district.

The commissioner shall present the department's annual report at a

special public meeting for the purpose of public review and to hear

public comment on the annual report. The report shall be filed with the

chairpersons of the assembly committee on environmental conservation and

the senate committee on conservation and recreation.

9. The commissioner shall consult with the advisory committee

regularly and in a timely fashion in the preparation of the estuary

management strategy, the estuary management program and his or her

yearly report to the legislature regarding any planned or anticipated

regulatory or policy changes which will affect the estuarine district.

The commissioner shall include in his or her reports to the legislature

the comments, recommendations and observations of the advisory committee

and a discussion of the consulting role that was played by the advisory

committee.

10. The advisory committee shall consult with department personnel on

matters affecting the Hudson River estuary on a regular basis and report

to the commissioner on or before the first day of December of each year

on its activities and concerns.

11. Any agreement or negotiated settlement which existed between the

commissioner and the previously existing Hudson River fishery advisory

committee, whose membership will comprise the Hudson River estuary

management advisory committee for the immediate purposes of implementing

this section, shall be binding between the commissioner and the Hudson

River estuary management advisory committee.