By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Paterson administration has proposed an extension of the $2.50 disposal fee on new vehicle tires sold in New York beyond 2010, using it to clean up remaining tire dumps and fund other solid waste programs.
Testifying Tuesday at a legislative budget hearing, Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis said the state has cleared 80 percent of 34 million spent tires at identified dump sites, many recycled as landfill liners and material for roads.
"The budget proposes to continue this successful program, now due to expire at the end of the year, and expand its scope to address other critical environmental priorities related to the collection, treatment and management of solid and hazardous materials," Grannis testified.
New Yorkers generate millions of used tires annually. The administration's proposed $1.16 billion DEC budget — down $173 million or 12.9 percent, according to budget documents — shows $10 million in the coming fiscal year from the tire program expansion, and $15 million in 2011-2012.
Sen. Carl Marcellino, a Long Island Republican, noted it was a fee that was supposed to expire at the end of the year. Lawmakers would have to extend it.
Sen. Antoine Thompson, a Buffalo Democrat who chairs the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, said he was concerned Canadian recycling companies were getting subsidies and clobbering New York's businesses, an issue he said Grannis should address. After the hearing, he said that extending the fee itself is likely.
While advocates testified environmental programs are taking another big hit to close state deficits, Grannis said all agencies are sharing the pain in the fiscal crisis. Tax receipts have dropped steeply in the two-year national recession.
"It's unfortunate you are working for an administration that's aggressively hostile to environmental programs," said Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, a Long Island Democrat who chairs the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee.
Grannis explained the proposal to cut another $79 million from the Environmental Protection Fund, down to $143 million, with no new money for buying land. He said the agency is focusing on the 4.85 million acres of state-owned wilderness, forests and open space it now manages, while still completing three big pending land deals.
Thompson and Marcellino said they'll try to restore money that's been "swept" for years from the fund with promises of repayment. The fund is replenished by a real estate transfer tax.
The Nature Conservancy estimated nearly $500 million in dedicated environmental funds have been taken over the past seven years under three administrations to fill state budget shortfalls.
Several lawmakers expressed concerns about the DEC's pending regulations on deep drilling by hydraulic fracturing in the Catskills and Southern Tier to tap natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation. Environmentalists and New York City officials are concerned about harm to the watershed that provides the city and other systems with drinking water.
Grannis said the DEC is reviewing 13,000 comments to draft regulations and declined to say when it would produce a final version. He said there are currently 13,000 to 14,000 operating gas wells in the state.
Thompson said there needs to be a stated ratio of DEC staff required for a certain number of wells to ensure protection. He said afterward that the Legislature needs to weigh in on drilling and not leave it entirely to DEC regulation.
Parks Commissioner Carol Ash, who followed Grannis, said the budget proposal would cut $29 million from her operating funding, and that last year's budget cuts already reduced services at 100 of the state's 213 parks and historic sites. Ash said the agency will need to cut services further this year and may even consider closing some state parks; she told lawmakers she will provide specifics as soon as possible.
