The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
Through its news reporting and analysis, the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer furthers the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality, and lasting protection of the Adirondack park.
Subscribe to our print magazine
Support our journalism
Sign up for our emails
Terms of Use • Privacy Policy
Government
By Gwendolyn Craig
May 30, 2024
Explore More: 1996 environmental bond act, 2022 environmental bond act, big story, Department of Environmental Conservation
Interactive map shows projects funded by bond act
By Gwendolyn Craig
It’s a new era of transparency and technology for the state and its accounting of a $4.2 billion environmental bond act voters passed in November 2022. A state website launched recently allows the public to see where that money is going and what funding remains available.
The previous environmental bond act, which voters passed in 1996, had no one-stop accounting for the $1.75 billion, the Explorer found. In fact $81 million of the 1996 Clean Water Clean Air Bond Act has yet to be disbursed as of March 31, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Suzanna Randall, the DEC’s chief resiliency officer and unofficial “bond act czar,” said the new website is a multi-agency effort.
“I’m a taxpayer; you’re a taxpayer,” she said. “We want to see what kind of projects are getting funded. That’s really what we’re doing is showing where the dollars are going, what stage projects are in.”
Check out the new environmental bond act website here: https://environmentalbondact.ny.gov/.
Some website highlights the DEC provided include:
The interactive map shows one project funded in the Adirondacks so far. It is a $13.1 million grant via the DEC awarded in February for the Adirondack Rail Trail and Saranac Lake Depot project. The 34-mile recreational trail will connect Lake Placid and Tupper Lake.
Whether more trail work will get funded with bond act dollars remains to be seen. Randall said a workgroup is considering criteria, with hopes of rolling out more information later this year.
Randall said she hopes applicants will use the “fund my project” tool.
Users can choose from applicant types from a drop-down menu (academic institution, nonprofit organization, local government, Native American nation, etc.). They can choose project types they’d like help with funding.
Categories range from buffer restoration, to emissions reduction, to fish passage. Applicants choose the region of the project, what phase it is in, and voila, a list of potential grant sources crops up.
“We’re looking to really have a steady pace of moving dollars out the door,” Randall said.
Randall walked through a typical process for a grant.
There’s a scoring process leading to an announcement of the award. A final contract may need the state comptroller or the Attorney General’s approval. It may take three to six months before a contract is in place. There could be a feasibility study involved with designs and plans. A project may require multiple permits.
Then the applicant will need to go out to bid for the work. Depending on construction availability, a project could begin a year from when it’s announced.
When Randall worked for the governor’s storm recovery office, she said, if they bid on too many jobs in a small, rural community, she found local projects were competing against themselves.
“We want to make sure we do that expediently, but also not in such a way that we’re like ‘oh my gosh, we’re failing because it’s too much,’” she said.
Randall hopes it won’t take multiple generations to get the money out the door, like with the 1996 bond act.
The DEC said of that act’s remaining $81 million, at least $30 million “cannot be accessed by state agencies and authorities until a memorandum of understanding is signed by the Senate, Assembly and governor. DEC will continue to elevate these MOUs and seek to find opportunities to work with the Legislature on allocating these funds.”
Some of the leftover money has already been committed to ongoing projects, but has not yet been dispersed, the DEC said. There are seven state agencies and authorities, including the DEC, responsible for finding projects for remaining funds.
Top photo: A mother and child wait to cross a public road along the Adirondack Rail Trail in Lake Placid. Photo by Mike Lynch
Sign up for Gwen’s weekly “Adirondack Report” emailed newsletter, free of charge.
Gwen is an award-winning journalist covering environmental policy for the Explorer since January 2020. She is a member of the Legislative Correspondents Association of New York. Gwen has worked at various news outlets since 2015. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Contact her at (518) 524-2902 or gwen@adirondackexplorer.org. Sign up for Gwen’s newsletter here.
View all articles by this author
I don’t see the link to the “state website launched recently.” Did I miss that somehow? If not, please add it.
says
It’s in the green box but also added the link into the text. And here it is for easy access: https://environmentalbondact.ny.gov/
Thanks for reading!
With this newer format, I cannot get a print of the articles. Is there a reason a friendly print option is not available?
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
SPONSORED
Through its news reporting and analysis, the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer furthers the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality, and lasting protection of the Adirondack Park.
P.O. Box 1355, Saranac Lake, NY 12983 • Phone: (518) 891-9352
Copyright © 2024 • Adirondack Explorer • All Rights Reserved.