ESFPA E-News

Last Chance to Register for Forestry Awareness Day 2025

This year's Forestry Awareness Day will be held next week on Tuesday, March 4th, 2025. The event will be in the Well at the Legislative Office Building in Albany. As many of you already know, Forestry Awareness Day gives ESFPA members the opportunity to put a face on our forests and wood product manufacturing sector; educating legislators and policy makers on the importance of forests and harvested wood products, and the contribution we have in New York's economy, environment, and the quality of life of all New Yorkers. 

General Information:

• All meetings will have an assigned leader
• Meetings will be in 30-minute time slots  
• ESFPA Position Papers to include:
  • Environmental Protection Fund
  • Extended Producer Responsibility
• Registration is required
• If you will be purchasing breakfast/lunch through ESFPA, the cost is $25 and can be paid through the registration form 

Draft Schedule:

• 7:30am: We will be able to enter the LOB starting at this time.
• 8:30am: Orientation.
• 9:00am - 10:00am: Remarks from dignitaries - Assemblymember Glick, Interim Commissioner Mahar, and Commissioner Ball will be speaking.
• 10:00am – 4:00pm: Legislative visits - Participants have meetings set up in teams for pre-scheduled legislative visits. All groups will have a group leader to help facilitate the meeting.
• 9am-4pm: Vendor booths - Booths that focus on outreach and education will be featured in the Well.
• 8:00am – 10:00am – Breakfast will be available.
• 12:00pm – 2:00pm – Lunch will be available.

Your voice is needed to help make a difference! Register today:

New EPR Legislation Introduced

A new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bill has been introduced in the Senate, and we are hearing a Same As bill will be introduced in the Assembly at any time. The proposed legislation (S. 5062 – Martinez) known as the Affordable Waste Reduction Act is an alternative to the Glick/Harkham bill, A. 1749/S. 1464 - Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act. 

If you recall, last year we submitted Memorandum of Objection to the Glick/Harckham bill despite its exclusion of non-packaging paper.  While ESFPA appreciated the exclusion on non-packaging paper products, we were concerned with several aspects of the legislation as it impacts the packaging elements of our printing and copy paper products and the possibility that printing and copy products could be added back into this legislation under pressure from other stakeholders. We also signed on a joint letter from the EPR coalition objecting to the bill. Our concerns have been justified as this legislation went to hearing and sponsors as well as municipalities and advocates called for all paper products to be added to the legislation. The Governor’s Office as recently as last December noted they would not support legislation unless all paper was included.

ESFPA did work with the national coalition on alternative legislation in 2024 which was drafted based on the Governor’s 2023 EPR proposal, included packaging materials only, as well as some aspects of other EPR legislation from other states. This legislation too excluded non-packaging paper. The coalition attempted to get this legislation introduced among several majority members of both houses to no avail.

S. 5602 - Martinez Affordable Waste Reduction Act, is in large measure based on the MN EPR legislation that passed last year and among many is believed to be one of the “better” EPR bills in play among the states. The new bill includes some interesting provisions related to paper products, including:

• Exempts non-packaging paper products made with more than 70% newly harvested wood pulp fiber that has not been previously used or recycled.
• Excludes from the definition of “producer”:
  • a mill that uses any virgin wood fiber in the products it produces.
  • a mill that produces container board derived from 100% postconsumer recycled content and non-postconsumer recycled content.
• Defers to the Needs Assessment to propose “a range of outcomes” for each material type to be achieved within a five-year period, including:
  • waste reduction (includes source reduction)
  • reuse rates and return rates
  • recycling rates
  • composting rates
  • postconsumer recycled content (where applicable)
• Places a strong role of the PRO in developing the “stewardship plan”.
• Much more practical toxics requirements that rely on existing federal and State law and recommendations on how to help producers reduce toxics in covered products.

There are a lot of other provisions which are different from the Glick/Harckham bill.  As always nothing is perfect but many concerns we have had are addressed or mitigated. 

At this time, we will continue to review the bill.  We have also been asked to re-sign on the Memo of Concerns on the Glick/Harckham bill which is the same as the 2023 memo. We have indicated our willingness to re-sign, but the memo has not been sent yet. 

Governor Includes Title Insurance in Her Budget 30-day Amendments

While the Governor’s Executive Budget was very light on issues relevant to the environment and energy, her 30-day amendments did include and addition of Article VII legislation on using Title Insurance in land purchases. 

This legislation would authorize the Attorney General to accept Title Company Insurance in the event that the Attorney General finds title objections that make the title unmarketable. This would authorize the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation to request the use of title insurance on fee and easement acquisitions and significantly expedite State easement and fee acquisitions

American Chestnut Research Webinar 

Wednesday, March 12 at 6:00 PM

The American Chestnut, also known as the “Redwoods of the East,” was formerly one of the most numerous trees found along the Appalachian corridor. Prior to the 10th century, nearly 1-in-4 trees in the region were chestnut trees, and their nut production was impactful enough on local wildlife that it was considered a keystone species. Today, following the accidental introduction of a fungal blight in the early 1900s, the species is so rare it’s considered functionally-extinct.

There is hope, however! Thanks to decades of research and various partnerships among scientific and academic institutions, the American Chestnut Research & Restoration Program at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF), a new type of American chestnut tree may be very close to being re-introduced back into its native forests.

Join the Tug Hill Commission for an engaging webinar with Dakota Matthews, a Molecular Biology Lab Manager with the American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project at SUNY ESF.

Webinar Highlights:

• The ecological and economic importance of the American chestnut tree (Castanea dentata)
• The history of its decline due to blight, impacts on forests
• Breakthroughs in genetic research and development of a blight-resistant transgenic chestnut trees
• Updates on chestnut breeding program and field trials

Don’t miss this chance to learn about cutting edge conservation science and the future of the American chestnut!

Registration is required and can be done through the link below. A Zoom link will be sent with your confirmation email

ICE Raids Wood Mill

Late last week ICE raided the Tupper Lake Pine Mill and detained 9 immigrant employees. The details of what led to the raid, and what is now happening with the detained employees, are not clear at the moment. 

The mill — formerly known as the Tupper Lake Hardwoods Inc. — is owned by the Quebec-based lumber harvesting and distribution company Matra Group. Matra Group Co-President and Director of Manufacturing Operations Nicholas Drouin addressed the raid on Friday:

“ICE did not provide us with a warrant in advance. Nine employees were detained, all of whom were, to our knowledge, authorized to work in the United States, as we verify all employees through the I-9 process.”

This is the first instance we have heard of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raiding a wood mill, but probably not the last.

Click the link below to read more:

Federal Transition Rattles On

With just over one month in, the White House the Trump administration is moving at quick pace to establish their priorities for the administration.  The following are some highlights of the recent activities of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as noted by our associates at the National Alliance of Forest Owners as DODG ended last week:

Disruption continues to be the name of the game in Washington. Several themes are emerging that provide helpful context as we seek to rationalize what often appears to be internally inconsistent executive action, especially with respect to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): 

1. Disruption is more important than details.  The immediate objective of DOGE is to cut spending and headcount. This will cause indiscriminate disruption. DOGE appears to view the likely negative consequences as details outside of its remit to be addressed later. 
2. Disruption intentionally produces direct and indirect impacts.  The intended direct impact of cutting spending and headcount is the ability to report large numbers in both categories. The intended indirect impact is that those numbers will likely increase through staff resignations and the disappearance of programs and organizations dependent upon federal funding for survival. 
3. We are in the first round of disruption with more to follow.  We should expect to see additional rounds of cuts to both spending and headcount. This will be a function of directed spending reductions, determining which agencies and programs are essential, scoping their missions, and streamlining them accordingly. The administration will likely cut agencies and programs deemed non-essential. 
4. The courts will be the final decision makers.  Because Congress is focused on budget reconciliation and whether/how to keep the government open, it will likely not be involved in DOGE-related actions within federal departments and agencies. Consequently, the courts will likely decide the legal limit to cuts in spending and headcount. This will take time, and time does not favor plaintiffs who are running out of money. 

There is a not a lot our partners at the federal level can do as the Administration exercises its right to wet priorities, try to get a hold of federal spending and execute their priorities on limiting the federal workforce. For now, we observe and see how or priorities may be impacted and look for ways to educate and set priorities as new budget and legislative priorities get set.