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Latest on EUDR

On Thanksgiving eve our colleagues from NAFO reported the following:  

As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, sharing some good news out of Brussels. Today, the European Parliament adopted roughly the same position on EUDR as the European Council, supporting both another 1-year delay and a requirement for the Commission to conduct a simplification review by April 30, 2026. The Parliament's position passed by a surprisingly wide margin of 402 to 250 votes.

Strong alignment between the European Parliament and Council signals that a one-year delay and simplification review is very likely to pass, but it will not be official until mid-December. Negotiations now begin between European Parliament, Council and Commission (also known as Trilogues). During these negotiations, the three institutions will agree on final text. We expect final text and final votes in mid-December, and we will share news on key developments as they occur. 

This is a highly unusual rebuke of the Commission’s handling of the regulation, and a strong signal from EU countries and elected officials in Parliament that additional simplification is needed.

New DEC Commissioner Wants to Put 'Enforcement Foot Forward'

Rigorous environmental regulation and a healthy economy are not mutually exclusive, Amanda Lefton, the state's new commissioner for the state Department of Environmental Conservation said earlier this month in a meeting with The Buffalo News Editorial Board. 

Lefton spoke about air pollution issues in Western New York, as the number of old air permits for major polluters climbs. Lefton also discussed her agency's response to the devastating Great Lakes Cheese wastewater discharge into Ischua Creek and the DEC’s oversight of Goodyear Chemical Plant in Niagara Falls.

Click the link below to read the full article with excerpts from Lefton's interview:

What New York’s Climate Mandates Mean for your Lifestyle and Energy Costs

What to know about New York’s climate mandates on cars, homes, and your energy bill

New York's sweeping 2019 Climate Act set strict mandates for shifting away from fossil fuels to more "clean energy" sources. But with progress stagnating and consumers bearing more costs, it's increasingly harder to ignore the gap between policy ambition and the state's ability to deliver. 

The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act established into law a series of priority requirements:

• Greenhouse gas emissions in the state need to be reduced 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050 relative to 1990 levels.
• The state’s electric system should use 70% renewable power by 2030, and be 100% clean energy in 2040.

The “beauty and the beast” of the Climate Act is that while it sets strict mandates, it does not lay out how to meet them, said Vincent M. Nolette, who maintains a tracker of the state’s progress on climate action for Columbia Law School.

A year after the legislation passed, the state formed the Climate Action Council, whose 22 members included energy sector experts, state officials and other stakeholders who were tasked with mapping out a plan on how to meet the law’s directives.

But some say the state never fully considered the cost of implementing the law or what it would take to meet the decarbonization requirements.

“There was no fiscal (analysis) and there was no statement of how effective this will be, it was just like we have a crisis,” said Ron Epstein, a former executive deputy commissioner at the state Department of Transportation.

Epstein agreed climate change is a “crisis,” but he said the plan was never studied for its financial effects on New Yorkers.

“To be determined” is what’s listed under the “fiscal implications” section of the law on the New York Senate's website.

Click the link below to read the full article:

Extreme Weather BMPs

In the most recent Northern Logger magazine was an interesting article on "Extreme Weather BMPs". In 2026 we hope to look at updating New York's BMP manual and some extreme weather BMPs will likely be part of that update as well as new changes in stream and wetland regulations. Look for updates in the coming year.

Click the link below to read the full article: