ESFPA E-News

Budget Extender Passes Again

On Monday the State Legislature passed the 13^th budget extender for 2026, keeping New York afloat for another few days while the 3-leaders in a room continue to negotiate the SFY 2026-27 State Budget. On Tuesday, school districts across New York put their budgets for the 2026-27 school year out to their voters without yet knowing exactly how much State aid they would be getting. 

While talk is that leadership wants to get a budget done this week, rank and file members are saying if a budget is not in print by COB Wednesday, there is no way they are staying in town for the Holiday Weekend to pass a budget. Which likely means another set of extenders so a budget may pass next week. Counting Wednesday, May 20th, there are only 10 more legislative session days scheduled. Not that the Legislature can't wield a lot of damage in 10 days, but the session is coming rapidly to a close.

There are a lot of bills we will be tracking and working on over the next 10 days, so please stay alert for last minute messages we may be asking you to weigh in on.

AF&PA Lobby Day

Yesterday, Tuesday, May 19th, was the American Forest & Paper Association Lobby Day in Albany.  AF&PA had scheduled over 20 meetings with Senate and Assembly members, where we had teams meeting on topics including the Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act (A.1749-A Glick/S.1464-A Harckham), the Biosolids Moratorium ( A.6192-D Kelles/S.5759-C Harckham) and Mass Timber (A.9255-A Barrett/S.8918-A. Kavanagh), among some other bills. 

We were joined by representatives from Sylvamo, International Paper, WestRock, Novolex, Pactiv Evergreen and others. While we may not have changed any votes, we certainly stirred up a lot of questions and made members aware of impacts on the paper and wood products sector that New York's version of Extended Producer Responsibility legislation would bring to New Yorkers and our sector. S. 6918-A was reported out of the Senate Finance Committee and is headed to a vote in the Senate in the next few session days. We are still uncertain if this legislation can get to the Assembly for a vote this year.

DEC Issues Guidance on Annulled Wetland Regulations

As we published in an Alert last week, DEC has announced new guidance on Freshwater Wetland regulations following an April 8^th Albany County Supreme Court decision annulling DEC's freshwater wetland regulations based on Freshwater Wetland Act amendments adopted in the SFY 2022-23 State Budget. In a nutshell, the Albany Court found that DEC did not follow the appropriate State Environmental Quality Review Act Procedures in adopting the new Freshwater Wetland Regulations that became effective January 1, 2025. 

The State did not appeal the court's decision and has decided to re-promulgate new regulations. In the meantime, the DEC is reverting back to only regulating wetlands of 12.4 acres or larger and those wetlands that it had completed positive jurisdictional determinations while the regulations were in effect from January 1, 2025, to April 8, 2026. This will be the situation until DEC can revisit its rulemaking for the Freshwater Wetland amendments of 2022.

DEC will continue to uphold New York's Freshwater Wetland Act for projects that impact Previously Mapped Freshwater Wetlands and/or wetlands of 12.4 acres or greater in size. Positive jurisdictional determinations issued before April 8, 2026, remain valid if they pertain to Previously Mapped Freshwater Wetlands or exceed 12.4 acres in size. Requested entities who received a positive jurisdictional determination between January 1, 2025, and April 8, 2026, and whose jurisdiction letter references Unusual Importance criteria without mentioning Previously Mapped Wetlands will need additional review by the DEC (this according to DEC guidance). Recipients of these jurisdictional determination letters are "encouraged" (again according to DEC guidance) to complete the online Reassessment of Jurisdictional Determination Request to ensure compliance with the updated regulations.

Additional guidance from DEC may be found at:

• May 2026 FAQ - https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/wetlandsregsqa.pdf
• May 2026 Wetland SOP: https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2025-11/sopfwwremotejd_1.pdf

30 X 30 Report Finally Done

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) announced last week the release of the final 30x30 Strategies and Methodology, a key milestone in advancing New York State’s commitment to conserving 30 percent of its lands and waters by 2030. It outlines the State’s scientific framework, criteria, and strategic approach to identify, measure, and advance conservation efforts. The final document reflects extensive collaboration with State agencies, local governments, Tribal Nations, landowners, conservation organizations, and community stakeholders.

Protections of land, water, and habitats within New York State’s 30x30 inventory are achieved through permanent and persistent use restrictions. The most enduring model of open space conservation involves permanent protection of landscapes through public state and local government fee acquisitions; private conservation fee acquisitions through land trusts; and, conservation easements involving fee owners (public and private) and easement owners (public and private). Persistent protections are established through programs that limit the use or development of land through a contract or regulation. Categories of persistent protections include: Forest Tax Law Section 480-A lands; designated freshwater and tidal regulated wetlands; and, designated coastal and estuarine habitats and sanctuaries. 

The overwhelming majority of conserved lands to date in the 30 x 30 project are permanently protected - almost 6.4 million acres of which nearly 800,000 is in working forest conservation easements. Of those areas persistently protected there are 3.2 million acres of which one-quarter are enrolled in Forest Tax Law Section 480-A. Three quarters are regulated freshwater wetlands. Clearly private forest lands and private landowners are making significant contributions to New York conservation goals, while also supporting New York's forest-based economy.

SEQRA and Environmental Justice and DAC Designations

The DEC issued final amendments to 6 NYCRR Part 617 implementing limited changes to the SEQRA program mandated by the 2023 "environmental justice in permitting statute" (Chapter 49, Laws of 2023). These include:

• requiring significance determination to consider whether an action "may cause or increase a disproportionate pollution burden on a disadvantaged community," and
• requiring any final environmental impact statement to address "impacts of any proposed action on a disadvantaged community, including whether the action may cause or increase a disproportionate pollution burden on a disadvantaged community."

While unrelated to Chapter 49, this action also expanded SEQRA's list of Type 2 actions to include additional housing projects, and the siting of major renewable energy facilities and major electric transmission facilities under Public Service Law Article 8.

The DEC is still working on regulations to implement Chapter 49's amendments to the Uniform Procedures Act. These require the development of an "existing burden report" for new and renewed major permits that may impact disadvantaged communities and set forth new decision-making criteria on such projects. More to come!