| New York State Department of Environmental Conservation | |
 DEC logo |
|
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 22, 1970 |
| Preceding Agencies | New York State Conservation Department New York State Conservation Commission New York State Forest, Fish and Game Commission |
| Jurisdiction | New York state government |
| Headquarters | Albany, NY |
| Employees | 3,378 |
| Annual Budget | $1 billion |
| Agency Executive | Alexander Grannis, Commissioner |
| Website | |
| http://www.dec.ny.gov/ | |
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC or DEC) is responsible for the conservation, improvement, and protection of natural resources within the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1970, replacing the previous Conservation Department.[1] The department manages the state forests, Forest Preserve, wildlife management areas and certain other state lands of New York. It is responsible for regulating sport fishing, hunting and trapping within the state, and enforcing environmental laws and regulations. NYSDEC has an annual budget of approximately $1 billion and employs 3,378 people across the state. It manages over 4 million acres (16,000 km²) of protected state-owned land (including all Forest Preserve holdings in the Adirondack and Catskill parks) and another 690,000 acres (2,760 km²) of privately-owned land on which it holds conservation easements. The department's activities go beyond land management and environmental enforcement to include the publication of a magazine and a state bird atlas, and the operation of three major ski areas.
History
Predecessor agencies
The core of DEC is the conservation functions, which trace their origins to the Forest Preserve Advisory Board set up in 1885 when that land category was created. The first forest rangers were hired and trained to support it. It became the Fisheries, Game and Forest Commission ten years later. By the early 20th century, it was the Conservation Commission. Departmental status came in 1927 and lasted till 1970.
Origin
DEC was created when then-governor Nelson Rockefeller symbolically signed the legislation creating it on the first Earth Day in 1970. The existing Conservation Department was joined by some programs then part of the state's Department of Health, and several other commissions with environmental responsibilities to create the new department along with some brand-new offices.
1970s
In its first decade, it took the lead in helping the state comply with newly-passed federal environmental legislation. DEC's work at Love Canal helped draw national attention to the problems posed by hazardous waste sites. It also worked to end General Electric's discharge of PCBs into the Hudson River, an issue that continues into the present day. It implemented New York's first state-level endangered species list. DEC also was put in charge of reviewing declarations filed under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which mirrors federal laws. In 1972, voters approved the Environmental Quality Bond Act, which continues to provide funds for land acquisition, solid waste aid, sewage treatment, air pollution control and resource recovery. Its renewal in 1986 made possible remediation of many hazardous waste sites
1980s
In the 1980s, DEC was given regulatory authority over storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes. In this capacity, it helped New York end disposal of radioactive waste at West Valley. The legislature also passed a bottle bill, to be enforced and administered by DEC. The department's facilities at Whiteface and Mt. Van Hoevenberg near Lake Placid were venues for several events at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. The decade also saw the department complete, with considerable volunteer help, New York's Atlas of Breeding Birds, a mammoth, exhaustive tome of great interest to birders and ornithologists. DEC efforts have also led to the restoration of several species in the state, including the bald eagle. The state also began allowing its taxpayers to return a Gift to Wildlife on their income tax forms, providing money directly to DEC for conservation programs.
Early 1990s
DEC actions against New York City led to a consent order requiring the city to operate the Fresh Kills landfill under its regulations, which led to its eventual closure. New York has seen an 80% reduction in its operating landfills since 1984. The department also obtained a memorandum of understanding with the city that eventually led to both tougher land-use regulations in the watersheds of its upstate reservoirs and economic development funds for the communities in them. The 90 mile (140 km) Genesee Valley Greenway was created during this time on abandoned railbed and Genesee Valley Canal property. A new source of funding was opened up when the legislature created the state's Environmental Protection Fund.
Since 1995
The decade that saw New York come under its first Republican administration in 16 years had some worried that DEC would become more submissive to business interests. But the department remained active, taking the lead in establishing the state's Open Space Plan for future land acquisitions. DEC employees were active in the cleanup after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In 2006, the DEC started an investigation of the former New York National Guard training range, known as Camp O'Ryan. The concerns at this site include lead contamination from spent bullets, as well as alleged witnessed burial of cylinders of unknown origin. They are presently contacting the New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs and the Army Corps of Engineers for further information on this range.
Organization
DEC is headed by a commissioner (currently former assemblyman Alexander Grannis) appointed by the governor. He reports to a newly-created position in the cabinet, Deputy Secretary for the Environment, filled by Judith Enck. Below the commissioner and deputy commissioner are the heads of all its agencies, regional directors and regional agency directors. The department has eleven offices[2]: Administration, Air Resources, Climate Change & Energy, Commissioner's Policy, General Counsel, Hearings and Mediation Services, Internal Audit, Legislative Affairs, Natural Resources, Remediation and Materials Management, and Water Resources. Many of these offices have internal divisions with specific responsibilities.
Office of Administration
There are five divisions within this office:
- Division of Operations According to its mission statement, this division "provide(s) technical services, facilities management, and maintenance of physical assets to insure effective and efficient operation of the Department and safe public use of DEC lands and facilities." In practice this means its primary responsibility is operating DEC-owned recreational facilities such as campgrounds and the Belleayre, Gore and Whiteface ski areas. Other responsibilities include managaing DEC's extensive vehicle fleet and all departmental facilities. It also houses DEC's internal design and construction shop.
- Division of Information Services: Manages DEC's computer networks and systems.
- Division of Management and Budget: Handles all internal accounting and bookkeeping.
- Division of Public Affairs and Education: Responsible for all public outreach efforts, including the New York State Conservationist magazine.
- Office of Employee Relations: Handles all relations between DEC and the several unions which represent its employees.
Office of Air Resources, Climate Change & Energy
- Division of Air Resources Oversees all air quality-related programs
- Climate Change Office
Office of Remediation and Materials Management
- Division of Environmental Remediation Administers cleanup efforts, spill response and brownfield redevelopment.
- Division of Mineral Resources Oversees all programs related to mining and oil and gas exploration (New York has 12,600 active wells).
- Division of Solid & Hazardous Materials Oversees all programs related to waste management and the manufacture, transport and disposal of hazardous material.
Office of General Counsel
This is DEC's legal office. It has four divisions.
- Legal Affairs
- Environmental Justice
- Environmental Enforcement
- Regional Enforcement
Office of Hearings and Mediation Services
This office has no other further divisions. It administers all DEC public hearings and enforcement hearings. It also considers all appeals of denials of requests under New York's Freedom of Information Law.
Office of Natural Resources
This office handles most of DEC's conservation-related functions.
- Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources: Oversees hunting, fishing and trapping licenses, and monitors the quality of those resources. Manages state wildlife management areas.
- Division of Lands and Forests: Responsible for the management, protection and recreational use of about four million acres (16,000 km²) of state owned land or 13 percent of the land area of New York State. One of the largest divisions in terms of scope.
Office of Water Resources
- Division of Water : Oversees all water quality and flood control programs on the state's 52,337 miles (84,210 km) of rivers; 7,849 lakes; 2.5 million acres (10,000 km²) of freshwater wetlands and 25,000 acres (100 km²) of tidal wetlands.
- Hudson River Estuary Program [3]
- Great Lakes Program [4]
- New York City Watershed
Office of Public Protection
This office houses the two uniformed law enforcement agencies under DEC's aegis.
- Division of Forest Protection and Fire Management: New York's forest rangers.
- Division of Law Enforcement: Environmental Conservation Officers, known as EnCons or ECOs for short, are the oldest state-level police agency in New York, having evolved from the state's game wardens in the late 19th century. Today they not only handle those responsibilities but enforce other environmental laws as well.
Office of Internal Audit
Office of Legislative Affairs
This office serves to "build and maintain positive working relationships with Legislators and their staffs in order to encourage dialogue and cooperation on matters affecting environmental policy. OLA is charged to present, discuss, and gain passage of the Department's annual legislative program. OLA also serves as a liaison between elected officials and the Department on concerns and issues affecting their constituents."
Commissioner's Policy Office
Regions
DEC divides the state into nine administrative regions, all groups of counties. All DEC subagencies are represented in each regional office. Some regions have suboffices closer to particular areas of special concern.
- Region 1: Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties). Offices are in Stony Brook.
- Region 2: The five boroughs of New York City (The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island). Offices are in Long Island City.
- Region 3: Lower and central Hudson Valley (Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties). Main office is in New Paltz, with a sub-office in White Plains.
- Region 4: Berkshires, Western Catskills, upper Susquehanna valley and Capital District (Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Montgomery, Otsego, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Schoharie counties). Main offices are in Schenectady, with a sub-office outside Stamford.
- Region 5: Eastern Adirondacks (Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties). Main office is in Ray Brook, with sub-offices in Northville and Warrensburg.
- Region 6: Western Adirondacks and St. Lawrence River valley (Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida and St. Lawrence counties). Main office is in Watertown, with sub-offices located at Cape Vincent, Herkimer, Lowville, Potsdam and Utica.
- Region 7: Central New York (Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga and Tompkins counties). Main office is in Syracuse, with sub-offices in Cortland, Kirkwood and Sherburne.
- Region 8: Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes (Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates counties). Main office is in Avon with sub-offices in Bath and Horseheads.
- Region 9: Western New York (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara and Wyoming counties). Main office is in the City of Buffalo, with sub-offices in Allegany, Belmont and Falconer.
Financing
Licensing and permitting fees provide the DEC with the majority of its primary operating revenue, at about 58%. Direct funding from the state contributes another 24%, and federal programs and grants make up the remaining 17% difference.
Employees
DEC employees range from holders of multiple advanced degrees to clerk/typists who may not even have attended college. They do their work everywhere from the agency's offices to deep wilderness. Almost all DEC positions are classified as civil service and require that applicants pass the appropriate exams to be considered for hiring. ECOs and forest rangers are considered police officers under New York's Criminal Procedure Law, with the authority to carry firearms at all times and make arrests for any possible criminal violations they witness. The majority of employees are unionized, with white collar professionals paying dues to the Public Employees Federation, blue-collar workers represented by the Civil Service Employees Association and the law enforcement officers members of the independent New York State Correctional and Police Officers' Benevolent Association, following the same pattern as other state agencies.
Frequent interagency partners
DEC frequently works closely on some matters with other agencies at different levels of government.
- The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). DEC's Hudson River drillings were used by EPA as a basis for its own tests that led to its decision to dredge the PCBs from the bed of the upper Hudson.
- New York's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is the agency in charge of New York's state parks, while DEC manages other lands. The two sometimes collaborate on projects such as the Genesee Valley Greenway, where neither agency has the expertise or jurisdiction to realize the project on its own.
- The Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which manages many of the state parks in the downstate region. Projects like the proposed Catskill Interpretive Center are to be built on land owned by PIPC since New York's state constitution is generally interpreted to preclude DEC or other state agencies from doing such things on state-owned land inside the Adirondack or Catskill parks.
- The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is in charge and control of the city's water resources, mainly the upstate reservoirs, manages the city's storm water and sewage systems, has jurisdiction over air and noise pollution within the city, and responds to emergencies caused by releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances into the environment. Most of DEP's activities take place within DEC's Region 2.
- The Adirondack Park Agency has final authority over most land use in that park.
References
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, "History of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation", retrieved August 20, 2006.
- 2006-07 NYSDEC proposed budget
