Environment

Could new regulations to filter waste ‘muddy the waters’?

The new legislative proposal also does away with a highly controversial measure included in the earlier legislation that would have given the state zoning authority over local municipalities.

Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter, who had spoken out against abdicating local zoning authority, said the timing of the new bill simply doesn’t leave enough time for stakeholders to weigh in before the 2014 legislative session concludes.

“I don’t think that we should rush to pass it by the end of the session. I think this needs to be vetted by all parties,” he said, adding that the issues in Suffolk and Nassau counties may not be the same.

“I would suggest a public hearing,” he said. “It’s a complicated issue; we should not try to pass this thing in haste … It’s Memorial Day weekend. No one is looking at this bill.”

Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue), whose district spans the North Fork, said he would have preferred some of the additional responsibilities to have been placed on the county health department, which is “already taking great strides to look at water quality issues.”

“I would hate to see another layer of authority above that,” he said. “I think it would muddy the waters. The health department is making strides on working on wastewater systems. There shouldn’t be a duplication of that effort — it should be a coordination of efforts.”

Mr. Krupski added that “a big fear” is the promotion of development on the East End as upgraded sewer systems become more widely available, adding that he would like to have seen something in the bill to address that.

More than anything, Mr. Krupski said, he’d want to know exactly what parts of the county would be considered priority zones in need of updated septic systems. The bill refers to these zones as “priority sewering area.”

Mr. Sweeney said those areas would be established by the state DEC.

Mr. LaValle said that there are some areas in his district where sewering would not be popular due to concerns about potential development. “When you start talking sewering on the East End, it becomes a very delicate subject,” he said.

The senator said he and his staff are “entering the phase of developing a bill that we want to be a final product and an ultimate law.”

In his version of a new Senate bill, Mr. LaValle said he hopes to include some sort of funding source to help homeowners afford any mandated infrastructure upgrades.

“I think we want clean water but we can’t bankrupt people in order to reach that goal,” he said. “You have to build up some sort of fund so that it can be done in a way that keeps water clean but is not going to place burden on people.”

Mr. LaValle said he envisions putting a timeline in place to come up with a funding source for homeowners.

“It is a very tall order to be able to put together in a short period of time,” he said. “We’ve got to get everyone to roll up their sleeves and work at it.”

[email protected]