Re: [sustainable_tompkins-l] VOTE will take place tonight on several important environmental resolutions at the county legislature meeting

[Charles C. Geisler]

Thanks for all the work leading up to this.

Chuck G.

From:  on behalf of Anna Kelles 

Reply-To: SUSTAINABLE_TOMPKINS-L 
Date: Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at 12:46 PM
To: Fall Creek Listserv , Dewitt Park 
Neighborhood Association , SUSTAINABLE_TOMPKINS-L 
, CSED , TCP 

Cc: "Brian B. Eden" , Caitlin Darfler , 
Caitlin Darfler , Kristin McCarthy 
, Amanda Champion , Annie 
Koreman , Cathy Covert , Dan Klein 
, Dave McKenna , Deborah 
Dawson , Glenn Morey , 
"henrygrani...@gmail.com" , Jason Molino 
, Leslyn Mc Bean-Clairborne , 
Martha Robertson , Mike Lane 
, Mike Sigler , Rich John 

Subject: Re:[sustainable_tompkins-l] VOTE will take place tonight on several 
important environmental resolutions at the county legislature meeting

Hi All,

As a quick followup.  The resolution in opposition to the incinerator proposal 
passed unanimously and the resolution rejecting the incorporation of trucked 
LNG and CNG to any proposal in response to NYSEG's RFP for gas pipeline 
alternatives passed 12 to 1. The plastic bag resolution was sent back to 
committee to update and return after it is updated by the PDEQ committee that 
meets at 3pm March 26th in the legislative chambers.

Happy Wednesday,
Anna

On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 1:29 PM, Anna Kelles 
> wrote:
Hi all,

As some of you may know I have been appointed this year as the chair of the 
Planning Development and Environmental Quality (PDEQ) committee. Last Monday 
three resolutions were voted out of the PDEQ committee that will be discussed 
and in most cases voted on tonight by the full legislature at our bimonthly 
meeting from starting at 5:30pm (the meeting starts with privilege of the 
public to speak!) at 121 E. Court St. in the Legislative Chambers on the second 
floor.

The first is a resolution in opposition to the proposed large scale incinerator 
in Romulus, Seneca County that is just North of the town of Ulysses. I created 
an submitted this updated resolution from a template created by members of Gas 
Free Seneca. I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has but in a nutshell the 
garbage would be shipped by hundreds of trucks a day from downstate, burned 
creating significant air pollution very near an elementary school and two 
correctional facilities as well as nearby towns and wineries, created about 52 
truckloads of toxic ash daily that would need to be landfilled locally, and 
would withdraw 445,000 gallons daily from Seneca Lake.

A resolution urging the state to pass a plastic bag ban with an additional 5 
cent fee of paper bags passed. However, breaking news is that a few days before 
the committee vote a bill in the senate and an equivalent bill in the assembly 
were introduced that are more comprehensive than our resolution (here is a link 
to the senate bill: http://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2017/S7760). 
These bills, if approved, would ban both plastic and paper (paper bag 
production and transport have an equal to or even greater carbon footprint than 
plastic). As a result I will be sending our resolution back to committee 
tonight to align more closely with the proposed state bills. The next PDEQ 
meeting will be March 26th at 3pm in the legislative chambers.

Lastly, recently NYSEG put out an request for proposals (RFP) as a result of 
long talks local officials and experts have had with the state Public Service 
Commission, requesting proposals in a designated area in and around south 
Lansing (the Cornell business park area) for alternative energy development and 
upgrades. The intention of the RFP is to reduce demand on the existing natural 
gas infrastructure and to promote future development with minimal natural gas 
needs. However, the current RFP says that they will accept a proposal that can 
include the trucking in of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquified Natural 
Gas (LNG), if it is acceptable to the community. The resolution we will be 
voting on tonight states that the inclusion of trucked in CNG and LNG is not an 
acceptable solution to reduce our dependence on the piped natural gas 
infrastructure, which would in no way help us reach our our Tompkins County 
stated goal to decrease use of natural gas to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions reduction.

Below is the official 

Re: [sustainable_tompkins-l] VOTE will take place tonight on several important environmental resolutions at the county legislature meeting

[Anne Klingensmith]

Hi Anna,
Do you have any ideas who in the legislature might vote against a bag ban?
and if so, and if you can tell me, do you have any guesses about what their
reasoning might be? (economic? libertarian/anti-regulation)?

Anne Klingensmith



On Wed, Mar 7, 2018 at 12:45 PM, Anna Kelles  wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> As a quick followup.  The resolution in opposition to the incinerator
> proposal passed unanimously and the resolution rejecting the incorporation
> of trucked LNG and CNG to any proposal in response to NYSEG's RFP for gas
> pipeline alternatives passed 12 to 1. The plastic bag resolution was sent
> back to committee to update and return after it is updated by the PDEQ
> committee that meets at 3pm March 26th in the legislative chambers.
>
> Happy Wednesday,
> Anna
>
> On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 1:29 PM, Anna Kelles  wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> As some of you may know I have been appointed this year as the chair of
>> the Planning Development and Environmental Quality (PDEQ) committee. Last
>> Monday three resolutions were voted out of the PDEQ committee that will be
>> discussed and in most cases voted on tonight by the full legislature at our
>> bimonthly meeting from starting at 5:30pm (the meeting starts with
>> privilege of the public to speak!) at 121 E. Court St. in the Legislative
>> Chambers on the second floor.
>>
>> The first is a resolution in opposition to the proposed large scale
>> incinerator in Romulus, Seneca County that is just North of the town of
>> Ulysses. I created an submitted this updated resolution from a template
>> created by members of Gas Free Seneca. I'm happy to answer any questions
>> anyone has but in a nutshell the garbage would be shipped by hundreds of
>> trucks a day from downstate, burned creating significant air pollution very
>> near an elementary school and two correctional facilities as well as nearby
>> towns and wineries, created about 52 truckloads of toxic ash daily that
>> would need to be landfilled locally, and would withdraw 445,000 gallons
>> daily from Seneca Lake.
>>
>> A resolution urging the state to pass a plastic bag ban with an
>> additional 5 cent fee of paper bags passed. However, breaking news is that
>> a few days before the committee vote a bill in the senate and an equivalent
>> bill in the assembly were introduced that are more comprehensive than our
>> resolution (here is a link to the senate bill:
>> http://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2017/S7760). These bills, if
>> approved, would ban both plastic and paper (paper bag production and
>> transport have an equal to or even greater carbon footprint than plastic).
>> As a result I will be sending our resolution back to committee tonight to
>> align more closely with the proposed state bills. The next PDEQ meeting
>> will be March 26th at 3pm in the legislative chambers.
>>
>> Lastly, recently NYSEG put out an request for proposals (RFP) as a result
>> of long talks local officials and experts have had with the state Public
>> Service Commission, requesting proposals in a designated area in and around
>> south Lansing (the Cornell business park area) for alternative energy
>> development and upgrades. The intention of the RFP is to reduce demand on
>> the existing natural gas infrastructure and to promote future development
>> with minimal natural gas needs. However, the current RFP says that they
>> will accept a proposal that can include the trucking in of compressed
>> natural gas (CNG) and liquified Natural Gas (LNG), if it is acceptable to
>> the community. The resolution we will be voting on tonight states that the
>> inclusion of trucked in CNG and LNG is not an acceptable solution to reduce
>> our dependence on the piped natural gas infrastructure, which would in no
>> way help us reach our our Tompkins County stated goal to decrease use of
>> natural gas to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction.
>>
>> Below is the official press release that followed the PDEQ meeting last
>> week.
>>
>> Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.
>>
>> In good health,
>> Anna
>>
>>
>> *Committee Recommends Support of Statewide Plastic Bag Ban*
>>
>>
>>
>> The Legislature’s Planning, Development, and Environmental Quality
>> Committee, which back in 2013 considered a proposal from the Environmental
>> Management Council (EMC)for a Local Law banning single-use plastic retail
>> bags, today considered—and recommended to the Legislature—a new proposal on
>> the issue from the EMC, one urging a statewide ban on such plastic retail
>> bags.
>>
>>
>>
>> Following the EMC’s recent adoption of a measure supporting such a
>> statewide ban, the Planning committee, in a unanimous 5-0 vote, joined in
>> recommending that the Legislature express its strong support of a plastic
>> retail bag ban, which would also include a fee on recyclable paper bags,
>> and urging the Governor to propose and the State Legislature to adopt such

Re:[sustainable_tompkins-l] VOTE will take place tonight on several important environmental resolutions at the county legislature meeting

[Anna Kelles]

Hi All,

As a quick followup.  The resolution in opposition to the incinerator
proposal passed unanimously and the resolution rejecting the incorporation
of trucked LNG and CNG to any proposal in response to NYSEG's RFP for gas
pipeline alternatives passed 12 to 1. The plastic bag resolution was sent
back to committee to update and return after it is updated by the PDEQ
committee that meets at 3pm March 26th in the legislative chambers.

Happy Wednesday,
Anna

On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 1:29 PM, Anna Kelles  wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> As some of you may know I have been appointed this year as the chair of
> the Planning Development and Environmental Quality (PDEQ) committee. Last
> Monday three resolutions were voted out of the PDEQ committee that will be
> discussed and in most cases voted on tonight by the full legislature at our
> bimonthly meeting from starting at 5:30pm (the meeting starts with
> privilege of the public to speak!) at 121 E. Court St. in the Legislative
> Chambers on the second floor.
>
> The first is a resolution in opposition to the proposed large scale
> incinerator in Romulus, Seneca County that is just North of the town of
> Ulysses. I created an submitted this updated resolution from a template
> created by members of Gas Free Seneca. I'm happy to answer any questions
> anyone has but in a nutshell the garbage would be shipped by hundreds of
> trucks a day from downstate, burned creating significant air pollution very
> near an elementary school and two correctional facilities as well as nearby
> towns and wineries, created about 52 truckloads of toxic ash daily that
> would need to be landfilled locally, and would withdraw 445,000 gallons
> daily from Seneca Lake.
>
> A resolution urging the state to pass a plastic bag ban with an additional
> 5 cent fee of paper bags passed. However, breaking news is that a few days
> before the committee vote a bill in the senate and an equivalent bill in
> the assembly were introduced that are more comprehensive than our
> resolution (here is a link to the senate bill:
> http://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2017/S7760). These bills, if
> approved, would ban both plastic and paper (paper bag production and
> transport have an equal to or even greater carbon footprint than plastic).
> As a result I will be sending our resolution back to committee tonight to
> align more closely with the proposed state bills. The next PDEQ meeting
> will be March 26th at 3pm in the legislative chambers.
>
> Lastly, recently NYSEG put out an request for proposals (RFP) as a result
> of long talks local officials and experts have had with the state Public
> Service Commission, requesting proposals in a designated area in and around
> south Lansing (the Cornell business park area) for alternative energy
> development and upgrades. The intention of the RFP is to reduce demand on
> the existing natural gas infrastructure and to promote future development
> with minimal natural gas needs. However, the current RFP says that they
> will accept a proposal that can include the trucking in of compressed
> natural gas (CNG) and liquified Natural Gas (LNG), if it is acceptable to
> the community. The resolution we will be voting on tonight states that the
> inclusion of trucked in CNG and LNG is not an acceptable solution to reduce
> our dependence on the piped natural gas infrastructure, which would in no
> way help us reach our our Tompkins County stated goal to decrease use of
> natural gas to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction.
>
> Below is the official press release that followed the PDEQ meeting last
> week.
>
> Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.
>
> In good health,
> Anna
>
>
> *Committee Recommends Support of Statewide Plastic Bag Ban*
>
>
>
> The Legislature’s Planning, Development, and Environmental Quality
> Committee, which back in 2013 considered a proposal from the Environmental
> Management Council (EMC)for a Local Law banning single-use plastic retail
> bags, today considered—and recommended to the Legislature—a new proposal on
> the issue from the EMC, one urging a statewide ban on such plastic retail
> bags.
>
>
>
> Following the EMC’s recent adoption of a measure supporting such a
> statewide ban, the Planning committee, in a unanimous 5-0 vote, joined in
> recommending that the Legislature express its strong support of a plastic
> retail bag ban, which would also include a fee on recyclable paper bags,
> and urging the Governor to propose and the State Legislature to adopt such
> legislation as part of the State’s Fiscal 2019 budget.
>
>
>
> At the time that a Local Law was extensively discussed five years ago,
> County Recycling and Materials Management Director Barbara Eckstrom had
> advised that the issue be pursued at the State level, instead of through a
> Local Law.
>
>
>
> Speaking to the committee today, EMC Chair Brian Eden said that, just as
> when recycling was introduced years 

[sustainable_tompkins-l] VOTE will take place tonight on several important environmental resolutions at the county legislature meeting

[Anna Kelles]

Hi all,

As some of you may know I have been appointed this year as the chair of the
Planning Development and Environmental Quality (PDEQ) committee. Last
Monday three resolutions were voted out of the PDEQ committee that will be
discussed and in most cases voted on tonight by the full legislature at our
bimonthly meeting from starting at 5:30pm (the meeting starts with
privilege of the public to speak!) at 121 E. Court St. in the Legislative
Chambers on the second floor.

The first is a resolution in opposition to the proposed large scale
incinerator in Romulus, Seneca County that is just North of the town of
Ulysses. I created an submitted this updated resolution from a template
created by members of Gas Free Seneca. I'm happy to answer any questions
anyone has but in a nutshell the garbage would be shipped by hundreds of
trucks a day from downstate, burned creating significant air pollution very
near an elementary school and two correctional facilities as well as nearby
towns and wineries, created about 52 truckloads of toxic ash daily that
would need to be landfilled locally, and would withdraw 445,000 gallons
daily from Seneca Lake.

A resolution urging the state to pass a plastic bag ban with an additional
5 cent fee of paper bags passed. However, breaking news is that a few days
before the committee vote a bill in the senate and an equivalent bill in
the assembly were introduced that are more comprehensive than our
resolution (here is a link to the senate bill:
http://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2017/S7760). These bills, if
approved, would ban both plastic and paper (paper bag production and
transport have an equal to or even greater carbon footprint than plastic).
As a result I will be sending our resolution back to committee tonight to
align more closely with the proposed state bills. The next PDEQ meeting
will be March 26th at 3pm in the legislative chambers.

Lastly, recently NYSEG put out an request for proposals (RFP) as a result
of long talks local officials and experts have had with the state Public
Service Commission, requesting proposals in a designated area in and around
south Lansing (the Cornell business park area) for alternative energy
development and upgrades. The intention of the RFP is to reduce demand on
the existing natural gas infrastructure and to promote future development
with minimal natural gas needs. However, the current RFP says that they
will accept a proposal that can include the trucking in of compressed
natural gas (CNG) and liquified Natural Gas (LNG), if it is acceptable to
the community. The resolution we will be voting on tonight states that the
inclusion of trucked in CNG and LNG is not an acceptable solution to reduce
our dependence on the piped natural gas infrastructure, which would in no
way help us reach our our Tompkins County stated goal to decrease use of
natural gas to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction.

Below is the official press release that followed the PDEQ meeting last
week.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

In good health,
Anna


*Committee Recommends Support of Statewide Plastic Bag Ban*



The Legislature’s Planning, Development, and Environmental Quality
Committee, which back in 2013 considered a proposal from the Environmental
Management Council (EMC)for a Local Law banning single-use plastic retail
bags, today considered—and recommended to the Legislature—a new proposal on
the issue from the EMC, one urging a statewide ban on such plastic retail
bags.



Following the EMC’s recent adoption of a measure supporting such a
statewide ban, the Planning committee, in a unanimous 5-0 vote, joined in
recommending that the Legislature express its strong support of a plastic
retail bag ban, which would also include a fee on recyclable paper bags,
and urging the Governor to propose and the State Legislature to adopt such
legislation as part of the State’s Fiscal 2019 budget.



At the time that a Local Law was extensively discussed five years ago,
County Recycling and Materials Management Director Barbara Eckstrom had
advised that the issue be pursued at the State level, instead of through a
Local Law.



Speaking to the committee today, EMC Chair Brian Eden said that, just as
when recycling was introduced years ago, achieving such a ban on the
environmentally damaging plastic bags is “eminently do-able” and can be
achieved, and accepted by the public, over time.  Committee Chair Anna
Kelles reflected that it’s realistic to proactively reduce our reliance on
plastic.



The Committee, with its unanimous support, also forwarded two other
resolutions for consideration by the full Legislature, to take stands on
two other environmental issues—one voicing formal opposition to the
proposed garbage incinerator in the Seneca County Town of Romulus; the
other opposing the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquified Natural
Gas (LNG) in response to the New York State Electric and Gas “non-pipe