Authorizes the city of Schenectady, county of Schenectady, to discontinue the use as parkland and transfer the lands known as the Woodlawn Preserve to the Albany Pine Bush preserve commission to be made part of the Albany Pine Bush preserve and to be under the control of the Albany Pine Bush preserve commission; adds the mayor of Schenectady to the Albany Pine Bush preserve commission.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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11735
IN ASSEMBLY
September 16, 2026
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Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Steck) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Economic Development
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
membership of the Albany Pine Bush preserve commission; and to author-
ize the city of Schenectady, county of Schenectady, to discontinue the
use as parkland and transfer control of the Woodlawn Preserve to the
Albany Pine Bush preserve commission;
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subject to the provisions of this act, the city of Schenec-
2 tady, county of Schenectady, acting by and through its governing body,
3 is hereby authorized to discontinue the use as parkland and transfer the
4 lands known as the Woodlawn Preserve to the Albany Pine Bush preserve
5 commission to be made part of the Albany Pine Bush preserve and to be
6 under the control of the Albany Pine Bush preserve commission pursuant
7 to the powers and duties of such commission as designated in article
8 forty-six of the environmental conservation law.
9 § 2. In the event that the city of Schenectady received any funding
10 support or assistance from the federal government for the purchase,
11 maintenance or improvement of the parklands set forth in section one of
12 this act, the discontinuance and alienation of such parklands authorized
13 by the provisions of this act shall not occur until the city of Schenec-
14 tady has complied with any federal requirements pertaining to the alien-
15 ation or conversion of parklands, including satisfying the secretary of
16 the interior that the alienation or conversion complies with all condi-
17 tions which the secretary of the interior deems necessary to assure the
18 substitution of other lands shall be equivalent in fair market value and
19 usefulness to the lands being alienated or converted.
20 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 46-0105 of the environmental conserva-
21 tion law, as amended by chapter 167 of the laws of 1996, is amended to
22 read as follows:
23 1. The Albany Pine Bush preserve commission is hereby established in
24 the department to be a body corporate and public and to consist of
25 [eleven] twelve voting members who shall be as follows: the commission-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13666-02-5
A. 11735 2
1 er, the commissioner of the state office of parks, recreation and
2 historic preservation, the mayor of the city of Albany, the mayor of the
3 city of Schenectady, the town supervisors of the towns of Colonie and
4 Guilderland, the chief executive officer of the county of Albany, the
5 state director of the New York field office of the nature conservancy
6 and four members to be appointed by the governor with the advice and
7 consent of the Senate. The four appointed private citizen members of the
8 commission shall be by training, education, experience or attainment
9 qualified to analyze or interpret or support matters relevant to the
10 protection, maintenance and/or management of the Albany Pine Bush. Each
11 of the [seven] eight ex-officio members may designate a representative
12 to attend, in [his or her] such member's place, meetings of the commis-
13 sion and to act in [his or her] such member's behalf. The Governor
14 shall designate the [chairman] chair. The term of office of the four
15 private citizen members shall be four years. In the event of a vacancy
16 occurring other than by the expiration of a member's term, such vacancy
17 shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term in the same manner
18 as the original appointment. A majority of the members of the commission
19 shall constitute a quorum.
20 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
