Amd §11-0306-a, En Con L (as proposed in S.9140 & A.10187); rpld §39-b, Nav L
Establishes the Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary; establishes uses for the sanctuary, including the limited use of certain boats; repeals provisions prohibiting boating in the Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3751
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 7, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
establishing the Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary; and to repeal
section 39-b of the navigation law relating to prohibiting the use of
motor boats in the Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 11-0306-a of the environmental conservation law, as
2 added by a chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the environmental
3 conservation law relating to establishing the Flax Pond tidal wetlands
4 sanctuary; and amending the navigation law relating to prohibiting the
5 use of motor boats in the Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary, as
6 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 9140 and A. 10187, is amended
7 to read as follows:
8 § 11-0306-a. The Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary.
9 1. There is established a Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary for the
10 purpose of protecting areas of special ecological significance within
11 the Flax Pond tidal marsh. The sanctuary shall be composed of the tidal
12 wetlands located in the village of Old [Fields] Field, county of Suffolk
13 as designated on the March tenth, nineteen hundred sixty-six survey
14 filed in the Suffolk County Clerk's office as file number 136899 and
15 including a permanent easement for the State University of New York as
16 designated on the March ninth, nineteen hundred sixty-six survey filed
17 in the Suffolk County Clerk's office as file number 81558, and including
18 acreage of 146.162 acres. The sanctuary shall be managed by the depart-
19 ment in cooperation with the state university at Stony Brook. The sanc-
20 tuary shall be managed as a long-term field laboratory for research and
21 education to provide:
22 a. a natural area for academic research across a wide variety of
23 disciplines including, but not limited to, the fields of community ecol-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04158-01-3
A. 3751 2
1 ogy, population ecology, predator-prey relationships, food chain and web
2 dynamics, nutrient and energy flow, hydrology, ornithology, botany, and
3 forestry management;
4 b. opportunities for instruction between teaching faculty and students
5 by using the property as an "outdoor classroom";
6 c. opportunities for students, faculty, and the public to connect with
7 the natural world around them; [and]
8 d. a meaningful contribution toward protection of local and regional
9 biodiversity[.
10 2. Hunting, fishing, trapping and the use of motor boats are not
11 compatible with the primary purposes and management goals of the sanctu-
12 ary.];
13 e. lawful recreational angling, however no commercial fishing or
14 shellfishing, nor the taking of invertebrates for bait shall be permit-
15 ted within the sanctuary;
16 f. lawful waterfowl hunting during the appropriate open season follow-
17 ing receipt of a tidal wetlands access permit issued pursuant to depart-
18 ment regulations; and
19 g. boating by sail, human propelled oar or paddle, or mechanically
20 propelled vessels having a source of power less than ten horsepower.
21 § 2. Section 39-b of the navigation law, as added by a chapter of the
22 laws of 2022 amending the environmental conservation law relating to
23 establishing the Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary; and amending the
24 navigation law relating to prohibiting the use of motor boats in the
25 Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary, is REPEALED.
26 § 3. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
27 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the environmental
28 conservation law relating to establishing the Flax Pond tidal wetlands
29 sanctuary; and amending the navigation law, relating to prohibiting the
30 use of motor boats in the Flax Pond tidal wetlands sanctuary, as
31 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 9140 and A. 10187, takes
32 effect.
