A new round of funding is now open to Long Island property owners willing to trade some lawn for native plants—and the reasons to apply go beyond a reimbursement check.

The Long Island Garden Rewards Program, a partnership among the Long Island Regional Planning Council, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Long Island Sound Partnership, the Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve Program, and NEIWPCC, offers reimbursements of up to $500 to property owners who install rain barrels, create rain gardens, or plant native species on their land. Homeowners, businesses, and nonprofits are eligible. Applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis until funding runs out. Since the program launched in 2023, more than 580 property owners have received reimbursements.

In the wake of pressure from Suffolk County to clean up numerous environmental issues emanating from the former Grumman plant in Calverton, consultants for the U.S. Navy have unveiled a plan to capture a groundwater plume of the emerging contaminants PFAS that is believed to be spreading toward a nearby lake and the Peconic River.

ALBANY — The recently passed state budget includes more money for top environmental issues, like clean water, protecting Long Island’s estuaries, increasing renewable energy sources and weaning the state off fossil fuels.

But the changes to the state’s landmark climate law Gov. Kathy Hochul muscled through cast a pall over other progress environmentalists felt they made.

Key Points

• The Navy says interim PFAS treatment could begin by mid-fall.

• The work targets groundwater contamination moving toward Swan Pond.

• RAB members criticized the Zoom format and limited public participation.

• The Navy did not answer whether Suffolk County will remain in technical meetings.

The Let Them Build agenda that is aimed at expediting construction of housing, a component of New York State’s fiscal year 2027 budget signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last month, is drawing negative reviews from environmental advocates on the South Fork, while the legislation was quickly followed by the Long Island Builders Institute’s formation of a council dedicated to construction in the five East End towns.

Chemicals linked to the Navy’s former Grumman site have spread to Swan Pond and contaminated three private drinking water wells nearby, according to a new report by the Navy.

The Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire for staff firings, climate and deregulation controversies, but Administrator Lee Zeldin, who is from Long Island, returned to his home turf Friday to spread the word on what is right with the EPA.

More than 50 volunteers spent part of their weekend helping create a new pollinator garden along Great Patchogue Lake, a project designed to support struggling bee and butterfly populations while improving local water quality.

On May 14, the Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) released a report of Long Island Sound water quality restoration projects it would like to see funded through the New York State Environmental Bond Act. The list was composed following meetings with village, town, county, and state representatives from across Long Island and shared digitally following a press conference at Northport Yacht Club.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week announced a long-anticipated proposal to rescind federal limits on certain toxic "forever chemicals" in drinking water — established two years ago by the Biden administration — a move New York has sought to neutralize.