SOURCE:
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/suffolk-sewage-treatment-legislature-1.50424630
By Rachelle Blidner - November 16, 2021
The Suffolk County Legislature on Tuesday approved creating a grant program to offset the high costs of low-nitrogen septic systems in new homes.
The measure, which environmental groups worry could incentivize development, was proposed by County Executive Steve Bellone’s office. It will use up to $1.5 million in federal funding to provide grants of up to $20,000, officials said. Developers could get smaller grants of up to $10,000 for homes built on previously undeveloped land.
Builders are required to install the high-tech septic systems — which cost double the price of traditional systems — in most new homes and commercial properties, under a law that went into effect in July. That mandate aimed to curb nitrogen pollution that officials have blamed for harmful algal blooms in local waterways.
Legislators were split 12-6 on the one-year grant program, which will retroactively run from July.
Lawmakers who supported the measure said it would help with the Island’s housing crisis as well as economic recovery for a construction industry hit hard by the pandemic. They also said county officials have a responsibility to help homeowners who were burdened by a mandate the legislature created.
"At the end of the day it adds up," Minority Leader Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) said. "We have an obligation to be able to offset the costs for homes" affected by a legislative mandate.
Officials noted grants would be limited to homes that have a sale price around the median for the area.
The grant proposal came after residents and developers expressed concern about the high installation cost of the new systems: on average, $20,000.
The Long Island Builders Institute in June projected the mandate would increase the cost of a new home in Suffolk by between $60,000 and $90,000 because of rising land, lumber and construction prices.
Environmental groups, including the Nature Conservancy, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the Group for the East End, opposed the grant proposal Tuesday, saying it would promote development in current open space.
Citizens Campaign executive director Adrienne Esposito, who was a strong advocate for the septic mandate, said the "anti-environmental" proposal would be a "major setback" for that program. Promoting development would exacerbate the very water pollution that legislators tried to stop with the septic requirement.
"You cannot reduce pollution by adding to pollution," Esposito said.
Environmentalists said the county should instead focus its resources on homeowners who need financial assistance, such as in an existing grant for homeowners to replace existing septic systems and cesspools.
Legislators who opposed the measure echoed that call, saying they would rather see the funding used for that septic replacement program or for sewers.
Bellone administration officials told legislators the grant program would not affect other county programs and that developments that get grants would undergo state-required environmental impact assessments before construction.
Also Tuesday, legislators unanimously approved legislation prohibiting "doxing," the practice of revealing people’s personal information online to harass or intimidate them.
The measure, sponsored by Legis. Susan Berland (D-Dix Hills), prohibits third parties from deliberately releasing Suffolk County residents’ personal information — such as Social Security numbers, home addresses and phone numbers — with malicious intent.
Violating the law would be considered a misdemeanor and could result in up to $1,000 in fines or one year imprisonment.
Legislators also unanimously required that opioid legal settlement funding be spent on new and existing substance abuse treatment, prevention and education programs. The county will receive up to $173.1 million over 18 years from legal settlements with opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies.
Ira Costell, a Port Jefferson Station resident who lost his nephew to a heroin overdose in 2007, urged the legislature to use the funding to help residents. He called Suffolk "the ground zero of this epidemic," citing it has the most overdose deaths of any county in the state.
"We are the living reminder of the blood and tears these companies have extracted from our residents in their relentless pursuit for profits," Costell said of opioid manufacturers and distributors. "This is the least we can do for those who have suffered."
Legislators also approved a measure Tuesday to prohibit people from fraudulently renting out homes they do not own.
Legis. Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon), who sponsored the measure, said many county residents have lost their homes and money to such schemes.