STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 857 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 6, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MATTERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules 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
S. 857 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.