Brodsky Issues Environmental Health Plan

Themes include “Polluter Pays,” Constitutional Change,

Environmental Enforcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2010

Contact: Jon Lipshutz; 914-332-4985

Babylon – Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) and candidate

for Attorney General today stood beside colleagues and supporters and
announced the issuance of his comprehensive platform of the
environmental initiatives that he will undertake when he is elected the
state’s top law enforcement officer. The document outlines various
critical reforms that will serve as Brodsky’s blueprint for effective
environmental protection.

Brodsky, the former chairman of the Assembly Committee on

Environmental Conservation, leaned on his lengthy experience in the
Assembly and his second-to-none record on successful environmental
litigation as foundation for his platform. Brodsky’s agenda is centered
around re-invigorating the concept of “polluter pays”- the practice of
vigorously enforcing environmental protection laws so that those who
endanger the state’s ecosystems by polluting are prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law.

“I plan on being the most aggressive defender of our natural resources to

ever hold the office of Attorney General,” said Brodsky. “It is imperative
that the Attorney General hold private industry, public utilities and local
governments accountable for their actions when they pertain to the
environment. We owe it to future generations to take swift, decisive
action to ensure that this great state’s precious ecosystems remain in
tact into perpetuity.”

Among the highlights of the Brodsky Environmental Plan:

“Polluter Pays”
Simply stated, the states laws should be enforced to assure that
taxpayers do not bear the burden of cleaning up corporate pollution,
citizens do not bear economic burden and the public does not bear the
health and safety burdens caused by such pollution. As a result, the
Brodsky plan proposes three main ways that polluters can be held
accountable by actions taken directly by the Attorney General:
People for Brodsky 155 White Plains Rd., Tarrytown, NY 10591 914-332-4940, www.richardbrodsky.com
Printed in House, Labor Donated
Reforming the “Oil Spill Fund” and Empowering the DEC: The
State Oil Spill Fund was created to collect fines and penalties from
polluters that will enable the state to clean orphaned pollution sites
without the taxpayers being forced to foot the bill. Only the most
vigorous enforcement of the law will yield sufficient money to clean up
these sites, thereby protecting taxpayers. Richard will use the powers of
the Attorney General’s office to partner with the DEC to collect these
fines in earnest and ensure that the public is protected.

Citizen Suits: The “Polluter Pays” principal can also be asserted by

private citizens who seek to enforce state law when the state does not.
As Attorney General, Brodsky will re-introduce his “Citizen Suits”
legislation (A.4272) as a program bill legislation. This legislation would
provide private citizens with the right to seek enforcement through the
courts in instances involving violations of those provisions of the ECL
relating to protection of waters, water supply, water power, drainage,
solid and hazardous waste, freshwater and tidal wetlands, pesticides and
hazardous substances bulk storage.

Protecting Our Aquifers, Cleaning up Toxic Waste: There must be

far stronger and more efficient regulatory enforcement of the efficient
disposal of the waste products that were created my Manufactured Gas
Plants (MGPS)- which is a glaringly huge issue facing Long Island.
Currently, a NYS DEC consent order lists 23 sites on Long Island where
waste products containing numerous toxic and carcinogenic compounds
were recklessly dumped by MGPS over a 100-year period. Richard will
investigate, and if necessary, prosecute utility companies who are not
making the best possible effort to remediate this problem quickly and
effectively.

Brodsky said: “As Attorney General, I will set a national standard for the
effective enforcement of environmental laws. Today, there are a myriad
of environmental laws currently in place that could go a long way to
holding polluters accountable, but are not adequately enforced. Also,
there are issues that need to be addressed that will need new,
aggressive statuary changes and I will lead the fight to implement them.”

A Constitutional Right to Clean and Safe Environment

Assemblyman Brodsky has led a national effort to enshrine in the United

States Constitution the right to a clean and safe environment. This
initiative, when first proposed in 1996, was supported by legislative
bodies in 5 states. He proposes that the New York State Constitution be
amended to contain the same right.
People for Brodsky 155 White Plains Rd., Tarrytown, NY 10591 914-332-4940, www.richardbrodsky.com
Printed in House, Labor Donated
Brodsky said: “The New York State Constitution has long been a vehicle
for principles that help new Yorkers live better, safer and happier lives.
There is no more basic right then the right to breathe clean air, drink
clean water and be safe from toxic pollution in our communities.”

Environmental Enforcement Initiatives:

Environmental Enforcement by the Attorney General is key to promoting

public health changes and improvements. Some of the key issues that
Richard will confront head-on upon taking office are as follows:

Fracking: The statewide debate about fracking has highlighted potential

long-term danger to drinking water in our state. While the legislature
continues to debate a moratorium on fracking, and while DEC continues
the regulatory process. The Attorney General has particular
responsibilities, which must be exercised. As Attorney General, Richard
will use existing powers to appoint a Watershed Inspector General (WIG)
who is thoroughly versed on this issue. Richard will use the office of the
WIG to make certain that New York City's drinking water is never
compromised. The WIG needs to be a central part of the statewide
debate and to lead efforts to protect water quality, as the direct employer
of the WIG, Attorney General Brodsky will make sure this happens.

“Environmental Justice”: For too long, there has been an inequitable

pattern in the siting of environmental facilities in minority and
economically distressed communities, which have borne a
disproportionate and inequitable share of such facilities. Brodsky will
continue to support his long-standing legislative initiative (A.4245) that
would require the state to factor in disproportionate or inequitable
burdens on minority communities or economically distressed areas under
the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Richard will launch
investigations into incidences where this practice is being alleged, and
require the issuance of all Environmental Impact Statements to take into
consideration these issues, and also use the Department of Health’s
Cancer Incidence Mapping System that Richard created this year (A.199)
to determine if the siting of environmental facilities is linked to cancer
incidences.

Environmental enforcement on Special Taxing Districts: All across

New York, local governments have created “Special Taxing Districts”
which have particular responsibilities to levy and collect taxes. In many
People for Brodsky 155 White Plains Rd., Tarrytown, NY 10591 914-332-4940, www.richardbrodsky.com
Printed in House, Labor Donated
cases, such districts provide water and wastewater management services
and have often acted in ways that damage the environment-notably
because they are often unregulated by state and federal statutes, or
chose to disobey them. As Attorney General, Brodsky will not permit this
to continue, and will apply state laws in ways that they are not currently
being applied even as we seek federal reforms.

Brodsky said: “New York’s various state agencies, public utilities and
local governments need to all work together to protect our environment
and public health. As Attorney General, I will enact sweeping reforms and
enforcement provisions that will enable us to jointly reach this goal.”

###

People for Brodsky 155 White Plains Rd., Tarrytown, NY 10591 914-332-4940, www.richardbrodsky.com
Printed in House, Labor Donated