Section 11-0306. The Hudson River estuary management program

1.  There is established a Hudson River estuarine district which shall
  include the tidal waters of the Hudson River, including the tidal waters
  of its tributaries and wetlands from the federal lock and dam at Troy to
  the Verrazano-Narrows.
    2. The department shall establish a Hudson  River  estuary  management
  program   for   the  Hudson  River  estuarine  district  and  associated
  shorelands, with consideration to the remainder of the Hudson River, New
  York bight, and the waters around Long Island only as  they  impact  the
  Hudson River estuary, in order to protect, preserve and, where possible,
  restore and enhance the Hudson River estuarine district.
    3.  The  commissioner  shall appoint a Hudson River estuary management
  advisory committee with whom he or  she  shall  consult  on  regulatory,
  policy and other matters affecting the management, protection and use of
  the  Hudson  River estuarine district and on the formulation of a Hudson
  River estuary management program. Such committee shall  consist  of  not
  less  than  eleven  members who represent interests directly involved in
  the Hudson River estuarine district and shall include representatives of
  commercial fishing, sportsmen, research, conservation,  and  recreation.
  For  the  purpose  of  immediate  implementation  of  this  section, the
  committee shall consist of the  current  members  of  the  Hudson  River
  fishery advisory committee.
    4.  The  commissioner shall maintain in the department the position of
  Hudson River estuary coordinator to  manage  the  Hudson  River  estuary
  management  program  and  to  assist  the  commissioner and the advisory
  committee in its development and implementation.
    5. There is established a Hudson River  estuarine  sanctuary  for  the
  purpose  of  protecting  areas of special ecological significance within
  the Hudson River  estuarine  district  and  associated  shorelands.  The
  estuarine  sanctuary  shall  be  managed  as a long-term estuarine field
  laboratory for  research  and  education  concerning  the  Hudson  River
  ecosystem.  The  estuarine  sanctuary shall be composed initially of the
  four sites now within  the  Hudson  River  national  estuarine  research
  reserve  (HRNERR).  The department shall adopt the Hudson River national
  estuarine research reserve program as a program of  the  department  for
  the purpose of operating the estuarine sanctuary. The sanctuary shall be
  managed  by  the department in cooperation with the Hudson River estuary
  management advisory  committee  and  the  commissioner  shall  have  the
  authority  to  designate  additional  sites  for  inclusion  within  the
  estuarine sanctuary. The estuarine sanctuary  shall  be  open  to  those
  activities  that are compatible with the primary purposes and management
  goals of the estuarine sanctuary and its individual sites.
    6. The department,  in  cooperation  with  the  Hudson  River  estuary
  management  advisory  committee, shall report to the chairpersons of the
  assembly  committee  on  environmental  conservation  and   the   senate
  committee  on  environmental  conservation  on  or  before  March first,
  nineteen hundred eighty-eight with an estuary  management  strategy  for
  the  development of a continuing fifteen-year estuary management program
  for the preservation, protection, restoration  and  enhancement  of  the
  Hudson  River estuarine district and associated shorelands including but
  not limited to its natural resources, its  fish  and  wildlife  and  the
  habitats  within  it.  The estuary management strategy shall include but
  not be limited to the following:
    a. A discussion of how the Hudson  River  estuary  functions  and  the
  relative role of different species and an explanation of the role of the
  Hudson  River estuary as a distinct ecosystem, as a habitat for fish and
  wildlife, as a commercial fishery and as a recreational resource.

    b. Identification of areas of special ecological  significance  within
  the  estuarine  district  and  associated  shoreland  including  but not
  limited to spawning, nursery, wintering, feeding  and  foraging  habitat
  for  marine,  anadromous,  catadromous, riverine, and freshwater species
  and  a description of the annual dynamics of such habitats including the
  geochemical, thermodynamic, biological,  hydrodynamic  and  hydrological
  states and mechanisms critical to habitat maintenance.
    c.  A  plan  for  the  development  and  operation of the Hudson River
  estuarine sanctuary which shall include criteria for  the  identifcation
  of additional areas of special ecological significance and for additions
  to  the  Hudson River estuarine sanctuary and a program of education and
  research which shall be consistent with the purposes of subdivision five
  of this section.
    d. A status report  on  the  populations  and  relative  abundance  of
  species that have potential or existing recreational or commercial value
  or  that  play  a  key role in the functioning of the estuary and on the
  diversity of species in the estuarine district,  including  a  plan  for
  maintaining an accurate evaluation of populations and relative abundance
  and diversity on an annual basis.
    e.  Evaluation  of the impact of the uses of water on the Hudson River
  estuarine district including present and future demands  for  water  and
  their  impact  on the balance of fresh and salt water in the estuary and
  the role of the location of the salt front in the estuary.
    f. Identification of areas of potential ecological significance  which
  may require rehabilitation.
    g.  A status report on the levels of toxicants in and their effects on
  important  estuarine  indicator  species  and  for  species  that   have
  potential or existing recreational or commercial value.
    h. Identification of the anthropogenic activities and the conservation
  and management problems that pose an existing or potential threat to the
  resources and the functioning of the estuary.
    i.  An  inventory  of ownership and tenancy of underwater lands in the
  estuarine district.
    j. Recommendations for developing the economic potential of the Hudson
  River fishery and maintaining its traditional commercial fishery.
    k.  Recommendations  for  implementation  of  a  fifteen-year  estuary
  management  program  including a list of tasks that must be accomplished
  to implement the purposes stated in this  subdivision  and  address  the
  findings  and  implement  the  recommendations of the estuary management
  strategy.
    l.  Evaluation  of  the  existing  resources  and  authority  of   the
  department   to  implement  the  estuary  management  program  including
  research, information and data needs and legislative, administrative and
  regulatory recommendations and the potential role of private sources and
  institutions.
    7. On or before  January  first,  nineteen  hundred  eighty-nine,  the
  commissioner   shall  present  the  department's  Hudson  River  estuary
  management program at a public hearing. This  public  hearing  shall  be
  advertised  in official newspapers in each county along the Hudson River
  corridor from the city of New York to Albany  and  Rensselaer  counties.
  The  program  and  public  comments  regarding it shall be included in a
  report on the program to be filed with the chairperson of  the  assembly
  environmental  conservation  committee and the chairperson of the senate
  committee on  environmental  conservation  on  or  before  March  first,
  nineteen hundred eighty-nine.
    8.  On  or  before  the first day of March of each year, commencing on
  March first, nineteen hundred ninety, the commissioner shall  prepare  a
  report   detailing  the  progress  of  the  estuary  management  program

  including but not limited to consideration of those  matters  listed  in
  subdivision  six  of  this section as well as any planned or anticipated
  regulatory or policy changes which may affect  the  estuarine  district.
  The  commissioner  shall  present  the  department's  annual report at a
  special public meeting for the purpose of  public  review  and  to  hear
  public  comment on the annual report. The report shall be filed with the
  chairpersons of the assembly committee on environmental conservation and
  the senate committee on conservation and recreation.
    9.  The  commissioner  shall  consult  with  the  advisory   committee
  regularly  and  in  a  timely  fashion in the preparation of the estuary
  management strategy, the estuary  management  program  and  his  or  her
  yearly  report  to  the legislature regarding any planned or anticipated
  regulatory or policy changes which will affect the  estuarine  district.
  The  commissioner shall include in his or her reports to the legislature
  the comments, recommendations and observations of the advisory committee
  and a discussion of the consulting role that was played by the  advisory
  committee.
    10.  The advisory committee shall consult with department personnel on
  matters affecting the Hudson River estuary on a regular basis and report
  to the commissioner on or before the first day of December of each  year
  on its activities and concerns.
    11.  Any  agreement or negotiated settlement which existed between the
  commissioner and the previously existing Hudson River  fishery  advisory
  committee,  whose  membership  will  comprise  the  Hudson River estuary
  management advisory committee for the immediate purposes of implementing
  this section, shall be binding between the commissioner and  the  Hudson
  River estuary management advisory committee.