Posted by New York State has enacted strong regulations to curb the spread of aquatic invasive species introduced into the state’s waters through ballast water discharges. In absence of strong federal protections, these regulations have put in place stringent technology requirements, based on sound science, for ships operating throughout New York’s waters (the Great Lakes, Long Island Sound, Hudson River, NY Harbor, etc) as well as traveling through those same waters, effectively creating a standard for the entire Great Lakes region!
However, these regulations have recently come under attack, and we need to urge Governor Cuomo to stand firm on keeping new aquatic invasive species out of our waterways!
About two weeks ago, Governors from WI, IN and Ohio sent a letter to New York Governor Cuomo stating that New York’s standards will hurt their respective economies and that there is currently no technology to meet their own standards. This is not the case. In fact, New York has a company that has certified that they have technology to meet this standard for New York and California.
To help make sure the State maintains its strong standards, please sign onto the attached (and pasted below) letter to Governor Cuomo in support of New York’s comprehensive ballast water program. We are planning on delivering this letter to the Governor on Friday October 7th, so please reply to me (smahar@audubon.org) by Close of Business October 6th with the following information if your organization can sign on:
- Name
- Title
- Organization
- City, State
Thanks for your help in keeping invasive species out of our waterways, and please feel free to forward this onto others!
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Source: Sean Mahar
Director of Government Relations and Communications
Audubon New York
200 Trillium Lane
Albany, NY 12203
518-869-9731
518-869-0737 (Fax)
518-253-7000 (Cell)
smahar@audubon.org
Lake Stewardship 