Designates the Montauk Point shoals as an important bird area; directs the commissioner of environmental conservation to designate such area as part of the New York state bird conservation area program.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5550
SPONSOR: Thiele TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
designating the Montauk Point shoals area as an important bird area and
making such area part of the New York state bird conservation area
program
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of the bill is to designate the Montauk Point shoals area of
Suffolk County as an important bird area.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This legislation will amend § 11-2001 of the environmental conservation
law to declare the Montauk Point shoals area of Suffolk County an impor-
tant bird area and the Department of Environmental Conservation commis-
sioner shall designate the area as a part of the New York state Bird
Conservation Area (BCA) program. This legislation shall not impose any
new fishing restrictions.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Montauk Point shoals area is a critical habitat for tens of thou-
sands of waterfowl and pelagic seabirds. This area regularly supports at
least two thousand birds. During the winter months, winter seaduck
concentrations around Montauk Point are the largest in the state. Addi-
tionally, the notable populations of gannet and alcid bird species qual-
ify Montauk Point shoals as a BCA under the "pelagic seabird site"
criteria.
The surrounding waters of Montauk Point are home to the Common Tern
(Sterna hirundo), a species listed as threatened in New York, as well as
the Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii), a federally endangered species.
Under the "species at risk site," this area qualifies as a BCA.
The Montauk Point shoals area is threatened by several anthropogenic
activities. Nonpoint source pollution, contaminants, waste disposal, and
dredging all have the potential to threaten the area and the birds that
call it home. Designating this area as the Montauk Point Shoals Bird
Conservation Area will help ensure that this critical habitat is
protected.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.4105
2019-20: A.4581
2017-18: A.7973-A
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5550
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 16, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
designating the Montauk Point shoals area as an important bird area
and making such area part of the New York state bird conservation area
program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 11-2001 of the environmental conservation law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
3 7. a. The Montauk Point shoals area of the county of Suffolk, having
4 met the criteria of subdivision three of this section, is hereby
5 declared to be an important bird area and the commissioner shall desig-
6 nate such area as part of the New York state bird conservation area
7 program.
8 b. For the purposes of this title, "Montauk Point shoals area" means
9 those marine and coastal areas off the shore of Montauk Point, in the
10 county of Suffolk, extending to the coastal waters within a sixty foot
11 bathymetric contour that encompasses the area beginning just west of
12 Shagwong Point on the northern shore of Montauk Point, continuing east
13 around Montauk Point, and terminating just east of Ditch Plains on the
14 Atlantic Ocean side of Montauk Point. Such area consisting of waters
15 that are sixty or less feet in depth, and within between three and one-
16 half to four miles from the shoreline. Provided, that the commissioner
17 shall be authorized to change the boundaries of such area, by rule, as
18 he or she shall deem necessary.
19 c. That portion of the New York state bird conservation area program
20 designated pursuant to this subdivision shall be known as the "Montauk
21 Point shoals bird conservation area".
22 d. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impose new fishing
23 restrictions.
24 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
25 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06749-01-3
