Amd 23-2711 & 23-2715, En Con L; amd 81, Pub Lds L
Relates to permits and financial security for reclamation for salt mining beneath a lake; requires such permits to be subject to environmental quality review procedures; requires financial security to cover any damages directly or indirectly resulting from salt mining activities beneath a lake, including, but not limited to, those resulting from collapse or water contamination.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8250A
SPONSOR: Kelles TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law and the public lands
law, in relation to permits and financial security for reclamation for
salt mining beneath a lake
PURPOSE:
Relates to permits and financial security for reclamation for salt
mining beneath a lake
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Sec. 1- amends subdivisions 11 and 12 of section 23-2711 of the environ-
mental conservation law and adds new subdivisions 11-a and 14. to add
requirements to the permit renewal process for projects that allow salt
mining beneath a lake.
Sec. 2 - amends subdivision 6 of section 23-2715 of the environmental
conservation law regarding the required financial security for reclama-
tion for projects that include salt mining beneath a lake.
Sec. 3 - adds a new subdivision 3 to section 81 of the public lands law
that requires the duration of such permit, consent or lease from New
York State with respect to salt mining beneath a lake be tied to the
duration of the permit issued by the department of environmental conser-
vation pursuant to title 27 of article 23 of the environmental conserva-
tion law.
Sec. 4 - adds a severability clause.
Sec. 5 - adds the effective date.
NEW PROVISIONS ADDED BY THE A-PRINT:
*adds to section 1 language clarifying that the updated reclamation plan
required as a condition of permit renewal shall be of surface and
subsurface affected land;
*adds a requirement for a 30-year monitoring plan as a condition of
permit renewal.
JUSTIFICATION:
In August of 2023, Cargill, Inc. began the process of putting up for
sale the Cayuga Salt Mine (CSM) it has operated for more than five (5)
decades beneath Cayuga Lake in Lansing, NY in Tompkins County, where it
operates on several thousand acres of land it leases from New York
State. While the Mine Safety and Health Administration has been able to
inspect the CSM operation for worker safety, the state Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) has not regularly inspected the mine
for issues related to protecting the Cayuga Lake ecosystem. Now, after
decades of mining by Cargill, Cayuga Lake is saltier than nearly all the
other Finger Lakes. Further, due to continued mining and geologic condi-
tions, without intervention from the DEC to require an environmental
review, the lake is at risk of becoming permanently more saline.
NYS public lands law authorizes the state Office of General Services
(OGS) to grant the use of state-owned lands for mining purposes, includ-
ing those lands found beneath lakes. Since the mid 1970s, OGS has
provided consent orders to the CSM owner, Cargill, to allow for salt
mining under Cayuga Lake. The most recent consent order in 2019 provided
that Cargill would be able to provide notice to OGS and then extend the
consent order for ten years. This was done without the performance of an
environmental impact statement (EIS) or environmental quality review
(SEAR) under the New York State Department of Environmental Conserva-
tion.
DEC is also responsible for providing additional permitting through the
Mined Land Reclamation Law, that includes reclamation and closure
requirements of mined lands. Past civil lawsuits challenging the contin-
uance of mining permits by the DEC have been dismissed. The assertions
made in these lawsuits centered on the lack of DEC oversight or the
requirement of an EIS on the mine in light of significant environmental
issues with the Retsof salt mine in Livingston County, which, in 1994,
collapsed and flooded, causing two sinkholes, significant subsidence
damage, wells going dry, and the salinization of a freshwater aquifer.
The geological similarities of these two mines has the communities
surrounding Cayuga lake and its watershed justifiably concerned about
the significant environmental and ecological risks of mine collapse.
Cayuga Lake and its watershed is the largest in the region spanning
seven (7) counties, covering 860 square miles with more than 140 streams
that flow into the lake. Cayuga Lake itself is surrounded by a multitude
of communities and supports a tourist economy seeking the natural beauty
of the lake and the opportunity to visit the many vineyards found along
the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail. An accident within the salt mine below Cayu-
ga Lake could have an immediate and severe impact, reducing the quality
of the drinking water of about 100,000 residents and endangering the
region's $3 billion, 60,000-employee food, wine and recreational tourism
economy.
Despite an EIS being fully warranted by the scope of the environmental
risk posed by salt mining under a lake, the DEC, has, for decades, not
required the owners of Cayuga Salt Mine to cooperate with an EIS proc-
ess, despite repeated requests to do so.This legislation would bolster
existing protections by explicitly requiring an environmental impact
statement for mining under a lake where there has not been one for the
preceding 20 years, as well as an updated reclamation plan along with
appropriate financial security to ensure the communities relying on
Cayuga Lake and its watershed are protected from potential harm.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
on the 30th day, provided that sec. 2 of the bill shall take effect on
the 90th day. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
on or before such effective date.
