Tell Governor Hochul to sign three environmental protection bills 

1,756

Supporters spoke up in this action

Delivery to Governor Hochul

Action ended on November 28, 2023

What Happens Next

Thank you to all who took action! We’re grateful for your support.

What Was At Stake

Thanks to your advocacy, and the advocacy of thousands of others across the state, critical environmental and public health bills passed through the New York’s Legislature this past session! Now we need your help to get them across the finish line and signed into law. The Community Gardens Protection Act, Birds and Bees Protection Act, and Class C-Streams Protection Act bring together a cross-cutting force of much-needed protections for our pollinators, our greenspaces, and recreational waterways and streams. Urge GovernorHochul to sign these crucial environmental protections into law today!

With recent decisions from the Supreme Court and a divided Congress undercutting, and even gutting environmental and public health protections, states like New York are on the hook to step up. It is of utmost importance for states to support robust laws that keep people and the planet at the forefront while combatting detrimental actions that pollute our air and water.

Urge Governor Hochul to sign the following environmental and public health bills:

  • Community Gardens Protection Act (S629A/A4139): This bill would support community gardens by requiring the New York State Community Gardens Task Force to assess whether community gardens on publicly owned land across the state are eligible for designation as Critical Environmental Areas (CEAs) and to recommend CEA designation for eligible gardens. CEA designation would trigger additional procedural steps for proposed projects that may threaten designated gardens, including giving community members an opportunity to weigh in.
  • Birds and Bees Protection Act (S1856A/A7640): This bill eliminates unnecessary and harmful sources of neonicotinoid pesticide pollution. Neonicotinoids (“neonics”) are known to kill populations of pollinators, like bees, butterflies, and birds, that are key to our ecosystems and food supplies. These chemicals are also known neurotoxins and have been found to cause muscle tremors, altered insulin regulation, and harm to children’s hearts and brains.
  • Class C-Streams Protection Act (S4162/A6652): This bill will add over 40,000 miles of streams classified as Class-C Streams to the list of protected waterways/streams. Class-C Streams are regularly used for recreational activities such as fishing, kayaking, and boating and help supply drinking water for millions of New Yorkers. The bill aims to give these streams basic protections against polluting activities. These protections will also aid in saving wildlife habitat and make watersheds more resilient to flooding.

These bills will provide protections for our pollinators, our greenspaces, and our recreational waterways and streams. The governor has until the end of the year to sign these bills into law. Send a letter to Governor Hochul today!

Empire State building and Manhattan skyline, New York City, USA (Matteo Colombo / Getty Images)
Empire State Building and Manhattan skyline, New York City. (Matteo Colombo / Getty Images)

Your Actions Matter

Your messages make a difference, even if we have leaders who don't want to listen. Here's why.

You level the playing field.

Elected officials pay attention when they see that we are paying attention. Read more.

They may be hearing from industry lobbyists left and right, but hearing the stories of their constituents — that’s your power.

Our legislators serve at the pleasure of the people who gave them their job — you.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. When you contact your elected official, you’re putting a face and a name on an issue.

Whether or not you voted for them, they work for you, for the duration of their term.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. (Find your local, state, and federal elected officials.)

Your action is with us in court.

If a federal agency finalizes a harmful action, the record of public comments provides a basis for bringing them into court. Read more.

Throughout each of the public comment periods we alert you to, Earthjustice’s attorneys are researching and writing in-depth, technical comments to submit — detailing how the regulation could and should be stronger to protect the environment, our communities, and our planet.

We need you to join us — your specific experiences, knowledge, and voice are crucial to add to the Administrative Record through the comment periods.

Lawsuits we file that challenge weak or harmful federal regulations rely on what was submitted during the comment period. The court can only look at documents that are in the Administrative Record — including the public comments — to decide if the agency did something improper.

Your actions aid our litigation. Taking action and submitting comments during a comment period is substantively important.

It’s the law.

Federal agencies must pause what they’re doing and ask for — and consider — your comment. Read more.

Many of us may have never heard of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but laws like these require our government to ask the public to weigh in before agencies adopt or change regulations.

Regulations essentially describe how federal agencies will carry out laws — including decisions that could undermine science, or weaken safeguards on public health.

Public comments are collected at various points throughout the federal government’s rulemaking process, including when a regulation is proposed and finalized. (Learn about the rulemaking process.) These comments become part of the official, legal public record — the “Administrative Record.”

When the public responds with a huge outpouring of support for environmental protections, these individual messages collectively undercut politicians' attempts to claim otherwise.

What this means is each of us can take a role in shaping the rules our government creates — and ensuring those rules are fair and effective.