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Highlights
New York State’s Legislative Session Wraps Up—Budget and Legislative Highlights
The 2026-2027 NYS Budget was finalized last month and had some good news for the environment and public health which we fought hard for:
$525 million for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act (CWIA), up $25 million from last year. This funding will allow us to upgrade sewage treatment plants, filter toxic contaminants out of drinking water, replace lead drinking water pipes, upgrade failing septic systems, and more.
$425 million for the Environmental Protection Fund, which includes all-time highs of $26 million for our Ocean and Great Lakes and $3 million for the South Shore Estuary Reserve.
$1 billion Sustainable Futures Program, which plays a critical role in expanding renewable energy, saving New Yorkers money on energy bills, and cutting pollution.
The Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power (ASAP) Act, which will give a major boost to rooftop solar projects and community solar projects (allows renters, businesses, and multifamily buildings to access the benefits of solar power without installing panels on their property).
There were also some unfortunate environmental setbacks in this year’s budget, including rollbacks and delayed implementation timelines in the state’s climate law and a weakening of our State Environmental Quality Review Act.
The state legislative session recently ended with some critical CCE priority legislation getting passed by both the Senate and Assembly (these bills will still need to be signed by the Governor to become law—look for opportunities to weigh in soon):
Protecting our drinking water from PFAS “forever chemicals” (and Trump rollbacks): Requires water suppliers to strictly limit 5 PFAS chemicals often found in drinking water. While the EPA had adopted regulations in 2024 to limit these chemicals in drinking water nationwide, the Trump EPA recently announced rules to delay and roll them back.
Data Center Moratorium: The legislature enacted a one-year pause on new data centers, providing time for agencies to assess potential impacts (e.g. large water use and energy use, adverse impacts to ratepayers, pollution, and more) and determine needed environmental, energy, and economic protections.
Some CCE priority bills unfortunately fell short this legislative session. Legislation to ban PFAS chemicals in common household products (cookware, dental floss, textiles, rugs, cleaning products, and more) and legislation to require manufacturers to reduce product packaging and increase recycling did not pass before session ended. We will continue to fight for these critical policies next session!
Recognition for our Fight to Save Horseshoe Crabs!
Our Executive Director, Adrienne Esposito, was honored by the New York State Marine Education Association at their annual conference in May. She was given an award for her work to save the horseshoe crab and for pushing New York State to enact protections for this critical yet vulnerable species. Thank you to NYSMEA for the award and for being a great educational partner!
Happenings
NYS Environmental Bond Act Can Help Long Island Sound
In May, we released our new report, “NYS Environmental Bond Act Can Help Long Island Sound”. The report was crafted to provide a meaningful list of priority projects that are eligible for Bond Act funding and would further the advancement of LI Sound’s water quality restoration. To date, Long Island has only received $70 million for water projects and coastal protection measures. The state has already allocated $2 billion. We joined our environmental partners and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine for a press conference to release the report and highlight some critical projects to protect Long Island Sound.
Long Island Sound High School Summit
We joined our partners at Atlantic Marine Conservation Society and Friends of the Bay for our 2026 LIS High School Summit. This spring we visited these high schools to educate students on the importance of protecting the Long Island Sound and renewable energy. In May, the six high schools spent a day at The WaterFront Center in Oyster Bay exploring the Long Island Sound! Students participated in beach seining and got hands-on experience interacting with marine life such as horseshoe crabs, whelks, oysters, and hermit crabs. They also took a boat trip where they conducted water quality testing and collected measurements of oysters they found during dredging exercises. It was a fun and educational experience that helped deepen their understanding of the Sound and the diverse marine life that call it their home.
*Photo credit: Lori Devlin, Village of Patchogue
Planting a Pollinator Garden in Patchogue
We partnered with the Village of Patchogue to design a new pollinator garden, which will help protect our pollinators while reducing polluted stormwater runoff and beautifying the area. A huge thank you to the dozens of volunteers who came out to help us plant the garden and BEE part of the solution! The grant for this garden was awarded by the Office of the NYS Attorney General and New York Community Trust through a settlement obtained by Attorney General Letitia James with Monsanto and Bayer CropScience regarding deceptive marketing of Roundup. We will be doing similar projects in Brookhaven and Port Jefferson, so stay tuned for more info. And check out our video of the Patchogue planting here.