BILL NUMBER: S629

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to provid-
ing additional duties of the community gardens task force

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Provides community gardens task force added mechanism to determine
whether community gardens can have designation as Critical Environmental
Area(s) 10EAs) for greater legal protections under NYS law, if neces-
sary.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

SECTION 1 amends Section 31-J of the agriculture and markets law to
direct the task force to include a status report to all houses in state
government; consult with the members of community gardens regarding
garden characteristics; consult with DEC regarding CEA designation;
prepare written summary of findings to include name and address of the
              

garden, name of the state or local agency with jurisdiction over the
garden, and a description of the characteristics of the garden relative
to section 617.14 of title 6 of the official compilation codes, rules
and regulations of NYS.  Additionally, this amendment would allow task
force to conclude whether the garden meets the requirement for CEA
designation and any other information the task force deems appropriate.
Upon completion of the assessment, the task force shall provide written
summaries of its findings to the members of each garden and agency lead-
ership with recommendation that it meets CEA designation requirements
and to deem it as such, if necessary.

 
SECTION 2 contains the bill's effective date clause, which provides
that the act shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill would build on Senate December 2021 (Chapter 635) and convene
and prepare a report to gardens. By requiring the task community gardens
as CEAs, this continue to strengthen New York Bill S3152A, which was
signed into law in requires the community gardens task force to the
legislature on the state's community force also to facilitate designat-
ing bill would help ensure that community gardens communities for years
to come.

Community gardens provide New Yorkers with tremendous benefits, includ-
ing access to fresh fruits and vegetables, natural settings that support
physical and mental health, opportunities for social connection, and
sustainable infrastructure that mitigates the impacts of extreme weath-
er. Community gardens often offer these benefits in under-resourced
communities and communities of color where access to fresh food is
limited and exposure to pollution drives public health disparities, and
these gardens are usually established and maintained by volunteers seek-
ing to honor and revitalize their communities. The benefits of community
gardens became even more apparent during the COViD-19 pandemic,

Despite offering many benefits, community gardens have few legal
protections, and a number of gardens are currently threatened by devel-
opment projects. To help increase protections for community gardens,
this bill would facilitate the designation of community gardens as Crit-
ical Environmental Areas (CEAs) under the State Environmental Quality
Review Act. This bill would require the state community gardens task
force, created pursuant to Article 2-C of the Agriculture and Markets
Law, to assess whether community gardens located on publicly owned land
in New York meet the requirement for CEA designation and to prepare a
written summary of its assessment.  For community gardens that meet the
requirement for CEA designation, the task force would be required to
provide the summary to the agencies with jurisdiction over the gardens,
along with a recommendation that the agencies designate the gardens as
CEAs.

Facilitating the designation of community gardens as CEAs would help
increase protections for gardens because CEA designation triggers addi-
tional procedural steps for projects that may threaten a CEA. CEA desig-
nation requires that decision-makers evaluate the potential impact of a
project on a CEA, which would ensure that a community garden's unique
and important characteristics are fully considered and that gardeners
have a voice in development decisions, However, CEA designation is not
an inflexible bar to development.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2022: S8660- Referred to Agriculture.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.