§ 11-0306. The Hudson River estuary management program.

1. There is established a Hudson River estuarine district which shall
include the tidal waters of the Hudson River, including the tidal waters
of its tributaries and wetlands from the federal lock and dam at Troy to
the Verrazzano-Narrows.

2. The department shall establish a Hudson River estuary management
program for the Hudson River estuarine district and associated
shorelands, with consideration to the remainder of the Hudson River, New
York bight, and the waters around Long Island only as they impact the
Hudson River estuary, in order to protect, preserve and, where possible,
restore and enhance the Hudson River estuarine district.

3. The commissioner shall appoint a Hudson River estuary management
advisory committee with whom he or she shall consult on regulatory,
policy and other matters affecting the management, protection and use of
the Hudson River estuarine district and on the formulation of a Hudson
River estuary management program. Such committee shall consist of not
less than eleven members who represent interests directly involved in
the Hudson River estuarine district and shall include representatives of
commercial fishing, sportsmen, research, conservation, and recreation.
For the purpose of immediate implementation of this section, the
committee shall consist of the current members of the Hudson River
fishery advisory committee.

4. The commissioner shall maintain in the department the position of
Hudson River estuary coordinator to manage the Hudson River estuary
management program and to assist the commissioner and the advisory
committee in its development and implementation.

5. There is established a Hudson River estuarine sanctuary for the
purpose of protecting areas of special ecological significance within
the Hudson River estuarine district and associated shorelands. The
estuarine sanctuary shall be managed as a long-term estuarine field
laboratory for research and education concerning the Hudson River
ecosystem. The estuarine sanctuary shall be composed initially of the
four sites now within the Hudson River national estuarine research
reserve (HRNERR). The department shall adopt the Hudson River national
estuarine research reserve program as a program of the department for
the purpose of operating the estuarine sanctuary. The sanctuary shall be
managed by the department in cooperation with the Hudson River estuary
management advisory committee and the commissioner shall have the
authority to designate additional sites for inclusion within the
estuarine sanctuary. The estuarine sanctuary shall be open to those
activities that are compatible with the primary purposes and management
goals of the estuarine sanctuary and its individual sites.

6. The department, in cooperation with the Hudson River estuary
management advisory committee, shall report to the chairpersons of the
assembly committee on environmental conservation and the senate
committee on environmental conservation on or before March first,
nineteen hundred eighty-eight with an estuary management strategy for
the development of a continuing fifteen-year estuary management program
for the preservation, protection, restoration and enhancement of the
Hudson River estuarine district and associated shorelands including but
not limited to its natural resources, its fish and wildlife and the
habitats within it. The estuary management strategy shall include but
not be limited to the following:

a. A discussion of how the Hudson River estuary functions and the
relative role of different species and an explanation of the role of the
Hudson River estuary as a distinct ecosystem, as a habitat for fish and
wildlife, as a commercial fishery and as a recreational resource.

b. Identification of areas of special ecological significance within
the estuarine district and associated shoreland including but not
limited to spawning, nursery, wintering, feeding and foraging habitat
for marine, anadromous, catadromous, riverine, and freshwater species
and a description of the annual dynamics of such habitats including the
geochemical, thermodynamic, biological, hydrodynamic and hydrological
states and mechanisms critical to habitat maintenance.

c. A plan for the development and operation of the Hudson River
estuarine sanctuary which shall include criteria for the identifcation
of additional areas of special ecological significance and for additions
to the Hudson River estuarine sanctuary and a program of education and
research which shall be consistent with the purposes of subdivision five
of this section.

d. A status report on the populations and relative abundance of
species that have potential or existing recreational or commercial value
or that play a key role in the functioning of the estuary and on the
diversity of species in the estuarine district, including a plan for
maintaining an accurate evaluation of populations and relative abundance
and diversity on an annual basis.

e. Evaluation of the impact of the uses of water on the Hudson River
estuarine district including present and future demands for water and
their impact on the balance of fresh and salt water in the estuary and
the role of the location of the salt front in the estuary.

f. Identification of areas of potential ecological significance which
may require rehabilitation.

g. A status report on the levels of toxicants in and their effects on
important estuarine indicator species and for species that have
potential or existing recreational or commercial value.

h. Identification of the anthropogenic activities and the conservation
and management problems that pose an existing or potential threat to the
resources and the functioning of the estuary.

i. An inventory of ownership and tenancy of underwater lands in the
estuarine district.

j. Recommendations for developing the economic potential of the Hudson
River fishery and maintaining its traditional commercial fishery.

k. Recommendations for implementation of a fifteen-year estuary
management program including a list of tasks that must be accomplished
to implement the purposes stated in this subdivision and address the
findings and implement the recommendations of the estuary management
strategy.

l. Evaluation of the existing resources and authority of the
department to implement the estuary management program including
research, information and data needs and legislative, administrative and
regulatory recommendations and the potential role of private sources and
institutions.

7. On or before January first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, the
commissioner shall present the department's Hudson River estuary
management program at a public hearing. This public hearing shall be
advertised in official newspapers in each county along the Hudson River
corridor from the city of New York to Albany and Rensselaer counties.
The program and public comments regarding it shall be included in a
report on the program to be filed with the chairperson of the assembly
environmental conservation committee and the chairperson of the senate
committee on environmental conservation on or before March first,
nineteen hundred eighty-nine.

8. On or before the first day of March of each year, commencing on
March first, nineteen hundred ninety, the commissioner shall prepare a
report detailing the progress of the estuary management program
including but not limited to consideration of those matters listed in
subdivision six of this section as well as any planned or anticipated
regulatory or policy changes which may affect the estuarine district.
The commissioner shall present the department's annual report at a
special public meeting for the purpose of public review and to hear
public comment on the annual report. The report shall be filed with the
chairpersons of the assembly committee on environmental conservation and
the senate committee on conservation and recreation.

9. The commissioner shall consult with the advisory committee
regularly and in a timely fashion in the preparation of the estuary
management strategy, the estuary management program and his or her
yearly report to the legislature regarding any planned or anticipated
regulatory or policy changes which will affect the estuarine district.
The commissioner shall include in his or her reports to the legislature
the comments, recommendations and observations of the advisory committee
and a discussion of the consulting role that was played by the advisory
committee.

10. The advisory committee shall consult with department personnel on
matters affecting the Hudson River estuary on a regular basis and report
to the commissioner on or before the first day of December of each year
on its activities and concerns.

11. Any agreement or negotiated settlement which existed between the
commissioner and the previously existing Hudson River fishery advisory
committee, whose membership will comprise the Hudson River estuary
management advisory committee for the immediate purposes of implementing
this section, shall be binding between the commissioner and the Hudson
River estuary management advisory committee.