§ 964-b. Duties of the council. The council shall have the following
duties:

1. To meet not less than once every two months until the adoption of
the plan and to encourage attendance at such meeting of representatives
of local governments and interested parties affected by the
deliberations of the council;

2. To send copies of the minutes of each meeting to each town and
village within the reserve, the county executive of the county of
Nassau, the county executive of the county of Suffolk, the members of
the Assembly and Senate representing areas within the reserve, and any
other interested party upon request;

3. To hold public hearings pursuant to section nine hundred sixty-six
of this article;

4. To designate land and water bodies to be included in the reserve as
defined in subdivision four of section nine hundred sixty-two of this
article and to adopt and publish a map and written description
delineating the boundary of the reserve;

5. To make appointments to the advisory committees authorized pursuant
to section nine hundred sixty-five of this article, and to create other
advisory committees as necessary;

6. To review and evaluate existing studies, modeling, methodologies,
data and recommendations for their application to the plan;

7. To adopt a comprehensive management plan for the Long Island South
Shore Estuary Reserve which the state and local governments may
implement. Estuary segmentation or partitioning of the estuary into
spatial units may be necessary at times for summarizing data for
geographic areas, for the development of certain scientific models, or
for interim management measures. The council shall prioritize problems
and opportunities within the estuary based upon use impairments,
resource management needs and areas experiencing intense recreational
use;

8. To identify funding mechanisms for the preparation and
implementation of the plan;

9. To identify specific tasks or studies and the amount of funding
necessary to carry out the provisions of this article and report such
findings to the governor and the legislature;

10. To prepare interim reports and recommendations;

11. To prepare or cause to be prepared educational materials designed
to inform the public about the value of the Estuary, its appropriate
uses and methods to protect it;

12. To consider designation of the South Shore Estuary into the
Federal National Estuary program pursuant to section three hundred
twenty of the Federal Clean Water Act. Development of a nomination
application for federal designation of the South Shore Estuary may be
concurrent with the development of the comprehensive management plan;

13. To encourage, and where feasible, facilitate implementation of the
recommendations of the plan;

14. To encourage individuals, corporations, associations, and public
entities to protect and preserve the unique resources of the reserve;
and

15. To biannually review the plan and the effectiveness of its
implementation, and where necessary, revise the plan and submit such
revision to each town and village within the reserve, the governor, the
legislature and any other interested party upon request.