Assemblyman Steve Hawley has announced that he will become the prime sponsor of a proposed bill to prevent the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) from increasing restrictions on landowners that burn refuse on their property.
The legislation was originally introduced in January of 2010. At the end of last year’s legislative session, the bill was being held in the Committee on Environmental Conservation for further consideration.
The DEC began their efforts to eliminate trash burning with a ruling in October of 2009 that Hawley says irrationally tightened guidelines on who is allowed to burn refuse and what sort of materials are allowed to be burned.
The proposed bill focuses on landowners in small, rural communities that rely on this safe and time trusted method of disposal, according to Hawley.
“In Western New York, there are a number of small, rural communities that don’t have the waste-management structures in place to dispose of certain waste materials,” the Assembyman said. “That is why members of my district have burned refuse on their open land for generations and why this legislation is so vital.
"The DEC has continually displayed a lack of understanding when it comes to our rural way of life, and they cannot be allowed to overstep their bounds by banning this widely accepted practice.”
I appreciate the
I appreciate the assemblyman's efforts on this as it directly effects me.
I do think, however, that New York has many more pressing issues that deserve every legislators' focus and attention. If our over burdensome taxes are not alleviated by complete welfare and medicaid overhaul, most of western NY will be deserted and ready to burn - and the DEC could not stop that anyhow......