{"id":191539,"date":"2026-04-09T23:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T23:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/191539\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T23:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T23:48:09","slug":"business-council-of-n-y-wary-of-changes-to-air-quality-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/191539\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Council of N.Y. wary of changes to air quality law"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York state Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Chairman Pete Harckham has proposed amending the state\u2019s Title V air quality control law under the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA).\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Harckham\u2019s bill, if passed, would limit permit renewal periods to a maximum of five years, end indefinite extensions and suspend an application renewal if a final determination isn’t made within three years.<\/p>\n

The Business Council of New York has called Harckham\u2019s reforms to the process \u201cunrealistic.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here is the Council\u2019s opposition memo.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is it puts facilities\u2019 ability to lawfully operate at risk due to factors beyond their control,\u201d Ken Pokalsky, vice president of the Business Council of New York, told Capital Tonight.\u00a0\u201cIf DEC cannot make its way through its administrative review process on a timely level, the bill says the permit is rescinded and you can\u2019t operate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The changes are supported by environmental groups including Seneca Lake Guardian, which is concerned that the state\u2019s air quality control law is allowing industries, including the state\u2019s largest landfill,<\/a> to continue operating, even after their initial air quality permits have expired.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That landfill, Seneca Meadows, located in the Finger Lakes region, is looking to expand. While its original permit expired in 2025, the company submitted a timely renewal application to the DEC.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While a renewal application is being processed, the DEC continues to require companies to comply with all permit requirements in their operations to ensure protection of public health and the environment.<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement to Capital Tonight, the DEC stated:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation\u2019s (DEC)\u00a0air permit review processes are thorough, transparent, and most importantly, guided by the State\u2019s stringent laws and regulations.\u00a0DEC oversees the State\u2019s air permitting program and routinely prioritizes improvements to the facility permits and registration process\u00a0as part of the stationary source compliance program\u00a0to ensure it continues to serve as an effective tool to reduce air pollution. While state law allows a facility\u2019s permit to remain in effect during DEC\u2019s reviews, every facility must comply with applicable air regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundreds of small businesses in the\u00a0agriculture and tourism\u00a0sector in the Finger Lakes are demanding the closure of the landfill because of its release of methane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLaws that put massive corporations over our communities aren\u2019t good for small businesses or our economy,\u201d Yvonne Taylor, co-founder and vice president of Seneca Lake Guardian, told Capital Tonight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bill is not a part of budget negotiations. The Business Council is lobbying on other budget-related issues including the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York state Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Chairman Pete Harckham has proposed amending the state\u2019s Title V air…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[206,205,109,116,204,202,9,11,10,49,51,50,12,112,87,201,27,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-191539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-albany-capital-region","9":"tag-app-capital-tonight","10":"tag-app-local-state-politics","11":"tag-app-ny-state-of-politics","12":"tag-capital-tonight","13":"tag-capital-tonight-interviews","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-headlines","16":"tag-new-york-news","17":"tag-new-york-state","18":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","19":"tag-new-york-state-news","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-ny-state-of-politics","22":"tag-politics","23":"tag-susan-arbetter","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}