Skip to main content
search

Keep the Lake a Lake NOT a WetlandsChautauqua Lake Wetlands Regulation Risk

Update February 2025

As of January 1, 2025, revisions to the Wetlands Act are now in effect, and these changes are expected to have a significant impact on Chautauqua Lake. Unfortunately, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has yet to finalize procedures or general permits for lake management under the new regulations. As a result the DEC is currently ill-prepared to implement the updated rules consistently or within the necessary time frames for the 2025 treatment season.

The full impact of these changes is not yet clear, and we are proceeding with caution to avoid any unintended consequences or delays. To minimize potential setbacks, we are prioritizing the submission of permitting requests early in the process. Additionally, we have engaged legal counsel to encourage DEC cooperation and to respond quickly, if needed, to protect the interests of Chautauqua Lake stakeholders. We will keep you updated as we navigate through this new set of challenges that appear to add complexity, cost, and additional restrictions while adding no perceivable value.

Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, recently reintroduced his bill S.3656 in the NYS Senate and Assemblyman Andrew Molitor, R-Westfield has reintroduced the companion bill A.4692 in the NYS Assembly.  The bill proposes to exempt inland lakes from the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act, and although it was introduced too late in the 2024 state legislative session to gain much traction, but we hope that it will succeed in 2025. You can go to the NYS Senate web page to support the bill, and to the CLP website to write to the Environmental Committees.  The bill must pass through these committees prior to being taken up for voting.

CLP “Keep the Lake a Lake” Campaign Status Report 

Update October 13, 2024

DEC Activity

The public comment period closed on Sept 19, 2024 for public input in the NYS DEC’s rule-making process.

The DEC has initiated a process to gather inputs from 20 stakeholder groups to develop a “general permit” for Chautauqua Lake.  An additional public comment period for this is expected prior to year-end. Chautauqua Lake Partnership GP Invitation

  • The DEC again reiterated their intent in writing “…starting January 1, 2025, additional areas of Chautauqua Lake will be regulated under the Freshwater Wetlands Act (Article 24 of NY Environmental Conservation Law).”
  • Their stated goal is to balance the interests of various lake users with the environmental stewardship goals mandated by the Freshwater Wetlands Act.
  • Although we do not agree with wetlands regulation of lake waters, the CLP will participate in this process while awaiting the finalization of Part 664 rule-making and activation of the regulation January 1.
  • All municipalities included in this invitation should plan to be represented to ensure the general permit scope and provisions ensure actions necessary to maintain our lake and for homeowners to maintain their properties are not curtailed by the onerous and expensive wetlands permitting process.
  •  Examples of whole-lake /municipal / HOA maintenance activities
    • Aquatic herbicide applications to address invasive species or to control excess native or invasive weeds in commercial or municipal areas
    • Aquatic weed harvesting to control native species (and invasive)
    • Dredging to remove sediments that impede navigation or that contain excess nutrients or pollutants
    • Runoff and drainage controls to reduce nutrient inputs
    • Nutrient inactivation treatments (pending NYS rules)
  • Examples of Homeowner activities
    • Maintenance of homes and existing accessory covered structures including replacement in-kind in the event of fire, flood, or other loss event.
    • Relocation or improvement of existing non-covered home accessory structures such as docks, lifts, permeable decks, fire pits, outdoor kitchens, planters, mooring buoys, rafts, and so forth.
    • Routine lawn and garden maintenance including cutting of vegetation and use of over-the-counter pesticides.
    • Shoreline maintenance activities such as removal of floating weeds, weeds collected from the shoreline,  cutting and removal of weeds near docks, lifts, or swimming areas, and maintenance of shoreline barriers above the waterline.
  • Newly revised FEMA flood maps have been published for Chautauqua County which may have potential implications for further wetlands designations by the DEC.
State Legislation

Letter writing and petition focus will continue to target the NYS Senate and Assembly Environmental Committees to support bills to exclude freshwater lakes from wetlands regulation.

  • Support Letter for Bill S9799 / A10653 to exempt lake waters from wetlands regulation
  • Change.Org Petition  “Keep the Lake a Lake”
      • Sept count: 2,551 Signatures  
  • New legislative session will begin 1/8/2025

 

Legal Activity

TBD – No formal action can be initiated until after the implementation, scheduled for January 1, 2025.

In the meantime we will continue to engage with the DEC as requested for the General Permit process and in parallel  urge the Governor to delay or stop implementation for lakes.

Close Menu