Governor Hochul: “Leadership is required now. People will step up and say, “no, it doesn't have to be that way.” Just like we were able to clean up Lake Erie… We can make changes if we're intentional and resolve to make sure that this earth is a better place, a cleaner place, a healthier place when we leave it. And that's what this is all about.”
Hochul: “This is a great day for the people of this county and the people of this state. And we also have to make sure we're continuing to focus on vulnerable populations, people who can't speak for themselves - it's our responsibility - and make sure that we're there for them. It's an investment in our environment. It's an investment in justice. And it's an investment in our future for all of our children.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced $479 million in grants for critical water infrastructure projects, including the first funding awarded through the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022, which was passed by voters after Governor Hochul pushed to increase the total amount by $1 billion immediately upon taking office. New York State is empowering municipalities by providing the financial resources necessary to undertake water quality projects crucial to safeguarding public health, protecting the environment, bolstering communities’ climate readiness, and promoting economic development. The funding announced today is projected to save local ratepayers an estimated $1.3 billion and create 24,000 jobs across the state. The grants are awarded by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation, in coordination with the Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation, and are part of the State's nation-leading commitment to modernize aging water and sewer systems.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Well, we're here to talk about water. Let's talk about water. I think this is one of those resources that we take for granted. Correct? Just like air. You don't think about it, it’s always there. Water is always there and it's always clean until it's not. And that's what we're fighting against.
We are going to be announcing extraordinary resources because we know how essential that water is to our lives. It makes up 60 percent of our own bodies. It keeps us alive. And if we don't protect our water, our water systems, then we're putting our communities at risk. So, today I'm here to announce a transformative investment in clean water right here on Long Island and across the State of New York.
And I want to acknowledge some extraordinary partners on this journey. You have been blessed for many years to have had one of the finest County Executives our state has ever seen in Steve Bellone. I want to thank him for his friendship to me personally, your tenacity in fighting for these dollars to come to Suffolk County and for all the work that you've done. So, I want to thank you for your leadership.
Charles Lefkowitz, we're in your house. The Chair of the Suffolk County Water Authority. We've been here before with other great announcements but thank you. The responsibility that you have is extraordinary, and we don't take that for granted, so thank you.
Adrienne Esposito, we've worked together since my Lieutenant Governor days, and I spent a lot of time out here, and you talk to me nonstop about how you are so passionate about the environment here, and we are blessed to have you as a champion advocate. No, she's one of a kind.
Robert Rodriguez, our Secretary of State, must be on the road, he's coming, right? Maureen Coleman here, President and CEO of the Environmental Facilities Corporation. Maureen, thank you for all you do. Our Commissioner of Health has come, we're talking about health here, keeping people healthy with clean water. I want to thank James McDonald for being here as well.
Mark Schroeder, our Commissioner of DMV. I notice there's a facility not too far from here, Mark. I'm sure you're checking in on it while you're here. I used to run DMVs. I ran seven of them as a county clerk. So, always important to make sure that's right.
Kevin Law has joined us, our Chair of the Empire State Department. Also, incoming County Executive Ed Romaine. I want to thank him for his service as Chair of Brookhaven, but also ascending to this position. I look forward to working closely with you Ed, I'm looking forward to a great partnership. My partners in local government, but also my partners in state government, who I understand were recognized. But I thank all of you for standing in support of this, which is the result of an amazing, record-setting amount of money we secured in the Bond Act, but I'll get to that in a couple minutes.
But I've been to Long Island literally hundreds of times. I keep track. I know the miles. I know the potholes that used to exist. Okay? The former potholes because whenever we come out here, we're talking about the Islanders. We're talking about property taxes. I have nothing to do with your property taxes – because I did, I was in local government a long time.
But also, we talk about infrastructure. And I was dead set when I came out here and was appalled by the potholes on our major roads out here, and if you go along the LIE in the southern state now, hopefully your teeth are intact, you don't worry about losing any fillings anymore, your tires are good, you're going to be okay.
So, I believe in this. I mean, this is what comes from being a local official for 14 years of my life. It was some of the most rewarding work I ever did because you could very quickly change people's lives by making quick decisions and not have to go through all of everybody in Congress or an entire legislature, no offense to my friends. You could just get things done and solve problems. And so, I still have that mentality of how we can break down barriers and get things done.
So, I get excited about filling potholes. I get excited about things like sewer and water quality. And it's just like I said, to mention the air – we take it for granted. But for people who want to live here and raise their families here and have businesses here, we have to guarantee some basic foundational precepts here. One is clean air. One is clean water. And if you act as if they're always going to be like that, you only need to step back into history not long ago from a place that Mark Schroeder and I come from, Western New York.
And I am seared at the knowledge, and he knows exactly when I describe this, what I'm talking about, we thought in western New York, near the steel plant where I grew up, that the sky was supposed to be orange. You drove over the Father Baker Bridge in a cloud of smoke – coming out of the steel plant, the smokestacks.
You would not dream of going in Lake Erie, except my parents didn't know any better. And we swam in Lake Erie as children even though in the distance you could see this molten lava substance being discharged into it every single day. It's amazing I'm still alive when I think about that. Really, it truly is. But people didn't know any better. You know, there are 20,000 jobs. No one questioned it, I mean, this is progress. Until we destroyed one of the Great Lakes, one of the great freshwater bodies on this earth, Lake Erie. The air was contaminated, you couldn't breathe it, people got really sick, people got really sick.
So, coming out of that background, knowing that by itself, water and air do not take care of themselves, especially when there is an assault by mankind – sorry men, but it was mankind that ran all those businesses, you can make up for it now – and even in our more recent times, Flint, Michigan, I mean, that image is what keeps a lot of local elected officials up at night, knowing to make sure that can never, ever happen.
And when you think about Long Island, three quarters of the homes here aren't sewered. Wastewater seeps into the ground. And I've talked to our County Executive and Adrian about this for many, many years. And even now, too many communities struggle with harmful contaminants. PFAs and 1,4-Dioxane in the drinking water.
And also, think about when our kids are drinking, what comes out of the tap. But the marine life around here, the shellfish, the whole ecosystem, this is Long Is— it is an island everybody, we know this. We're surrounded by water. But living in that water is part of our identity, our heritage here. People earn their livelihoods off the water and now we have offshore wind bringing new light and energy to this whole ecosystem.
So we can talk about the impacts of climate change as well. My gosh, we're all still, he didn't show up, he got off the road, our Secretary of State, Robert Rodriguez – he travels as much as I did as Lieutenant Governor.
The effects of climate change, my friends, I do not need to say one word other than Sandy to all of you, and we know what happens. And the extreme weather, which is no longer extreme: it is so normalized now that I come to expect that I wake up every day like, what happened overnight?
We literally had an earthquake two nights ago. You know, we had the worst air quality in the world in New York City and Syracuse this summer. We had the hottest summer, the coldest extremes, we had the worst blizzards all in a 12-month period. So I literally wake up when they call me and say, “Are the locusts here yet? Have they arrived?” I'm waiting for the locusts because that's got to be next. So we're dealing with so much. We're dealing with so much.
But, leadership is required now. People will step up and say, “no, it doesn't have to be that way.” Just like we were able to clean up Lake Erie and it is so beautiful right now. I literally was swimming in it without any fear just a few months ago in the summertime. The air is magnificent. We can make changes if we're intentional and resolve to make sure that this earth is a better place, a cleaner place, a healthier place when we leave it. And that's what this is all about.
We're going to keep building up our resiliency, we're going to keep focusing on our priorities and talk about what we can do here today, and this is going be an extraordinary opportunity.
When I first became Governor, August of 2021, I had to speak during Climate Week, and Julie was there, right, Julie? What am I going to announce for climate week? I knew that we had a Bond Act, it was about $3 billion. I said, “no, no. Where I come from, we go big or we go home.” I raised it to $4.2 billion because I knew the need was so great to be able to invest in clean air, clean water and green jobs. So we got that over the finish line. So now, as a result, there are $4.2 billion available to do the projects that people only dreamed about if we didn't have that Bond Act. And thank you again to our legislators. If we didn't have that Bond Act, it would take decades for us to have the resources to make these investments. But you know what? We don't have decades because climate change is with us right now, and I have said this many times. We are the first generation to truly feel the effects of climate change. And we are the last one to be able to do anything about it.
That's what we're announcing here today, is making these investments and making sure that we do what's smart. So we're announcing a $479 million investment in clean water, clean water infrastructure here today. That's for municipal wastewater and sewer and drinking systems – all those things people in this room get excited about. 156 critical projects across the state and $30 million to support septic system replacements.
Suffolk County, what are you going to get out of this? Why are we here? You're one of the top winners here. Now maybe don't let this get out, but $20 million from that $30 million septic program, two thirds of the total amount is going to this county alone. So keep that one quiet.
And that will help over 2,000 homeowners with failing septic systems and businesses and cesspools that impair the water quality and many more thousands of neighbors will benefit from it. $17 million is going to Suffolk County to protect the drinking water from emerging contaminants so you can work on that as well. There you go, thank you. And that's already on top of a half a billion dollars we've already made as investments in the last couple years for projects like these.
And so, we're going to keep expanding our sewers, making sure they're safe and healthy, make sure we have safe drinking water. And as I said, this is the first money going out the door – this pot of money, the first money going out as a result of the environmental community advocates and so many individuals and our legislators stepping up to do what's right.
So, I feel good. I feel good. We're making progress. This is a great day for the people of this county and the people of this state. And we also have to make sure we're continuing to focus on vulnerable populations, people who can't speak for themselves - it's our responsibility – and make sure that we're there for them.
It's an investment in our environment. It's an investment in justice. And it's an investment in our future for all of our children. So, I also like one more element of this is that we're calculating that it'll create 24,000 jobs. 24,000 jobs. The labor unions, the labor community, Matty, Matty, Matty Aracich is here too and our friends from labor on here on Long Island. It'll create 24,000 jobs statewide from engineers to pipe fitters.
And last but not least, to our rate payers. This will save $1.3 billion dollars each year. Infrastructure investments will save the rate payers $33 million dollars in savings right here in Suffolk County by itself. That's pretty darn good.
Too bad you're heading out the door. Ed's going to be able to benefit from that, right? We'll do something good for you, too, Ed, but if there's any magic on this planet, it's really, it's in our water, if there's any magic. And that was said by a famous anthropologist, Loren Eiseley. But if we're not proactive, if we're not intentional, if we're not forward thinking, if we're not displaying the boldness that’s required in this moment, then we are at risk of losing that magic.
And we have a moral responsibility here. And I thank everyone in this room for making sure that we step up and answer the call to do what's right. I think that future generations will not look back and say, “What were you thinking?” Like I look back to the generation that I grew up in saying, “How could you let this happen?”
They'll look back at us with gratitude. And I think that's what we're talking about here today. So I want to thank everybody. I want to bring up our County Executive. Thank you for being part of this great announcement, everybody.