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Land fund gets boost
By Paul Ertelt
Times Herald-Record
January 1o, 2005

Albany - A state fund to buy park land, curb sprawl, encourage recycling and protect water quality would double in amount in two years under a plan unveiled yesterday by two influential lawmakers.

Gov. George Pataki announced yesterday that he wants to increase the state's Environmental Protection Fund from $150 million to $180 million, and the chairmen of the environmental committees in the Assembly and Senate said that's a good step toward their goal of a $300 million fund by fiscal year 2008-09. The money would come from the state's real-estate transfer tax, which has been bolstered by the recent housing boom.

"That fund is flush, so we're not talking about taking money for other programs," said Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, D-Great Neck, one of the sponsors of the bill.

The plan was endorsed by a number of environmental groups and by the New York Farm Bureau. Jeff Williams, the Farm Bureau's legislative director, said the fund pays for programs that are critical to protecting the economic viability of farms across the state. The farmland protection program allows farms to sell conservation easements on their property, helping to stave off development pressures and keep land in production, he said.

Each year, New York farmers seek more than $70 million for conservation easements, but now the fund only provides $16 million a year, he said.

The fund was created in 1993 and has grown from a $25 million program in 1994 to $150 million this year. Pataki said his budget proposal, to be released next Tuesday, will include an additional $30 million to support "vital projects" to protect open space, revitalize waterfronts and reduce pollution.

Sen. Carl Marcellino, R-Syossett, co-sponsor of the bill, said the governor's proposal is a good starting point. "We think it should be a little higher, but so be it," he said.