Rep. Zeldin Announces Funding for National Estuary Program

Press Release

Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), member of the Long Island Sound Caucus and Congressional Shellfish Caucus in the House of Representatives, announced that legislation he supported in the House of Representatives to reauthorize the National Estuary Program (H.R.944/S.1523) was signed into law by President Obama on Friday, May 20, 2016.

The new law authorizes $26.5 million in funding for the National Estuary Program, which includes two nationally recognized estuaries on Long Island: the Long Island Sound and the Peconic Estuary. The funding will be used for water quality and wetlands restoration, as well as other local conservation projects to restore local beaches and protect wildlife. The bill ensures that funding will be prioritized to address urgent and challenging issues that threaten the ecological and economic well-being of coastal areas including nitrogen, harmful algae blooms, and flooding or wetland loss.

Congressman Zeldin said, "On the East End of Long Island, we must be committed to safeguarding our environment and improving our water quality. Over the years, water quality on Long Island has suffered severely from issues such as pollution, overdevelopment and the dumping of dredged materials. This new law, which I was proud to support in the House, would ensure that Long Island's estuaries receive the funding needed to improve and protect our waterways. There is much we can do to improve water quality on Long Island, and I will continue working in Congress to ensure our waterways are preserved for generations to come."

"The Peconic Estuary Program is grateful to Congressman Zeldin for his support of this important bill," said Dr. Alison Branco, the program's Director. "For nearly 30 years, the National Estuary Program has demonstrated that these locally- driven, non-regulatory programs can successfully protect Estuaries of National Significance, like the Peconic Estuary and Long Island Sound. We work with the community to craft and implement action plans to solve environmental problems at the watershed level to preserve the healthy, productive ecosystem that supports our coastal economy. With this renewed mandate from Congress, the Peconic Estuary Program looks forward to updating its Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and tackling the challenges facing our estuaries today and into the future."

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