Suffolk County Legislature approves Water Quality Restoration Act, pending November referendum
By Peter Sloniewsky
Suffolk County Legislature voted 15-2 Tuesday, June 25, to approve I.R. 1461 which will extend and revise the Suffolk County Drinking Water Protection Program. County Executive Ed Romaine (R) is expected to sign the measure into law July 8 for the mandatory referendum to be added to the November ballot.
This program, if passed via referendum, will establish the new Water Quality Restoration Fund supported by an additional sales and use tax of 1/8%. It is estimated the increase in sales tax collections will fund about $4 billion over 50 years to implement the county’s Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan.
In June and July 2023, a 10-7 vote along party lines doomed the measure from reaching that November’s ballot.
The 1.5 million people of Suffolk County currently rely on more than 380,000 cesspools and wastewater systems, including over 209,000 systems located in environmentally sensitive areas. This decentralized infrastructure has been a significant cause of nitrogen pollution across the county. In both surface-level and underground bodies of water, this nitrogen pollution causes harmful algae blooms, which can release toxins into fish, destroy ecosystems by consuming excessive oxygen in the water and cause a variety of conditions in exposed humans.
Passage of the referendum has economic as well as health benefits. Creating and maintaining new wastewater infrastructure will create a number of well-paying jobs for the county government. Additionally, the risks posed to businesses reliant on Suffolk County water cannot be understated, as well as the threats to beaches across Long Island.
The Water Quality Restoration Fund can be used for water quality improvement, such as enhancing and maintaining existing sewerage facilities, consolidating sewer districts and replacing and installing wastewater treatment systems in areas where sewers cannot be installed.
The language of the referendum itself is straightforward: “A yes vote ensures county funding to 2060 for clean water projects, improvements in drinking water, bays and harbors, and a no vote continues water quality degradation.”
Romaine claimed that passage of the referendum will be vital to fund sewer constructions, especially in less developed areas of the county, and the broad swaths of land with only cesspools installed. Romaine said that he “cannot emphasize enough the importance of this referendum” to address water contaminants.
Romaine was also the primary sponsor of the bill, which was co-sponsored by Legislators James Mazzarella (R-Mastic) and Ann Welker (D-Southampton).
Legislator Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport), who voted for the bill, claimed in a statement that while the bill gives the county the authority to establish longer-term funding for wastewater improvement projects, it also allows the county to apply for “much-needed” matching grant funding from the New York State and federal governments.
The final decision will rest in the hands of Suffolk County voters on Nov. 5.
