New York Department of Environmental Conservation Announces More Than $16 Million in Climate Smart Communities Grant Awards

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar announced today more than $16 million in Climate Smart Communities Grant awards to municipalities across the state as part of Round XIV of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative. The grant awards announced today represent the largest ever awarded since the program was created thanks to funding from the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 (Environmental Bond Act). The funded projects will help New York advance the emission-reduction targets under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act) and support local projects to reduce pollution, decrease flood risk, improve infrastructure, and enhance climate resilience in communities.

“Municipalities that participate in the Climate Smart Communities Grant program are taking local climate action to reduce pollution and protect New Yorkers from severe weather and other climate impacts,” Interim Commissioner Mahar said. “Reducing harmful emissions while advancing climate equity in communities statewide is critical to improving health and quality of life for residents. DEC is proud of its partnerships with municipal leaders and community members to support new and bolster sustained efforts to realize a cleaner, greener, and more resilient future for New York State.”

Established in 2016, DEC’s Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Grant program supports municipalities seeking to implement climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation projects, as well as undertake certain planning actions toward becoming certified Climate Smart Communities. The Climate Smart Communities Grant program supports the Climate Act, which requires New York to reduce GHG emissions 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Since the program’s inception, DEC has awarded more than $87 million to municipalities in support of local climate mitigation and adaptation projects.

The 2024 Climate Smart Communities grant awards include the following:

Capital Region

City of Albany – $2,000,000

Albany will introduce a variety of complete streets enhancements to better accommodate the high volume of pedestrians and cyclists using Washington Park. Work will be based on recommendations from the Bicycle Master Plan and the Washington Park Area Complete Streets Study.

Columbia County – $60,000

Columbia County will complete local government operations and community GHG inventories to establish a baseline of current emissions in the county and prepare local government operations and community-wide climate action plans that will recommend policies and other actions to reduce these emissions.

Town of Lexington – $1,131,662

Lexington will construct a new highway garage outside the floodplain at the town’s salt storage site. The town’s previous highway facility was severely damaged during Tropical Storm Irene when five feet of water flooded the structure. The town’s highway staff have been operating out of an inadequate temporary building with very limited usable space ever since.

Town of Taghkanic – $136,435

Taghkanic will replace an undersized, failing culvert along Taghkanic-Churchtown Road. Due to its poor condition, structural failure of the culvert during a future storm is likely. The site was identified as a priority in the town’s road stream crossing vulnerability assessment.

Warren County – $99,253

Warren County will construct and operate a pilot municipal composting facility. This project is a recommendation of the county’s organics management plan, completed in 2023. Data collected from this pilot project will inform the feasibility of creating a permanent, centralized, regional composting facility in the county.

Central New York

Town of Geddes – $1,749,613

Geddes will install sidewalk extensions from surrounding residential neighborhoods to State Fair Boulevard and provide improved multi-modal connectivity between current and future developments along the corridor, such as the State Fairgrounds, Lakeview Amphitheater, and other commercial entities.

Town of Georgetown – $1,248,000

Georgetown will relocate its highway garage, currently located within the 100-year floodplain of Otselic Creek, and rebuild a highly efficient, new building on higher ground. The current facility has experienced several flooding events.

Town of Minetto – $54,140

Minetto will make improvements to nearly 550 linear feet of sidewalks throughout the town. The sidewalk improvements will allow improved walkability including connecting pedestrians with numerous amenities and services.

Village of Pulaski – $2,000,000

Pulaski will construct a sidewalk network that will connect nine activity centers within the community. A pedestrian bridge will connect two parks along the route. Currently there are either no sidewalks or the existing sidewalks are substandard.

Finger Lakes

City of Canandaigua – $84,000

Canandaigua will complete a climate vulnerability assessment (CVA) for the Sucker Brook Watershed to advance ongoing efforts to adapt to severe flooding experienced in the watershed. The CVA will include a detailed flood analysis, development of concept designs for upland flood resilience projects, and recommend local regulatory changes that advance resilience and floodplain management.

Town of Gates – $157,500

The Town of Gates will complete a climate vulnerability assessment and a climate adaptation plan. These plans will build local capacity to respond to climate change, identify specific challenges within the town, and work toward implementation of prioritized actions.

Town of Penfield – $60,000

Penfield will complete four Climate Smart Community Certification actions – government operations and community greenhouse gas inventories and government operations and community climate action plans – to define climate challenges, establish metrics for progress, and develop strategies to improve and expand efforts to reduce emissions in the building, transportation, energy, and waste sectors.

City of Rochester – $1,239,200

Rochester is redeveloping the Bull’s Head area, including improvements to the surrounding street network. The project will construct continuous cycle tracks (dedicated off-street bicycle facilities separated from motor traffic) on West Main, Genesee, and Brown streets. The cycle tracks will be a key part of the city’s 63-mile Bicycle Spine Network.

Long Island

Town of Brookhaven – $650,000

Brookhaven will acquire nearly 20 acres of old growth forested land and freshwater wetlands along the Forge River to protect a well field, mitigate impacts from sea level rise, and provide flood mitigation during severe storm events.

Mid-Hudson

Town of Fallsburg – $186,794 

Fallsburg will replace a culvert in the Sheldrake Stream watershed. The two-pipe structure has an offset alignment that causes water to leave the channel during high-water events. The culvert is located along a busy route connecting to state and county roads for commuters, school buses, and tourists.

City of New Rochelle – $300,000 

New Rochelle will expand and improve on a pilot food scrap recycling program. These improvements will include installing a storage shed, water lines, sanitary cleaning equipment, and concrete pads for the collection areas at the two collection sites. The project will also include public engagement sessions, creation of marketing and educational materials, and other enhancements to encourage citizens to participate in food scraps composting.

City of New Rochelle – $100,000

New Rochelle will complete a fleet inventory and fleet efficiency policy. The city currently has a piecemeal fleet inventory that does not provide an accurate assessment of all vehicles nor a clear plan to identify and replace current vehicles with zero-emissions vehicles.

City of New Rochelle – $100,000

New Rochelle will create a climate adaptation plan. This plan will build on the previously completed climate vulnerability assessment to develop action items that address relevant hazards and provide guidance on leveraging resources to implement actions.

City of New Rochelle – $80,000

New Rochelle will develop an organics management plan, which will be one component of the City’s development of a solid waste management plan (SWMP). The goal of the SWMP is to evaluate the city’s refuse and recycling collection process, routes, and composition, as well as the pilot food scraps recycling program and recommend changes that will increase organics diversion.

Village of Sleepy Hollow – $50,000

Sleepy Hollow will complete a climate vulnerability assessment to better define the most significant climate risks and develop a framework for implementing adaptation and mitigation projects, with a focus on stormwater management and green infrastructure.

Village of Tarrytown – $663,200

Tarrytown will create a community cooling center at the existing senior center. This project includes replacing the current HVAC system with a split system heat pump and installing energy-saving thermal ceiling tiles, a building management system, and solar panels combined with a back-up battery storage unit for times of power outages.

Village of Tivoli – $672,000

Tivoli will construct storm drainage system improvements in the Feroe Avenue area, increasing the capacity of the system to alleviate nuisance flooding.

Village of Warwick – $25,000

Warwick will complete a climate vulnerability assessment, and a climate adaptation plan to identify and mitigate climate-related risks to the community, ensuring resilience and sustainability for future generations.

Westchester County – $115,772

Westchester County will coordinate a collaborative working group of nine municipalities that will each complete and adopt local government operations greenhouse gas emissions inventories and local government operations climate actions plans.

Mohawk Valley

City of Oneonta – $1,669,135

The City and Town of Oneonta will construct pedestrian and bike improvements along the James F. Lettis/Leslie G. Foster Highway and Routes 23 and 28, linking the city’s urban center and the town’s Southside commercial area.

New York City

City of New York – $200,000

New York City will develop a methodology and report for incorporating Scope 3 emissions into their existing local government operations greenhouse gas inventory. The focus will include embodied carbon, food, air, marine travel, and renewable energy credits.

North Country

Town of Colton – $186,000

Colton will replace 1,715 feet of sidewalk along NY-56 with new, five-foot-wide ADA-compliant sidewalks. The existing sidewalk is in various states of disrepair and cannot be properly maintained due to its unlevel surface. Creating a safe pedestrian corridor along this route was identified as a need in a recent community-wide walkability survey.

Village of Potsdam – $104,000

Potsdam will complete three certification actions – comprehensive plan with sustainability elements, complete streets policy, and planning for bicycling and walking – to guide the community’s growth and development in the face of rapid changes due to ongoing economic and demographic shifts. The village is investing in resilience and sustainable development through application of smart growth principles.

Western New York

City of Buffalo – $1,600,000

Buffalo is expanding the City’s existing pilot program for residential curbside collection of food scraps, called “Scrap It!” The expansion aims to enroll up to 10,000 new residents in the program and divert 34 percent of the city’s organic waste from the landfill over the course of the project.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com