New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF, WE-Sag Harbor) today announced that the 2018 State Budget provides historic levels of funding to protect Long Island’s environment.

Included in the environmental funding package is:

• $15 million to upgrade and replace outdated cesspools and septic systems;
• $1 million to Stony Brook University Water Technology Center for research, development, and pilot projects to remove 1,4 dioxane from the water supply;
• $3 million for Suffolk County and the Stony Brook University Water Technology Center to address nitrogen loading from septic waste;
• $250,000 to the Long Island Regional Planning Council for the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan (LINAP);
• $200,000 for the Peconic Estuary Program;
• $2 million for the Long Island Central Pine Barrens Commission
• $500,000 for a new laboratory at Stony Brook University to test for PFC and other emerging chemicals affecting groundwater;
• $6,050,000 to eradicate invasive species, including the southern pine beetle.

Thiele stated, “New York State has devised a three-pronged attack on the decline in water quality. (1) A plan to clean up Long Island waters, (2) Research to create new affordable technology, such as nitrogen removing septic systems to implement the plan, and (3) Necessary funding to implement the plan by providing the new technology.”