Environment DEC
From the June 2004 issue
Crotty Honored as Guardian of Long Island Sound
DEC Region 3 Director Marc Moran,
Rye Mayor Steve Otis and DEC
Commissioner Erin Crotty celebrate
Long Island Sound's improvements
DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty was recently honored for her Long Island Sound restoration efforts. One of the state's largest conservation organizations, Audubon New York, and the leading construction trade association in the downstate region, the Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, Inc., awarded Commissioner Crotty with the 2004 Sound Guardian Award. New York State Representative Jim Walsh also received the award.
Long Island Sound Priority
As DEC Commissioner, Erin Crotty has exhibited outstanding leadership in the implementation of the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and the Governors' 2003 Long Island Sound Agreement. Commissioner Crotty was instrumental in the implementation of the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act and in allocating funds for the implementation of the Long Island Sound nitrogen reduction plan. Commissioner Crotty serves on the Policy Committee of the Long Island Sound Program and testifies frequently before Congress on the needs and importance of the Long Island Sound Program.
The plan to restore the sound stems from the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Long Island Sound, first adopted by the state and federal governments in 1994. Long Island Sound was one of the first national estuaries identified in 1987 under the National Estuary Program, when environmentalists and government leaders feared that it might be permanently destroyed because of runoff pollution discharges from sewage treatment facilities.
Longstanding Commitment to New York's Environment
Before becoming Commissioner of DEC, Commissioner Crotty's public service also included two years as Deputy Commissioner for Water Quality and Environmental Remediation at DEC, where she was responsible for overseeing the State's programs to clean up contaminated properties, implementation of the $1.75 billion Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act and all activities impacting New York State's water quality. Prior to 1997, Crotty also served as Governor Pataki's director of special environmental projects, where she was involved in the negotiation and development of the historic New York City Watershed Agreement and implementation of the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act.
