New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has vetoed a bill that addressed concerns about wildlife and vehicular traffic interactions throughout the state.
There are a reported 65,000 wildlife/vehicle collisions each year throughout the Empire State. To help improve public safety and habitat connectivity, state lawmakers approved a bill to require the New York State Department of Transportation and the New York Thruway Authority to identify sites along highways, thruways and parkways with high rates of wildlife/vehicle collisions.
The New York DOT then would be responsible for creating and making public a top 10 priority list of crossings.
Assemblymember Robert Carroll, D-Brooklyn, said collisions with wildlife cost millions in property damage, health care and emergency responder expenses.
“Crossing deer and other large mammals can create life-threatening hazards on roadways,” Carroll wrote in a bill memo.
He added that the legislation – A4243/S4198 – he introduced with Sen. Leroy Comrie, D-Queens, would set the stage for the state to access federal dollars to build out wildlife crossings throughout the state. Crossings could include culverts, bridges and fencing.
The 2023 Infrastructure and Jobs Act allocated $350 million over five years for wildlife crossing infrastructure across the country. At least a dozen states from coast to coast have acted to construct wildlife passages above or below grade, where wildlife would not be exposed to traffic.
“My Wildlife Crossings bill would draw down $350 million in federal funding from the Infrastructure and Jobs Act to explore the potential for future wildlife crossings in New York to prevent countless injuries and wildlife deaths as well as millions in damage” – @LeroyComrie pic.twitter.com/cLjmotQNcQ
— NYS Senate Democrats (@NYSenDems) May 8, 2024
Governor thwarts action
Hochul vetoed the bill as part of a broader veto of nearly 30 bills. The governor said in total, the bills would cost the state about $24 million.
“Without appropriate funding, these unbudgeted costs would create significant staffing and other programmatic burdens on state agencies,” Hochul wrote.
The veto language for the wildlife crossing bill said it amounted to an unfunded mandate.
Instead, the governor said the legislation would be “more appropriately considered in the context of the state budget process.”
Hochul’s action does not doom the pursuit. New York can still qualify for the federal funding despite the veto. LL
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