At the August 7th meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature, lawmakers came together to support a historic environmental protection initiative sponsored by Legislative Majority Leader Jon Cooper (D-Huntington). The measure will allow voters in November to cast their votes in favor of protecting much of Suffolk’s available open space, preserve critical habitats, save local farms, protect Long Island's aquifer, improve the county’s tourism-based economy and safeguard our unique quality of life.

Approved by a vote of 14-2-2, the measure would extend the existing Quarter Cent Drinking Water Protection Program until 2030 and allow the County to accelerate borrowing over the next four years. Environmentalists say taking action in this time frame is critical to staving off a looming threat that overdevelopment poses to Suffolk’s dwindling natural resources.

"We're delighted that the legislature had the wisdom to put this critical initiative on the ballot. It will help protect our drinking water and preserve open space for our children and grandchildren," said Dick Amper, Executive Director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society. "This would not have happened without Legislator Cooper's leadership."

In addition to generating approximately $350 million to preserve open space and farmland, the program would provide $125 million to fund various environmental protection programs, including protecting threatened wildlife habitats and critical ecosystems, reducing toxic storm water run-off and ensuring clean drinking water. Since the costs associated with the borrowing will be repaid from dedicated sales tax revenues, there will be no adverse impact on the County’s debt service or bond rating. Most importantly, there will be no increase in property taxes.

“It is important that the public have an opportunity to be heard on the future of Suffolk’s open space program,” said County Executive Steve Levy. “Legislator Cooper’s proposal presents the county with the opportunity to continue its aggressive preservation program without raising property taxes.

Cooper's personal call to arms came after reading a White Paper entitled “On Course for Failure: A Call to Action on Land Preservation”, issued by the Long Island Pine Barrens Society. The report forecasted that, unless Suffolk substantially increases the rate at which it acquires our still undeveloped and unpreserved open space and farmland, the County will face "serious, even catastrophic environmental and economic threats.” Environmental groups have set a goal of preserving half of Suffolk’s remaining 70,000 acres.

Cooper’s proposal, which dwarfs any other single environmental protection program in Long Island’s history, will appear on the ballot this November as a public referendum. Based upon how strongly voters have supported the County's previous environmental ballot initiatives, Cooper is confident of a resounding Election Day victory for the measure. In 1987 and 1989, voters overwhelmingly approved environmental initiatives by a margin of 84% and in 1996, 74% of voters supported that year’s environmental referendum.

"We applaud Majority Leader Cooper, County Executive Levy and the Suffolk County Legislature for expanding this nationally recognized conservation initiative," said Kevin McDonald, Public Lands Program Director of the Nature Conservancy on Long Island. "We have every confidence that voters this November will welcome the opportunity to extend the Drinking Water Protection Program and that they will, yet again, vote overwhelmingly to pass this measure."