DEP backs notice requirement, opposes fixed "greened acres" target for MS4 areas at council hearing

Deputy Commissioner Licata of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection testified before the City Council committee on environmental protection about the agency’s expanding green infrastructure program and two bills on the committee’s agenda. Licata described DEP’s maintenance routines, funding sources and large-scale projects — and told the Council the Department “generally support[s]” Intro. 1253 (a 30‑day local-notification requirement for bioretention installations in the public right of way) while urging edits, but opposed Intro. 1254, which would require DEP to install 2,400 greened acres in MS4 areas by 2035.

Why it matters: Councilmembers and community advocates pressed DEP on whether fixed acreage targets, notification rules and federal funding changes will help neighborhoods facing frequent street flooding. The hearing highlighted tensions between state consent-order CSO priorities, citywide stormwater goals, and the limits of green infrastructure in some neighborhoods (for example, high groundwater areas in Southeast Queens).

Licata gave a detailed account of DEP’s work and key figures for the Council. She said the agency has retrofitted over 250 parks, playgrounds and NYCHA properties with green infrastructure, and noted the city now has roughly 16,000 green infrastructure assets. On private‑land programs, she testified that a capital-funded grant program invested approximately $13,000,000 across 32 sites (mostly green roofs) and that DEP has funded…