Senate committees advance Amanda Lefton nomination to lead NY DEC after questioning on staffing, wetlands, CLCPA and permits

A joint hearing of the New York State Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee on May 27 moved Governor Kathy Hochul's nominee, Amanda Lefton, to the full Senate for confirmation after an hours-long question-and-answer session about department priorities and ongoing permitting reviews.

The nomination was advanced after the committees compared notes and "have enough votes to move acting commissioner Lefton to the floor for confirmation," Senator Liz Krueger, chair of the Finance Committee, said at the close of the hearing.

The hearing matters because the Department of Environmental Conservation administers state programs that implement the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), state wetlands law, the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act programs delegated to the state, and the recently approved Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act. Those authorities affect permitting, grant funding and programs across urban, suburban and rural districts.

Amanda Lefton, the governor's nominee for commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), opened with a statement that she has worked with DEC in prior roles and pledged partnership with the Legislature and local governments. Lefton said she would prioritize implementing the Bond Act and other climate and environmental programs while defending state programs from federal rollbacks. "You all have increased our staffing levels in this year's budget by 58 people," Lefton said, and added that additional statutory responsibilities would require additional resources.

Senators pressed Lefton on several recurring themes:

- Staffing and capacity: Multiple senators raised concerns that new statutory responsibilities and expanded programs strain DEC's ability to deliver timely decisions. Lefton said recent hires and funding increases are helping but that additional statutory duties would require more resources. She also said roughly "just about 250 plus" staff members are funded through federal regulatory authorities that support Clean Air and Clean Water programs.

- Climate law implementation and federal rollbacks: Senators asked whether the administration remains committed to implementing the CLCPA and related rules amid federal rollbacks. Lefton said New York must continue to lead, pointing to state regulatory work on HFCs, the peaker rule and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. She said federal rollbacks make state action more important and that DEC had implemented reporting tools and other steps to track emissions.

- Wetlands law implementation and general permits: Several lawmakers from lake and shoreline districts described local concern that the recent wetlands law change is causing confusion and market effects. Lefton said DEC recognizes the change is substantial, emphasized education and outreach, and said the agency is issuing a series of general permits (with solar and transmission general permits expected in June) to provide certainty and speed for common projects.

- Renewable-energy siting and permitting: Senators asked how DEC will balance speeding renewable projects and protecting natural resources. Lefton said the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and the Department of Public Service lead much of large-scale siting work and that DEC supports clear, transparent permitting and certainty for applicants while protecting environmental values. She said DEC is finalizing a general permit for solar-related transmission development.

- PFAS and biosolids: Lefton said DEC is testing biosolids and noted about 18 permits for biosolids applications currently exist in the state; she emphasized removing PFAS from products to prevent contamination and said DEC is moving forward with additional safeguards and testing for biosolids.

- Land conservation and title transfers: Senators raised delays in transferring title to conserved lands that hold up land trusts and impede acquisitions tied to the state's "30 by 30" conservation goals. Lefton said DEC is reviewing internal processes and will work with the attorney general's office and other partners to improve transaction timing.

- Local infrastructure and grant access: Senators from smaller, rural districts described difficulties for towns lacking grant-writing capacity to access clean-water infrastructure funds. Lefton pointed to recent increases in appropriations and said DEC and the Environmental Facilities Corporation have modified grant structures and offered technical assistance and asset-management support to help small communities qualify for funds.

- Contested Title V permit (Competitive Power Ventures / CPP): One senator pressed Lefton about a long-delayed Title V air permit for a natural-gas-fired power plant in the Hudson Valley area (referred to during the hearing as the CPP/CPB permit). The senator said the application has been pending for years and noted local environmental justice and income indicators for adjacent communities, asking why the review has taken so long. Lefton said she had not been at the agency for the earlier years of review, that the department is coordinating with EPA and reviewing public comments (she said the latest round had roughly "450" comments and that the overall process had collected more than 1,000 comments over time), and that the department is working to complete analysis before taking any final action. Lefton declined to comment on how the department would rule while review is ongoing.

Throughout the hearing, Lefton repeatedly framed DEC's work as a mixture of regulatory enforcement, partnership with local governments and implementation of large funding programs, including what she described as the "historic $4,200,000,000 Bond Act." She said DEC must both defend state programs from federal rollbacks and step into gaps where federal programs are scaled back.

The committees completed their review of the nomination and, according to committee remarks at the hearing's close, had sufficient votes to advance Lefton's nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. The committees did not record a roll-call tally in the hearing transcript; the chair said committees compared paper ballots and had the votes to move the nomination.

The full Senate will consider the nomination in a future floor session. No final confirmation time or floor date was stated during the hearing.