St. Lawrence County Planning Office

Environmental Management Council

Pursuant to Article 47 of New York State Environmental Conservation Law and St. Lawrence County Resolution 56-71, this Council was established.  Amendments were made by St. Lawrence County to Resolutions 86-71, 3-19-88, and 133-96 and it was agreed that the bylaws amended superceded any and all previous bylaws adopted by the Council.

Membership shall include not more than sixteen (16) members, of which eight (8) would have demonstrated knowledge or expertise in the field, such as representation of environmental education, environmental sciences, environmental technology, environmental action and agriculture, including forestry.  One (1) ex-officio member selected by the Board of Legislators from among its members.  Seven (7) members who are to include; one (1) representative from each city, village, town conservation advisory commission created pursuant to Article 12-F, Section 239-x of New York State General Municipal Law and the remainder being persons with demonstrated interest in environmental matters affecting St. Lawrence County.

Term: Two years.

• Email the EMC
• Overview of the EMC
• Current EMC Work Program
• Friends of Mt. Arab
• Public Service Announcements
• Earth Day Events

St. Lawrence County is Considering

Adoption of a Climate Action Plan

At the Board of Legislators meeting on March 14th, County Planning staff presented a draft St. Lawrence County Climate Action Plan (CAP). The initial request to prepare a CAP came from St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce in Dec. 2008. The St. Lawrence County BOL passed a resolution in April 2009 which directed the Planning Office to prepare a CAP. The County limited the scope of the CAP to operations under the direct control of County Government. Planning staff used a format provided by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).

The primary goal of this Climate Action Plan is to institutionalize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions into County decision-making and give such reductions equal weight with other considerations.

The CAP approaches this goal with a “no regrets” strategy, that is, by taking measures that:

1. Save the County money while reducing GHGs, such as energy efficiency programs; and

2. Develop the infrastructure that puts the County in a good position to attract funding from the State or federal government, such as maintaining an up-to-date GHG inventory and having a climate action plan in place.

The draft Climate Action Plan looks out over a long time span and tries to anticipate the effects on County operations of increasingly expensive fossil fuels and climate change. The CAP recognizes that specific actions are subject to additional feasibility; it requires the continuing collection of data and refinement over time.

The draft CAP also requires that environmental assessments performed under SEQR include consideration of the following questions:

Will the proposed action affect net energy use?

Will the proposed action affect net greenhouse gas emissions?

To access the draft St. Lawrence County Climate Action Plan, click here.