As DEC now enters its second half-century, its mission is broader than ever before. Wide-ranging laws to address climate change and major initiatives to assure clean drinking water are just some of the new tasks DEC has been assigned in the last few years, adding to an already long list of environmental planning, regulatory and management programs — all of which are important to our quality of life and the State’s economy.

Since the cost of electricity represents a considerable burden to local governments and their taxpayers, this report focuses on initiatives that reduce electric bills and the consumption of electricity overall, as well as the consumption of electricity generated through traditional methods.

Most large urban areas in New York State are served by municipal sewer systems, many of which commingle stormwater with the wastewater from homes and businesses in combined sewer systems. The flows from combined sewers can overwhelm treatment systems and have a harmful impact on the environment. This report, as part of the Office of the State Comptroller’s infrastructure series, describes the current scale of the problem in the State and some of the steps being taken to remediate it. 

Local governments or public authorities own 20 of the State’s 27 municipal solid waste landfills, the type of landfills that take in most of what we typically think of as “garbage”—residential, commercial and institutional waste. This report examines the role of local governments in solid waste management, with particular attention to the issues they confront as municipal solid waste landfill owners.

One tenet of the “smart growth” movement is that communities should strive to preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas.

In 2009, the Division of State and Local Government Accountability in the Office of the State Comptroller audited State agency and municipal government implementation of programs funded by the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF or Fund), a dedicated fund that provides support for State and municipal parks, municipal recycling programs and control of water pollution, as well as the majority of State support for conservation of open space and other important environmental programs.

New York State's Farmland Protection Program was created in 1992 to preserve high quality working farmland and to reduce pressures on farm families to sell their lands and leave the farming industry. Counties and towns receive financial support from the program to develop farmland protection plans and to purchase development rights on farmland.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued an Executive Order on Energy and the Environment on September 13, 2007 that established the goals and structure of a Green Initiative for the New York State Office of the State Comptroller (OSC).

The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) continues its efforts to promote sustainable government practices.

Created in 1970, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is responsible for most of the State’s programs to protect wildlife, natural resources and environmental quality.