Nitrogen Smart Communities (NSC) is a voluntary program administered by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)’s Long Island Watershed Program in conjunction with the Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC). The voluntary program encourages municipalities in Nassau and Suffolk Counties to take meaningful, effective action to reduce, prevent, or eliminate nitrogen pollution in Long Island’s waters. View the Nitrogen Smart Communities (PDF) summarizing the program.
NSC is currently a pilot program. Based on the outcomes of the pilot phase, DEC is assessing the opportunity to expand the program.
Funding for the pilot phase of the NSC program has been provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Long Island Sound Partnership (LIS Partnership). Since the Program is funded by the LIS Partnership municipalities located within the Long Island Sound Partnership boundary in Nassau and Suffolk counties are eligible to apply at this time.
Utilize the map below to determine if your municipality is within the Long Island Sound Partnership watershed boundary.
Program Goals and Outcomes
The goal of the program is for communities to achieve a better understanding of their unique sources of nitrogen, and to implement nitrogen reduction activities associated with these priorities. By participating in the NSC program, a community can reduce nitrogen pollution to both improve the water quality of degraded waterbodies and protect other waterbodies before impairments occur.
Participating municipalities will follow a series of steps and submit completed worksheets to earn tiered levels of NSC status certification: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. View the full program overview outlining the five steps (PDF) Step by step documents are linked below.
Have any questions or interested in participating in NSC? Please contact Rachel Titus at [email protected]
