Public Hearings Scheduled for June 16 and June 18, 2025; Comments Accepted through June 26, 2025
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Amanda Lefton today announced proposed amendments to New York’s water quality standards and classification regulations to enhance water pollution protections in the vast majority of waterways in and around New York City. The proposed amendments would achieve and are a key component of an unprecedented and ongoing collaboration to elevate water quality, ecological, and saline (or marine) waters, ensuring future generations will inherit cleaner, safer waterways for swimming, boating, and fishing.
“DEC and our partners are making a generational leap in protecting the quality of our waters and public health for the future with today’s announcement,” DEC Acting Commissioner Lefton said. “These landmark regulatory changes are unprecedented, building upon decades of ongoing progress to transform the waters in and around New York City. Collectively, New Yorkers are making significant progress in improving water quality and the new requirements announced today would provide additional ecological benefits and positive effects to the region’s fishing, boating, and swimming conditions. DEC encourages the public to submit their comments on the proposed regulatory amendments.”
“The waters around New York City are cleaner than they’ve been in decades. The return of whales, seals, and other marine life is a clear sign of progress and is a direct result of the unprecedented collaboration with our partners at DEC and the EPA,” DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala said. “We’re proud of the investments we’ve made in our wastewater program, but this vital work doesn’t stop here. As climate change fuels stronger storms, we must build infrastructure that is effective, resilient, and sustainable for future generations. I look forward to working with DEC to pursue projects that will clean our waterways while also tackling issues New Yorkers care about — especially stormwater management and affordability.”
Opportunities for recreation in saline, or marine, waters, particularly in and around New York City, were limited due to pollution from untreated sewage via combined sewer overflows (CSO). Since 1974, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) worked closely with DEC to limit CSOs and greatly improve water quality. The proposed rule will bring about additional water quality improvements and greater opportunities for safe swimming and boating in the State’s saline waters, making critical progress towards reaching federal Clean Water Act goals.
Waters are classified for their best uses, such as fishing, boating, swimming, shellfishing, and water quality standards are set to protect those uses. All waters in New York are assigned a letter classification that denotes their best uses. Letter classes SA, SB, SC, I, and SD are assigned to saline surface waters, with best uses including shellfishing, primary contact recreation such as swimming, and secondary contact recreation such as boating and fishing.
DEC’s proposed updates, primarily focused on waters in and around New York City, expands the ‘swimmable and fishable’ protections of the Clean Water Act to more than 91 percent, by area, of New York City waterways. These historic gains would be accomplished through reclassification of 30 waterbody segments, significantly expanding the areas that are protected for swimming and fishing.
Specifically, DEC proposes upgrading 28 waterbody segments, including two segments of the Harlem River that will have a ‘wet weather’ limited use designation. The proposed reclassification of the Harlem River is significant not only for the protections that will be added to the waterbody, but also due to the collaborative nature of this action. The Harlem River reclassification proposal and supporting use attainability analysis was drafted by City DEP and their consultants using diverse data sources, including waterbody use surveys performed by DEC and stakeholder groups. DEC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and stakeholder groups reviewed and refined its contents and conclusions drawn.
Today’s announcement is the third in DEC’s multi-phase approach to align standards and best uses assigned to the State’s saline, or marine, waters to uses currently practiced. Phase one was the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) released July 2022 that solicited data from the public on how they used these waters for fishing and recreational purposes. Phase two adopted in October 2023 included new water quality standards to strengthen Enterococci standards. Building off data received in the ANPRM and previously adopted rules, today’s proposal expands protections to additional waterbodies where they did not previously apply. Additional future phases will reclassify the remaining 24 Class I and SD waters and provide use attainability analyses where applicable.
Water quality reclassification and application of the amendments alone do not guarantee the safety of swimming and other uses of New York City or other state waterways. Variable conditions including rainfall, currents, boat traffic, and bottom conditions or submerged hazards each contribute to the safe use of any waterbody. If swimming somewhere other than a regulated bathing beach, DEC has resources to help the public make informed decisions and avoid potential hazards. DEC also encourages those fishing and shellfishing in any State waters to closely consult consumption and harvest information available on the State Department of Health and DEC websites.
The full text of the proposed regulatory amendments and supporting documentation are available on DEC’s website and can be requested by mail: NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany NY 12233-3500, ATTN: Gwendolyn Temple, phone by calling (518) 402-8194, or via e-mail at [email protected].
DEC is accepting public comments on the proposed regulatory amendments at two scheduled hearings or in writing through June 26, 2025. Details on the June 16 and June 18 hearings are available on DEC’s website. Written statements may be submitted to NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12233-3500, ATTN: Gwendolyn Temple or by email to [email protected].
