Americans are hearing about how states can change their laws to insulate themselves from actions expected from the incoming Trump Administration and the new Congress. New Yorkers hear the same. Policies impacting the environment will be a key battleground.

Of course, no one really knows what will happen when the new Administration and the new Congress convene next month, but it is expected that programs that protect the environment will be under a great deal of stress, if not on the chopping block. In the meantime, what can states do?

Here in New York, the state will soon approve new regulations to protect the environment – rules designed to protect wetlands.

The rules are the product of legislation approved in the 2022 New York State budget. The 2022 agreement amended the New York State Freshwater Wetlands Act. Prior to the changes, the state’s wetlands had to be included on official state maps before they could be protected by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). However, those maps were not updated on an ongoing basis, which allowed for the filling, dredging, draining of and building upon many unmapped wetlands. 

The amendments to the Freshwater Wetlands Act eliminated this requirement and will allow DEC to require permits for activities that impact wetlands larger than 12.4 acres beginning in 2025, and then wetlands that are larger than 7.4 acres in 2028. Wetlands are of tremendous importance, providing myriad, significant benefits, such as reducing flooding, providing critical habitat for wildlife, sequestering carbon, increasing climate resilience, and maintaining clean drinking water. 

The law also protects smaller wetlands of “unusual importance,” defined to mean changes over wetlands that are, among other things, located in a watershed that has experienced significant flooding in the past, is expected to face significant flooding due to climate change, or contains the habitat of an endangered or threatened species.

The rationale for state protection of wetlands, which include swamps, marshes, bogs, fens, and wet clay meadows, is that these areas provide critical ecosystem services for communities across the state. Wetlands protect drinking water by naturally filtering out heavy metals, toxic contaminants, and other pollutants.  Additionally, wetlands offer flood protection, with one million gallons of water being stored for every one acre of wetland, while also mitigating shoreline erosion.

Wetlands act like sponges; slowing down and soaking up water that might otherwise cause devastating floods. Wetlands also hold water in place until drier conditions prevail and then release it downstream. In this way, they protect not just against floods but against drought, too. Wetlands are also “carbon sinks”; they hold carbon dioxide thereby reducing the amount of heat-trapping pollution in the air.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, over 60 percent of New York’s wetlands have been lost due to human development. In recent years, pressures have significantly increased from sprawling human development, the proliferation of invasive species, extreme weather, and continued threats from pollution. With weaknesses in existing federal freshwater wetlands protections, it is up to states to protect these critical resources before more wetlands are lost. Given the Trump Administration’s previous record of weakening wetlands protections, the prudent thing is to expect more of the same in the new one.

That’s where the new state law and its implementation matter.

Estimates are that the new law, once implemented, will be the equivalent of adding one million acres of wetland under the state’s protection. But before the new law goes into effect, the DEC must allow public comment and then finalize regulations to implement it. The state’s public comment period for the wetlands regulations closed on September 19, 2024. Opponents, including those who like to develop wetlands, are pushing to weaken the regulations. Environmentalists, on the other hand, are arguing that the proposed regulations are not strong enough. Protecting wetlands – particularly in an era of climate change – is of critical importance.

It’s now up to the DEC to decide how these regulations turn out. There’s an enormous amount at stake. Getting the regulations right will help bolster the resiliency of wetlands and will help to curb the worst impacts of climate change.

Wetlands provide a wide range of important benefits for humans and wildlife. Wetlands serve as natural filters and sponges, purifying surface waters and recharging groundwater supplies. Yet, wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate, due to development pressures. The loss of wetlands not only destroys important habitat for plants and wildlife, but it also jeopardizes water quality and removes natural flood controls. The destruction of wetlands puts human health and property at risk.

When it comes to protecting the state’s wetlands, the DEC should do all it can to ensure that those areas are protected for decades to come.