Environment

Representative Lowey is a leader in the fight to protect America's air, land, and water, and to stop global climate change. She is consistently among the Members of Congress rated most highly by the League of Conservation Voters. As former Co-Chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus, she has secured tens of millions of dollars to rehabilitate this fragile ecosystem, rejuvenate the local fishing industry, and reduce beach closures. And as a founder of the Hudson River Congressional Caucus, Lowey has worked to promote the interests of this vital and historic watershed.

Congresswoman Lowey is working to secure federal funding for projects that will help preserve and protect the environment in Westchester and Rockland Counties.  For more information about her efforts, please click here.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Recovery Act seeks in part to spur technological advances in science and health and to invest in environmental protection and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits. The Environmental Protection Agency manages over $7 billion in projects and programs that will help achieve these goals, offers resources to help other agencies “green” a much larger set of Recovery investments, and administers environmental laws that will govern Recovery activities.

Lowey fought successfully to include significant funding in the federal stimulus bill for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), which helps states and municipalities upgrade water treatment infrastructure.  This will directly assist Westchester County in modernizing water treatment facilities in Mamaroneck and New Rochelle to decrease nitrogen pollution in the Long Island Sound.

For more information about initiatives that will spur technological advances in science and health and to invest in environmental protection, please click here.

Clean Water

Lowey is a staunch defender of Clean Water Act, which ensures that our water supply will be clean and safe. She has fought proposals that would permit unlimited development, filling, and pollution of 20 million acres of seasonal lakes and ponds, including smaller water bodies in New York, which could ultimately result in damage to larger water systems, such as the Hudson River.

As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, Lowey has worked to provide the resources EPA needs to keep our environment clea.  She has also helped pass key conservation measures, and legislation to hold polluters accountable. She authored the landmark Water Pollution Control and Estuary Restoration Act, which provides federal assistance to rehabilitate crucial aquatic habitats. Lowey also supported, and the House passed, critical legislation in 2007 to authorize $14 billion for state and local governments to address water infrastructure needs, authorize $1.5 billion in grants related to solving sewer overflow problems, and establish a grant program to increase the useable water supply.

Commercial and residential development in the New York City watershed also threatens the drinking water supplies of millions of New Yorkers. Lowey cosponsored legislation reauthorizing the New York City Watershed Protection program, which provides money for land acquisition and conservation around the Catskill-Delaware Reservoir system. To date, Congress has approved $31.4 million to protect the watershed.

As a founder of the Hudson River Congressional Caucus, Lowey secured the first-ever federal commitment to protect the Hudson River Greenway and has worked hard to ensure that the EPA moves forward with the proposed clean-up of 150,000 pounds of PCBs from 40 miles of the upper Hudson River. Her stewardship of the Croton reservoir, an unfiltered drinking water source for millions of New York City and Westchester residents, promises to obviate the need for a multi-billion dollar water filtration plant.

Clean Air

Congresswoman Lowey supports legislation that would allow states to continue enforcing tough pollution standards for dirty power plants. In the absence of strong federal pollution standards, Lowey believes New York should be permitted to maintain tougher clean air standards to protect public health and the environment. She has also fought to prevent changes to the Clean Air Act that would weaken restrictions against the emission of mercury from coal plants that have proven hazardous to human and environmental health.

Regional and National Ecosystems

Lowey cosponsored the Highlands Stewardship Act to protect the Highlands Region in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and continues fighting for its full funding. This pristine wilderness is home to 247 endangered species and a destination for 12 million park visitors annually. Tthis legislation created an office to coordinate and complete research and conservation projects in the Highlands Region and authorized federal funds to assist conservation efforts.

The landmark Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) has facilitated the development of comprehensive plans to safeguard hundreds of miles of coastline and given states the power to exercise oversight over federal activities and commercial and industrial projects on their coasts. New York State, for example, concluded that the Millennium Pipeline was “inconsistent” with the state’s coastal management plan. Lowey has fought changes to CZMA, which would restrict states’ access to information and impose arbitrary decision deadlines.

Rep. Lowey has also consistently opposed logging in the Tongass National Forest, weakening the roadless area protection rule, and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). She has repeatedly voted against these wasteful and destructive activities and written to the President to express her opposition.