Don't forget that the next meeting of the Board of the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Monday, December 29, at the Holiday Inn, 308 North Comrie Avenue (Route 30A), Johnstown. At the meeting, the Board will present and attempt to justify a proposed new fee schedule. The Regulating District's staff is supposed to be on hand to answer any and all questions concerning the permit system and fee schedule.
As we are painfully aware. the Regulating District's problems extend far beyond the permit system. For example, Niagara Mohawk and Reliant Resources, the multibillion-dollar energy firms that operate downstream hydro power stations, claim the District is overcharging them and are suing for a partial refund that could total millions of dollars. If they don't pay their full share for operating and maintaining the reservoir, guess who's in line to make up the difference?
What is needed is an overhaul of the Regulating District's entire operation, not just the permit system. If that does not happen, we will lose out over the longer term. To allow time for these changes to be made, we will push the Regulating District to freeze 2004 permit fees at 2003 levels. It is difficult to see how the Regulating District can avoid doing this. The state's rule-making process, the workings of which seem to have come as a surprise to the District, is complex and time consuming, and the District's deadline for sending out permit fee bills is fast approaching.
All agencies subject to the Governor's executive control are required to submit all notices of proposed or revised rule makings (such as a permit fee hike) to the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform, along with the full text of the rule. If GORR gives it a green light, the notice must be published in the State Register, following which the public has a minimum of 45 days to comment. If this process results in changes to the proposed rule, the agency must submit a second notice for GORR's review and publication in the State Register. This action opens a shorter, 30-day comment period. If additional problems surface, more delays may result before GORR issues its final decision and the rule (if approved) can take effect.
The rule-making procedure is set forth in a NYS Department of State publication titled "Rule Making in New York." The Regulating District's web site (www.hrbrrd.com) provides a link to it. Let me quote the following:
"The rule making process is constructed around the fundamental belief that the people of this state have a right to participate in the development of its laws. Since administrative rules have the full force and effect of laws, New York -- along with the federal government and nearly every other state and territory -- adopted a systematic approach to ensure public comment during the proposal stage, before an agency rule is formally adopted. As a participatory democracy, we provide the public the opportunity to comment on proposed laws and rules."
This raises some interesting questions. When you originally applied for your access permit, the Regulating District sent you a booklet titled "Rules and Regulations Governing Use by Permit Holders of State-Owned Property at Great Sacandaga Lake." But did the District ever run these rules and regulations through the state rule-making process? Is the access permit system legal? Have we been paying permit fees illegally over the years. Are we due a refund? Stay tuned.
The unprecedentedly high water levels we are seeing at the lake have set our docks afloat. Ice damage could be considerable. The Settlement Agreement allows for emergency releases of Great Sacandaga's water under certain conditions, including the threat of property damage. But that requires the Regulating District to consult with downstream hydroelectric project owners (e.g., Niagara Mohawk and Reliant Resources) and municipalities, Fulton and Saratoga Counties, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Why is the District sitting on its hands? Ice already is beginning to coat the lake's bays. At Monday's board meeting, we should complain, complain, complain!
Finally, here's a nugget for the statisticians out there: Chief Engineer Robert Foltan tells me that the lake now has 4,639 access permit holders. The old figure, in use since 2001, was 4,550.