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Suffolk County Voters Approve Water Quality Restoration Act!
On Tuesday, Suffolk County voters approved the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act which establishes a Countywide Wastewater Management District and a dedicated, recurring funding source for sewer expansions and cesspool or septic system replacements aimed at protecting surface water and groundwater from nitrogen pollution.
The Act will consolidate Suffolk County’s sewer districts into a unified zone of assessment to streamline costs for residents while providing an integrated approach to managing wastewater infrastructure. The Act creates a Water Quality Restoration Fund, which will provide long-term financial support for water protection initiatives. Funded by a one-eighth of one percent sales tax increase, this measure is expected to generate $3.1 billion in revenue over the next 50 years. Revenues from the sales tax increase can be used to expand the County’s grant program for property owners to upgrade their cesspools and septic systems to advanced on-site wastewater treatment systems, manage, monitor and enforce nitrogen reduction programs throughout the county, complete additional sewer extension projects, and construct new sewage treatment infrastructure
Additionally, the Act extends the one-quarter of one percent sales tax that finances Suffolk’s Drinking Water Protection Program through 2060.
A 21-member board of lawmakers, environmentalists, and labor union representatives will be tasked with overseeing the fund and recommending projects. Its members must be approved by the Suffolk County Legislature.
The establishment of the Countywide Wastewater Management District has been deemed an “early action” item by the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan.
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