ALBANY — The two Legislative Agriculture Chairs, Senator Michelle Hinchey and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, have announced the signing of their bill (S8889A/A9328B) to create the Agricultural and Farmland Viability Protection Fund, which will bolster efforts to protect prime agricultural land from being permanently removed to make way for solar development.
Currently, all solar projects receiving funding through NYSERDA’s NY-Sun incentive program that site projects on active farmland must pay a penalty, which currently goes into the State’s General Fund. S8889A/A9328B requires that all penalty money collected be deposited instead into the Agricultural and Farmland Viability Protection Fund and allocated to state and local farmland protection programs.
“With the Climate Crisis changing the face of agriculture as we know it and rendering top food producing states, like California, unequipped to respond, New York must act now to protect local farmland and ensure a stable food supply for our region,” said Senator Hinchey. “I thank Governor Hochul for signing my bill to create the Agricultural and Farmland Viability Protection Fund and look forward to ensuring that we continue to work to create a future centered on locally sourced, healthy food and incentivize smart solar development without eliminating our finite agricultural resources.”
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo said, “Given the global climate crisis and the urgent need for renewable energy projects, agricultural land has become an attractive option for solar development. To protect our food supply, farmland protection must remain a priority in New York’s path of reaching aggressive climate goals. The Agricultural and Farmland Viability Protection Fund is an important first step in ensuring that these two priorities work hand in hand. I’d like to thank Senator Hinchey for her partnership and Governor Hochul for her support of this important imitative.”
–The Office of New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey