rabbitpatch
ArboristSite Lurker
Public Hearing in Watertown 6/3 ... did anyone attend?
If so, how did it go?
If so, how did it go?
NYS DEC OWB ordinance
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Clydewoman
ArboristSite Lurker
Watertown Hearing
Not a single person spoke against OWB's at the hearing. There was a decent crowd but it was disappointing not to see the auditorium full. About 40 people spoke and DEC let everyone have an opportunity. The hearing actually went over the time limit.
For a week or more we had been told that no one from Albany was coming. However, Mr. Barnes himself showed up. He couldn't answer our questions about the stack height requirements even though he supposedly wrote the regulations. The Powerpoint presentation during the information session misquoted the regulations as printed! We finally got the presentor to bring the slide back up and confirm this. Don't blame the local DEC employees - this is being rammed down their throats by Albany. It will be interesting to see if this "mistake" is really corrected before the next hearing.
Senator Aubertine has introduced legislation to try and help us continue using our OWB's. What is important at this time is for EVERYONE to voice their opinions. Don't sit back and think this will go away. Use the online petition and the Farm Bureau E-Lobby Letters to let Albany know how strongly we feel on this issue.
Not a single person spoke against OWB's at the hearing. There was a decent crowd but it was disappointing not to see the auditorium full. About 40 people spoke and DEC let everyone have an opportunity. The hearing actually went over the time limit.
For a week or more we had been told that no one from Albany was coming. However, Mr. Barnes himself showed up. He couldn't answer our questions about the stack height requirements even though he supposedly wrote the regulations. The Powerpoint presentation during the information session misquoted the regulations as printed! We finally got the presentor to bring the slide back up and confirm this. Don't blame the local DEC employees - this is being rammed down their throats by Albany. It will be interesting to see if this "mistake" is really corrected before the next hearing.
Senator Aubertine has introduced legislation to try and help us continue using our OWB's. What is important at this time is for EVERYONE to voice their opinions. Don't sit back and think this will go away. Use the online petition and the Farm Bureau E-Lobby Letters to let Albany know how strongly we feel on this issue.
GRH
ArboristSite Lurker
What was the discrepancy between the proposed stack height and the one in the power point file?
LEES WOODC
ArboristSite Operative
It don't matter if Captain kangaroo wrote the law! DEC will enforce it how they see fit.It's an environmental matter.
You do the math.
Clydewoman
ArboristSite Lurker
DEC hearing
In the Powerpoint presentation the stack height requirements referred to 150' from "neighboring" structures. The regulations say the height is determined by any structure within 150' of the OWB. This means your own buildings determine the height and neighboring isn't mentioned. It appears that the DEC is feeding this same information to the press because all of the news article read like the presentation last night.
The DEC representatives also said that the stack height requirements were the same as those published by the HPBA. In the material from the HPBA they talk about the stack height in relation to the distance from any residence not served by the OWB. Here again DEC's regulations say any structure within 150' of the outdoor wood boiler. The difference is between any structure and any residence not served by the OWB. That's where the height of barns, silos, etc. come in under the proposed regulations.
In the Powerpoint presentation the stack height requirements referred to 150' from "neighboring" structures. The regulations say the height is determined by any structure within 150' of the OWB. This means your own buildings determine the height and neighboring isn't mentioned. It appears that the DEC is feeding this same information to the press because all of the news article read like the presentation last night.
The DEC representatives also said that the stack height requirements were the same as those published by the HPBA. In the material from the HPBA they talk about the stack height in relation to the distance from any residence not served by the OWB. Here again DEC's regulations say any structure within 150' of the outdoor wood boiler. The difference is between any structure and any residence not served by the OWB. That's where the height of barns, silos, etc. come in under the proposed regulations.
Clydewoman
ArboristSite Lurker
DEC Public Hearings
Is anyone going to the hearings this week? If so, please keep us posted.
Is anyone going to the hearings this week? If so, please keep us posted.
John D
Addicted to ArboristSite
Im #297 on the petition,thank you for sharing the link..
rhizando
ArboristSite Lurker
I am going to try and make the next one in Herkimer at the community college. I guess its on Thursday from 6-8, with an information session an hour before hand. I also told the women who answered the phone to have someone verify that the misprinted slide would be fixed.
I will let everyone know what happens.
I will let everyone know what happens.
Clydewoman
ArboristSite Lurker
NYC DEC Regulations
The St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators passed a resolution last night in opposition to the proposed DEC regulations and supporting the bill presented in the Senate by Darrell Aubertine.
The St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators passed a resolution last night in opposition to the proposed DEC regulations and supporting the bill presented in the Senate by Darrell Aubertine.
rabbitpatch
ArboristSite Lurker
Did anyone attend the Herkimer meeting?
I wanted to go, but my son had his nursery school graduation Thursday night. I sent my letter to the DEC, governor, senator, and assemblyman. Senator Seward sent a reply and a copy of the letter he sent to the DEC on the issue, he's in our corner, but this is a DEC regulation proposal and not a legislative bill so he really doesn't have any more pull than we have. Keep those letters flowing to the DEC and sign the petition!
I wanted to go, but my son had his nursery school graduation Thursday night. I sent my letter to the DEC, governor, senator, and assemblyman. Senator Seward sent a reply and a copy of the letter he sent to the DEC on the issue, he's in our corner, but this is a DEC regulation proposal and not a legislative bill so he really doesn't have any more pull than we have. Keep those letters flowing to the DEC and sign the petition!
Guarddog1
ArboristSite Guru
signed it number 435 thanks for the link
Clydewoman
ArboristSite Lurker
DEc hearings on OWB regulations
The scattered reports we have been hearing is that downstate hearings were sparsely attended. Overall it appears that very few people are speaking out in favor of the regulations anywhere.
Time is getting short to submit comments to DEC. Instead of just criticizing DEC let's make some constructive comments concerning setback requirements, stack height issues, and the whole economic impact of the regulations. Maybe there should be a unified effort to get DEC to drop the regulations as proposed, give municipalities a reasonable amount of time to get regulations in place, and after that time DEC should only act as a final step in the complaint process if all other avenues have been exhausted.
The scattered reports we have been hearing is that downstate hearings were sparsely attended. Overall it appears that very few people are speaking out in favor of the regulations anywhere.
Time is getting short to submit comments to DEC. Instead of just criticizing DEC let's make some constructive comments concerning setback requirements, stack height issues, and the whole economic impact of the regulations. Maybe there should be a unified effort to get DEC to drop the regulations as proposed, give municipalities a reasonable amount of time to get regulations in place, and after that time DEC should only act as a final step in the complaint process if all other avenues have been exhausted.
Clydewoman
ArboristSite Lurker
Thank you for signing. I hope that DEC listens to us. Some people aren't taking this seriously and seem to think that the regulations just won't really happen. Some days I wake up wondering what has happened to our freedom in this country - it sure doesn't feel like the USA.
Guarddog1
ArboristSite Guru
I can not agree more I believe there should be some regulations on them I see some people that park them so close to a neighbor it smokes out their house. That is not fair to the persons house that gets smoked out. If you have a enough land and your smoke does not effect your neighbors quality of life than go for it. Maybe they should be evaluated on a case by case basis.
rmagill
ArboristSite Lurker
I will be attending the meeting tuesday evening in Cortland.
I will write up a summary on what went on.
Anyone in the Binghamton, Cortland areas should attend!
I will write up a summary on what went on.
Anyone in the Binghamton, Cortland areas should attend!
John D
Addicted to ArboristSite
My thoughts exactly,problem is no one wants to take the time to do this....its more "convenient" to just ban them because a portion of them are being used where adequete space between them and there neighbors does not exist....
Clydewoman
ArboristSite Lurker
DEC Hearings
Any news from the hearings this week in Batavia and Cortland?
Any news from the hearings this week in Batavia and Cortland?
rmagill
ArboristSite Lurker
I attended the hearing last night in Cortland.
It was well attended. There were 75-100 people there.
Most all had great points to make. One old veteran rambled on and on about his service and not really much about boilers. He was entertaining at the least.
One guy asked if anyone in the crowd was against the boilers. One couple then stood up and explained their situation. They have a legitimate gripe. They live in a residential area and some idiot installed a boiler 67 feet from their house. Everyone in the room had their sympathy as we should.
We explained to the DEC reps ( who were basically clueless ) that they (or better yet the town) needed to rectify this problem and others like it and leave us who use these correctly and don't live near neighbors alone.
The reps explained that they estimate that there are 25000 boilers in NYS. They couldn't keep the number of complaints straight but they said that there were either 100 or 140 complaints logged in the entire state!!!
In the 9 county district that they represent which apart from Binghamton, Cortland, Syracuse, and Ithaca metro areas is basically rural they have have only 28 complaints.
They admitted that it doesn't have anything really to do with pollution, but with complaints and a directive from the executive branch of state government. The executive that was NOT elected by the people.
The worst part about this is that it does not come down to a vote that we really have any impact on. They (the DEC) is voting on their own legislation.
The guys sure took a beating last night though. Hopefully they don't want to mess with some of us. Many were very angry, but kept their cool and were respectful.
I think we all did a great job and it was good that we showed that we are reasonable people by agreeing with the poeple that had a complaint.
We ( even the ones that complained) all agreed that this along with any disturbance should be handled on a case by caes basis and at the local level.
Keep writing and lets hope for the best!
It was well attended. There were 75-100 people there.
Most all had great points to make. One old veteran rambled on and on about his service and not really much about boilers. He was entertaining at the least.
One guy asked if anyone in the crowd was against the boilers. One couple then stood up and explained their situation. They have a legitimate gripe. They live in a residential area and some idiot installed a boiler 67 feet from their house. Everyone in the room had their sympathy as we should.
We explained to the DEC reps ( who were basically clueless ) that they (or better yet the town) needed to rectify this problem and others like it and leave us who use these correctly and don't live near neighbors alone.
The reps explained that they estimate that there are 25000 boilers in NYS. They couldn't keep the number of complaints straight but they said that there were either 100 or 140 complaints logged in the entire state!!!
In the 9 county district that they represent which apart from Binghamton, Cortland, Syracuse, and Ithaca metro areas is basically rural they have have only 28 complaints.
They admitted that it doesn't have anything really to do with pollution, but with complaints and a directive from the executive branch of state government. The executive that was NOT elected by the people.
The worst part about this is that it does not come down to a vote that we really have any impact on. They (the DEC) is voting on their own legislation.
The guys sure took a beating last night though. Hopefully they don't want to mess with some of us. Many were very angry, but kept their cool and were respectful.
I think we all did a great job and it was good that we showed that we are reasonable people by agreeing with the poeple that had a complaint.
We ( even the ones that complained) all agreed that this along with any disturbance should be handled on a case by caes basis and at the local level.
Keep writing and lets hope for the best!
Clydewoman
ArboristSite Lurker
DEC hearings
Thanks for the update.
At the Watertown hearing the number of complaints were "maybe up to a dozen in Region 6" and only a total of "up to 70 statewide". Seems DEC can't really tell us just how many complaints there really are. This information should be documented if it's the basis for the regulations. Several people made requests to be provided with factual information. I know of a couple FOIL requests that have been made but don't know of anyone that received a response.
There's much more to this than the environmental issues. I too can sympathize with someone whose neighbors are inconsiderate but that scenario just doesn't apply to the majority of the OWB owners. This is really about greed - politics and money.
Thanks for the update.
At the Watertown hearing the number of complaints were "maybe up to a dozen in Region 6" and only a total of "up to 70 statewide". Seems DEC can't really tell us just how many complaints there really are. This information should be documented if it's the basis for the regulations. Several people made requests to be provided with factual information. I know of a couple FOIL requests that have been made but don't know of anyone that received a response.
There's much more to this than the environmental issues. I too can sympathize with someone whose neighbors are inconsiderate but that scenario just doesn't apply to the majority of the OWB owners. This is really about greed - politics and money.
Ash wacker
ArboristSite Lurker
I went to the meeting in Batavia. I would say there were between 75 and 100 people there. Two spoke out for the rules the rest of us were there against. It seems the amount of owb is growing,they told us there were about 15000units in New York and there were 140 complaints against them. That is less than one percent. Alot of people were upset with the 2020 time line for replacement. One guy just bought his and it has 25 year warrenty if he has to replace it in 2020 it isn't even half way through his warrenty! Stack heights were a big issue. I think pretty much the same things that were said before that I have read in this thread. The only thing that I wasn't aware of is that a log rotting in the woods and a log that is burned produce the same amount carbon dioxide. That got the meeting jumping! The DEC did a poor job of making the meeting public knowledge and some there made them aware. I thought about this and if I didn't have a computer I wouldn't have known about it either. Is this about clean emissions or is there a hidden ajenda?
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