Bill > A05156

This bill creates a comprehensive "Bill of Rights" for the Great Lakes and New York's state waters, establishing a groundbreaking legal framework that grants ecosystems fundamental rights to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve. The bill declares that the Great Lakes ecosystem, including watersheds, water features, organisms, soil, and sub-ecosystems, possesses unalienable rights to persist and regenerate, free from human violations. It provides specific rights for these ecosystems, including the right to a clean and healthy environment, freedom from toxic trespass (defined as the unwitting or intentional deposition of toxic substances), and protection from monetization through mechanisms like carbon trading or ecosystem service commodification. The bill empowers local municipalities to enact and enforce ecosystem protection laws, makes violations punishable by fines up to $500 per day, and establishes strict liability for entities causing environmental harm, with damages measured by the cost of ecosystem restoration. Importantly, the bill stipulates that these rights are self-executing and enforceable against both private and public sectors, while explicitly protecting treaty-reserved rights for hunting, fishing, and gathering. The legislation aims to fundamentally reshape how environmental protection is conceptualized, treating ecosystems as entities with inherent rights rather than merely resources to be exploited.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A5156