For Immediate Release: August 1, 2002
Contact:
Victoria Hristovski | Director Public Information | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 891-4050
RAY BROOK- Proposed draft changes to Adirondack Park Agency enforcement regulations will be the subject of five public hearings scheduled for September 2002. The Agency encourages public participation in these hearings and welcomes comments on the proposed changes.
The Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform (GORR) recently authorized the Agency to proceed to formal rule making and hearing on proposed changes to Part 581 of its regulations involving enforcement processes and procedures. The draft changes, involving a replacement of the existing regulations, are proposed for the purposes of (1) clarifying the Agency’s existing regulatory language; (2) expediting the Agency’s delivery of services to the public; and (3) introducing more consistency, uniformity, and predictability into Agency administration and decision making.
The formal rule making process begins with publication of a notice of the proposed rule making in the New York State Register. This notice appeared July 31, 2002 and included information on the proposed changes and a schedule of the dates, times, and locations for the five public hearings.
The public hearings, combined to satisfy both State Administrative Procedure Act and State Environmental Quality Review Act requirements, will be held both inside and outside the Park. The dates, times, and locations of these hearings are as follows:
| DATE | TIME | LOCATION |
| Tuesday, September 17, 2002 | 7:00 p.m. | Albany: Colonie Community Center Auditorium, 1653 Central Avenue |
| Wednesday, September 18, 2002 | 7:00 p.m. | Rochester: Rochester Museum & Science Center, Gannett Building, Room 20, 657 East Ave. |
| Thursday, September 19, 2002 | 7:00 p.m. | Old Forge: Town of Webb School Library |
| Tuesday, September 24, 2002 | 7:00 p.m. | North Creek: Base Lodge at Gore Mtn. Ski Area |
| Wednesday, September 25, 2002 | 7:00 p.m. | Saranac Lake: North Country Community College, Petty Lecture Hall, Science Building |
At the hearings, the public will be asked to consider the draft changes presented in the State Administrative Procedure Act Regulatory Impact Statement and the related Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement. Following the hearings, and a public comment period, the Agency will prepare a Final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement and consider adoption of the proposed rule changes. Any change will become effective upon publication in the State Register, most likely early in 2003.
More information on the proposed changes is available in the July 31 edition of the NYS State Register, on the Agency's website www.northnet.org/adirondackparkagency/ , or by writing or calling the Agency at this address:
Victoria R. Hristovski, Public Information Director
The Agency encourages interested members of the public to share their written comments on the proposed changes anytime prior to, or during, the formal public hearings.