Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
AGENCY TESTIMONY
Future challenges and legislative priorities for DEP
0:29:21
ยท
60 sec
Commissioner Aggarwala summarizes DEP's current status, future challenges, and legislative priorities, emphasizing the need for continued partnership with the City Council.
- DEP faces challenges in recruiting, inflation, federal policy changes, and climate change impacts.
- The department needs to improve internal efficiency, permitting processes, and planning.
- Major upcoming milestones include the renewal of the Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD) and addressing coastal resilience issues.
- DEP is working to balance service improvements, flood protection demands, and the need for affordable water rates.
- Legislative priorities for City Council action include:
- Lead service line replacements
- Establishing the Bureau of Coastal Resilience
- Reforming the citizen idling enforcement program
- Implementing the indirect source rule
Rohit Aggarwala
0:29:21
Overall, DEP continues I believe to be well run and farsighted.
0:29:26
We have real challenges to face, recruiting, inflation, federal changes, and climate change.
0:29:30
We have work to do internally on efficiency, permitting, and planning.
0:29:35
And we face major milestones ahead of us, most notably the renewal of the fad, but also issues such as coastal resilience, the impact our treatment plans have on and and the impact our treatment plans have on Jamaica Bay.
0:29:47
We also think constantly about how we balance our needs, the demands of New Yorkers for better services and especially for flood water protection and the need to manage our water rates to be affordable.
0:29:57
To close, I ask for the council's continued partnership to support our work.
0:30:01
As I mentioned earlier, we hope to work with the council in the near future to enact legislation relating to lead service line replacements, the Bureau of Coastal Resilience, citizen idling, and legislation for the indirect source rule as we've discussed at recent hearings.
0:30:17
Thank you for your time this morning.
0:30:19
My colleagues and I are happy to answer your questions.