Rohit Aggarwala
0:07:37
Well, thank you for for that introduction and for those kind words, and I'd like to join you in in sending our best wishes to to chairman Gennaro, both for his injury and and for the day of remembrance that he's undertaking today.
0:07:52
Good morning, members of the Environmental Protection, Resilience, and Waterfronts Committee.
0:07:57
I'm Rohit Tiagarwal.
0:07:59
I'm the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.
0:08:02
And I'm joined here today by pretty much all of DEP's senior staff, but here at the table by our chief financial officer, Nourisa More and our acting chief operating officer, Tassos Trojelis.
0:08:15
We're here today to discuss the preliminary budget, the preliminary capital plan and the preliminary MMR.
0:08:21
I'm pleased to say that New York City's water system is in good shape.
0:08:25
We continue to provide some of the nation's best drinking water and do so reliably and cost effectively.
0:08:30
The harbor continues to get cleaner.
0:08:33
Our record on minimizing water main breaks, sewer backups, and similar disruptions is good and our response times to resolve these issues are excellent.
0:08:41
Our revenue collection is improving.
0:08:44
Our revised ten year capital plan is a healthy $37,000,000,000.
0:08:48
Of course like all entities we face challenges including a 13% vacancy rate, the impact of inflation, uncertainty on federal policy, and climate change.
0:08:58
We continue to work to improve our operating efficiency and our response times on permits and approvals.
0:09:04
In addition, there are specific program areas such as lead service line replacements and citizen idling enforcement where we need the council to act.
