New York (State). St. Lawrence-Eastern Ontario Commission

FUNCTIONS. The St. Lawrence-Eastern Ontario Commission encouraged the preservation, protection, development, and use of the unique natural resources of the St. Lawrence River Valley and the lands adjacent to Lake Ontario's eastern shores. Its jurisdiction area included various towns in St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Oswego, and Cayuga counties which border the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, as well as parts of the lake and river within the New York State boundary.

The commission's function was to encourage the full development of commercial, industrial, agricultural, residential, and other resources vital to the continued progress of the area. To accomplish this it carried out research and special studies to develop resource management programs (through data gathering and analysis, shoreline inventories, and sensitivity analyses); assisted local governments in environmental planning (for decisions on coastal planning and management); and provided technical assistance to local governments to implement land use management programs and to develop coastal resources, especially in the recreation and tourism sectors of the economy. The commission reviewed development projects to meet statewide standards and developed long-range regulatory policy on conservation and development of the area's coastal resources as one element of the statewide coastal management program.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY. The commission was created as an executive agency by Chapter 394 of the Laws of 1969 to insure optimum conservation, protection, preservation, development, and use of the scenic, historical, ecological, economic, and recreational resources of the region.

Chapter 74 of the Laws of 1971 reconstituted the commission as an independent unit within the Office of Planning Services, and transferred its staff and activities to that office. Subdivision 3 of the law sets up a project review process to encourage public and private agencies and persons to undertake projects which would balance all the interests of the area, and to ease project completion. Procedures provide for preliminary consultation with the commission on proposed projects to avoid uncertainty or delay, and for final review of projects with the opportunity for public participation, and public disclosure of the effects of a project in the community. Any project that might destroy or substantially impair significant historic or recreational resources, or which might bring about a major change in the appearance or use of water or the surrounding land in the area, is subject to review by the commission.

Chapter 701 of the Laws of 1974 reestablished the commission as an independent commission within the Executive Department to complete a comprehensive development plan for the region by January of 1977. Chapter 648 of the Laws of 1977 relieved the commission of the responsibility to prepare such a plan, and instead authorized it to prepare a coastal management program for the area as part of a statewide coastal management program. The Commission was eliminated in 1995 when its funding was cut.

The commission was created as an executive agency by Chapter 394 of the Laws of 1969 to insure optimum conservation, protection, preservation, development, and use of the scenic, historical, ecological, economic, and recreational resources of the region.

Chapter 74 of the Laws of 1971 reconstituted the commission as an independent unit within the Office of Planning Services, and transferred its staff and activities to that office. Subdivision 3 of the law sets up a project review process to encourage public and private agencies and persons to undertake projects which would balance all the interests of the area, and to ease project completion. Procedures provide for preliminary consultation with the commission on proposed projects to avoid uncertainty or delay, and for final review of projects with the opportunity for public participation, and public disclosure of the effects of a project in the community. Any project that might destroy or substantially impair significant historic or recreational resources, or which might bring about a major change in the appearance or use of water or the surrounding land in the area, is subject to review by the commission.

Chapter 701 of the Laws of 1974 reestablished the commission as an independent commission within the Executive Department to complete a comprehensive development plan for the region by January of 1977. Chapter 648 of the Laws of 1977 relieved the commission of the responsibility to prepare such a plan, and instead authorized it to prepare a coastal management program for the area as part of a statewide coastal management program. The Commission was eliminated in 1995 when its funding was cut.