Government

Seven members of the House of Representatives introduced legislation last week that would block the Trump administration’s plan to expand gas and oil drilling off most of the nation’s coastline. They are seeking a moratorium on new offshore oil and gas drilling.

A program that is getting increasing attention on the South Fork could allow local municipalities to band together and leverage their pooled demand to choose their energy supply and possibly negotiate lower prices for electricity.

The division of one of the most familiar stretches of remaining South Fork farmland, a 41-acre parcel on Montauk Highway in Sagaponack, moved one step closer to becoming a reality on Monday, when the Sagaponack Village Board accepted what is called a pre-application report.

Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind has asked East Hampton Town for permission to conduct surveys related to its proposed South Fork Wind Farm and the installation’s transmission cable, which it plans to land at the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott.

A lawsuit filed one year ago by the Devon Yacht Club in Amagansett that sought to bar leaseholders in Suffolk County's Shellfish Aquaculture Lease Program from conducting oyster farming activity was settled last week, a county official said.

The Town of Southampton could benefit from a community choice aggregation, or C.C.A., energy program like one Westchester County was first to establish in New York State.

The establishment of an erosion control district for downtown Montauk is being studied. It would fund a sand-only beach replenishment project as an interim step while the town awaits the Fire Island to Montauk Point reformulation project.

The East Hampton Town Trustees elected a new deputy clerk at their organizational meeting on Monday. Jim Grimes, who was elected to the nine-member body in 2015 and re-elected two years later, was nominated to be one of the trustees’ two deputy clerks.

The Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee has taken a formal stand against Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind’s plan to land a cable from its proposed South Fork Wind Farm at the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in that hamlet.

The implications of the federal shutdown on a national level are pertinent, however, it appears to have had minimal effects on the East End of Long Island so far.

A statewide initiative has begun to encourage the use of electric vehicles and increase charging hubs. The initiative includes additional public fast-charger networks across the state, regulatory actions to lower residential charging rates, and rebates of up to $2,000 for the purchase or lease of a new electric car from a participating dealer.

The Suffolk County Legislature voted on Dec. 18 to amend the Residential Septic Incentive Program, a grant assistance program for the installation of innovative and alternative wastewater treatment systems, to expand the pool of those eligible to participate in it.

One month after the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act was introduced in the House of Representatives, Senators Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, and Jeff Flake, a retiring Republican of Arizona, followed suit in the Senate.

The East Hampton Town Trustees have put out a call for applicants to assist in next year’s mosquito larval sampling program in the 190 acres of marshland surrounding Accabonac Harbor.

The Suffolk County Water Authority and the Town of East Hampton announced on Friday the imminent completion of the installation of approximately 45,000 feet of water main in Wainscott, an effort to provide public water to the hamlet after numerous private wells were discovered to be contaminated with perfluorinated chemicals.

The East Hampton Town Board plans a vote tonight to authorize a bond resolution for the purchase of the building on Stephen Hand’s Path that housed the Child Development Center of the Hamptons.

The Sand Land industrial mine was denied its request to re-argue and renew its application to expand its mining operation on Middle Line Road in Noyac, another setback for the controversial plant that has been blamed for a wide range of pollutants in surface water and groundwater beneath the site.

A last-minute change in the site plan for the proposed 17,000-square-foot expansion of T.J. Maxx, a chain store in Bridgehampton Commons, was unveiled at a Southampton Town Planning Board public hearing last Thursday. The board closed the hearing, but will hold the record open for 30 days for written comments.

Multiple environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the federal government following news that the Trump administration has allowed five companies to conduct seismic surveys for oil and gas deposits under the Atlantic Ocean floor.

An informational session about the Suffolk County Aquaculture lease program, under which 10-acre parcels are leased for private, commercial shellfish cultivation, will be held at Town Hall next month, the East Hampton Town Trustees announced at their meeting on Monday.

After a plan for a water cistern on high ground in Amagansett ran into opposition from neighbors last spring, the Suffolk County Water Authority regrouped and will now hold a public hearing on a new concept on Monday at 6 p.m. in the East Hampton Library.

Immediate steps should be taken and community preservation fund money allocated to alleviate runoff of contaminated water into Lake Montauk and the Atlantic Ocean in Montauk’s downtown, the East Hampton Town Board was told at its work session on Tuesday.

Despite objections from farmers to a proposed law on the installation of eight-foot-high deer fences, which they said would be burdensome, the Sagaponack Village Board passed the measure without revision last week.

C.P.F. Revenues Up, Schneiderman Concedes, Thiele Supports Solar Expansion Campaign

Without fanfare and with no public comment, the East Hampton Town Board voted unanimously on Nov. 20 to adopt amendments to its zoning code establishing parking requirements that could affect motels’ ability to add accessory uses such as a restaurant, bar, or retail store.

The Empire State Trail, a continuous bicycling and pedestrian path that is to span the state from New York City to Canada and Buffalo to Albany upon its expected completion in 2020, may also extend to Long Island, the East Hampton Town Board was told last week, and could dovetail with a townwide goal for more cyclist and pedestrian-friendly roadways.

Springs residents turned out last Thursday for an East Hampton Town Board hearing on the future of their hamlet, however their comments were dominated by worries about the future of a commercial area just beyond the official Springs line.

D.E.C. Commissioner to Step Down. Opposing the T. J. Maxx Expansion.

Citing strong interest, the Town of East Hampton is continuing the Solarize East Hampton campaign that affords residential and commercial property owners a discounted price on solar panel installation beyond the original Oct. 31 sign-up deadline.

Residents will have an opportunity to weigh in on the proposed South Fork Wind Farm, a 15-turbine installation approximately 35 miles off Montauk Point, when the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management holds a scoping session on Monday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett.