PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed Action:
Addition of section 190.10(d) to Title 6 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Environmental Conservation Law, sections 1-0101(3)(b), 3-0301(1)(b), 9-0105(1), 3-0301(2)(m) and 9-0105(3)
Subject:
Salmon River Falls Unique Area.
Purpose:
Protect public safety and natural resources on the Salmon River Falls Unique Area.
Text of proposed rule:
Section 190.10 Unique Areas
A new subdivision (d) is added to 6NYCRR section 190.10 to read as follows:
(d) Salmon River Falls Unique Area Description: For the purposes of this section, Salmon River Falls Unique Area refers to all those State lands lying and situated in the Town of Orwell, Oswego County, being a portion of Lots 73 and 74 of Township 11 of Constable’s Purchase, the same lands as more particularly described as project “OS - Oswego 95.08, Salmon River Falls Parcel” in Liber 1237 of Deeds on Pages 215, 216 and 217. Said Salmon River Falls Unique Area shall be hereinafter referred to in this section as “area”.
(1) The area is closed to any and all public use of any kind between the hours of sunset and sunrise.
(2) The possession of alcoholic beverages, glass containers, except for prescription medications and paint are prohibited on the area.
(3) Campfires and rock climbing are prohibited on the area.
(4) No person shall throw or cast any object or item into the river gorge on the area.
(5) Motorized vehicles, snowmobiles and horses are prohibited on the area.
(6) A restricted area has been established which includes the cliff face of the waterfalls and adjacent gorge; a 15 foot strip along the cliff edge; the plunge pool and falling rock zone. All public access is prohibited in the restricted area.
(7) The Gorge Trail is closed to the public from November 15th to May 1st, except to registered ice climbers.
(8) The Gorge Trail, Riverbed Trail and Upper Falls Trail is closed during high water events.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Dave Forness, Bureau of State Land Management, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-9433, (518) 402-9428, email: dmfornes@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Same as above.
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Additional matter required by statute:
A Negative Declaration has been prepared in compliance with Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law.
Regulatory Impact Statement
1. Statutory authority
“ECL” section 1-0101(3)(b) directs the Department of Environmental Conservation (Department) to guarantee “that the widest range of beneficial uses of the environment is attained without risk to health or safety, unnecessary degradation or other undesirable or unintentional consequences.” ECL section 3-0301(1)(b) gives the Department the responsibility to “promote and coordinate management of...land resources to assure their protection...and take into account the cumulative impact upon all such resources in...promulgating any impact upon all such resources...in promulgating any rule or regulation.” ECL section 9-0105(1) authorizes the Department to "exercise care, custody, and control" of State lands. ECL section 3-0301(2)(m) authorizes the Department to adopt rules and regulations “as may be necessary, convenient or desirable to effectuate the purposes of (the ECL),” and ECL 9-0105(3) authorizes DEC to “make necessary rules and regulations to secure proper enforcement of (ECL Article 9)”.
2. Legislative objectives
In adopting various articles of the ECL, the legislature has established forest, fish, and wildlife conservation to be policies of the State and has empowered DEC to exercise “care, custody, and control” over certain State lands and other real property. Consistent with these statutory interests, the proposed regulations will protect natural resources and the safety and welfare of those who engage in recreational activities on Department managed lands. The proposed regulations will protect the public by establishing a restricted area where all public access will be prohibited. Trails will be closed during high water events and during certain times of the year. Open fires will be prohibited as well as alcoholic beverages. Other restrictions will apply as well. Natural resources will be protected by restricting the area where threatened plant species and their habitat occurs.
3. Needs and benefits
The proposed regulations will implement unit management plan (UMP) provisions needed to address public safety issues and natural resource protection. The Salmon River Falls Unique Area is a high use recreational destination area consisting of a 110 foot waterfall and an extensive natural gorge with steep banks, sheer cliffs, plunge pool and unstable rock formations that pose a safety hazard to the visiting public. Years of freezing and thawing cycles along with water action have loosened many rocks on exposed cliff faces of the falls and gorge. In addition, this area is downstream from a hydroelectric project. During high water releases, the flow rate of the river can rise dramatically with very little warning. Due to the hazardous terrain, there have been numerous accidents at this site over the past fourteen years (the period of time this property has been in State ownership), resulting in serious injuries and in four fatalities. Furthermore, the local volunteer rescue squad has expressed serious concerns over their own safety while trying to rescue injured people from the base of the falls. One individual fell to their death while taking a picture at the cliff edge. Two fatalities involved alcohol with one occurring at night. The last fatality involved two youths jumping off the falls, one surviving and the other not. In addition, there have been a number of serious and life threatening injuries on the property related to individuals jumping off the falls.
The proposed regulations will restrict public access to an area including the cliff face of the waterfalls and adjacent gorge, a 15 foot strip along the cliff edge, the plunge pool and falling rock zone. This will provide for public safety as well as protection to the State threatened Birds-eye primrose and Yellow mountain saxifrage plants along with their natural habitat, the "Shale Cliff Talus Community". The ice climbing community has emphasized the importance of this unique area because of the high quality ice formations found within the gorge and the close proximity to the Syracuse area. As noted above, the falls and surrounding gorge will remain restricted to all activities including ice climbing for safety reasons as well as for natural resource protection, however, accommodations have been made to allow ice climbing away from the falls.
Regulations will include the prohibition of possessing alcoholic beverages and glass containers, except for medicinal purposes, in order to promote public safety and protect the property from excessive littering. Past history has shown that consumption of alcoholic beverages has contributed to serious injuries and deaths on the property. The gorge running through the property is framed by cliffs ranging up to 110 feet in height. Trails closely follow some of the drop-offs providing spectacular views for visitors, however this has resulted in dangerous conditions resulting in serious accidents for intoxicated hikers. On similar properties administered by the Department, prohibiting alcoholic beverages has been shown to save lives.
Motorized vehicles, snowmobiles and horses will be prohibited on the unique area due to steep terrain and soils prone to erosion. Because of these site conditions and the small acreage of this unique area, which totals 112 acres, these types of recreational uses cannot be supported.
The proposed regulations will require that the unique area be closed from sunset to sunrise and will be prohibit camp fires on the area. This is necessary to protect public health and safety and to reduce related problems associated with littering and underage drinking. Also prohibited will be rock climbing, possession of paint and the throwing or casting any object or item into the river gorge. In addition, the Gorge Trail will be closed to the public from November 15th to May 1st, except to registered ice climbers. The Gorge Trail, Riverbed Trail and Upper Falls Trail will be closed during high water events. All of these prohibitions and restrictions will provide for public safety.
These regulations for the Salmon River Falls Unique Area were addressed in the Unit Management Plan. The plan underwent a lengthy public review process including a public meeting, direct mailings, a press release, public distribution, a responsiveness summary and web postings. This was designed to assure public participation in the planning process by all stakeholders including the following: New York Rivers United, Brookfield Power Inc. (formally Reliant Energy), individual landowners, recreationists and government officials. In addition to the above there were numerous individuals that provided comments on the plan. All of these comments were addressed in a responsiveness summary that is part of the final Unit Management Plan. During the public meeting for the Salmon River Falls Unique Area Unit Management Plan and in subsequent written comments, the majority of the public were supportive of the plan, therefore there is not expected to be opposition to the proposed regulations. The restrictions incorporated into this regulation have been enforced on the property by posted signs for the past 5 years and have proven to provide adequate protection for the resource and public safety and continued support from the general public. Converting the existing restrictions into regulations will enable more effective enforcement and will fulfill the commitments the Department made in the Unit Management Plan.
4. Costs
There would be no increased staffing, construction or compliance costs projected for State or local governments or to private regulated parties. Costs to the regulating agency would be minimal, since the necessary signage is already in place. Costs incurred by rescue squads and EMTs should continue to be reduced by the rulemaking as it continues to protect public safety and minimizes the potential for accidents.
5. Paperwork
The Department of Environmental Conservation must monitor the registration for ice climbing as part of the program. This requirement can be conducted through already existing Law Enforcement program activities. The proposed regulations will not impose any reporting requirements or other paperwork or any private or public entity.
6. Local government mandates
This proposal will not impose any program, service, duty or responsibility upon any county, city, town, village, school district or fire district and may lessen the burden for local government with respect to rescue squads and EMT's.
7. Duplication
There is no duplication, overlap, or conflict with State or Federal rules. The proposed regulations will not duplicate, overlap or conflict with other rules and legal requirements of State and Federal governments.
8. Alternatives
The "no action" alternative or "status quo" is not feasible since it does not address public safety issues and natural resource protection. Enforcement by posted signs is problematic as signs can be vandalized or stolen, and the burden is on the Department to prove in each case that the signs were present on the property when an infraction occurred. Failure to effectively restrict use as well as prohibit alcoholic beverages has the potential to contribute to additional accidents on the property.
Failure to effectively prohibit camp fires and certain recreational uses has the potential to lead to degradation of the natural resources.
9. Federal standard
The proposed regulations do not exceed any minimum standards of the Federal government. There are no relevant Federal standards related to these regulations.
10. Compliance schedule
The proposed regulations do no impose any compliance requirements or mandates, therefore, there is no compliance schedule. The proposed regulation will become effective on the date of publication of the rulemaking in the State Register. Once the regulations area adopted, they are effective immediately.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
A Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for Small Businesses and Local Governments is not submitted with these regulations because the proposal will not impose any reporting, recordkeeping or other compliance requirements on small businesses or local governments.
Since there are no identified cost impacts for compliance with the proposed regulations on the part of small businesses and local governments, they would bear no economic impact as a result of this proposal. The proposed rule relates solely to protecting public safety and natural resources on the Salmon River Falls Unique Area.
Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
A Rural Area Flexibility Analysis is not submitted with this proposal because the proposal will not impose any reporting, record-keeping or other compliance requirements on rural areas. The proposed rule relates solely to protecting public safety and natural resources on the Salmon River Falls Unique Area.
Job Impact Statement
A Job Impact Statement is not submitted with this proposal because the proposal will have no substantial adverse impact on existing or future jobs and employment opportunities. The proposed rule relates solely to protecting public safety and natural resources on the Salmon River Falls Unique Area.
