Costich Engineering, Land Surveying, and Landscape Architecture, D.P.C. has reviewed updates related to New York State’s wetland policies, and have summarized them below:

Recently, New York State’s policies on regulating wetlands have changed. New York’s wetlands maps have long been outdated, and within the next few years, they will be completely remapped. However, in 2025, these new maps will no longer be used to regulate wetlands. The maps will now be purely educational, and jurisdictional determinations for state-regulated wetlands will be made by DEC staff using all available information, including the new informational maps. This will move smaller projects with less of an environmental impact through quicker but, in general, more projects will require permits as the quantity of wetlands increases.

Another important change is that in 2028 the size required for a wetland to qualify as protected will decrease from 12.4 acres to 7.4 acres. Smaller wetlands of unusual importance will also be regulated and have been redefined as including “watersheds with significant flooding, urban areas, rare plants, habitat for essential behavior of endangered/threatened/special concern/species of greatest conservational need, class I wetlands, previously designated as a wetland of Unusual Local Importance (ULI), productive vernal pools, wetlands in floodways, previously mapped wetlands, regional local significance, and significance for protecting state’s water quality”.

Additionally, permit application fees have been increased (although they are still lower than surrounding states) and violators can now be served with both a fine and an order to restore the violated wetland.

The Adirondacks will continue to be regulated as they are now.

Written by: Samantha Calus, Junior Environmental Engineer
For more information, contact Samantha at scalus@costich.com or visit https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4937.html