Assemblyman Steve Englebright to Receive NYWEA Nelson A. Rockefeller Environmental Award

LongIsland.com

NYS Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) is the 2016 recipient of the distinguished Nelson A. Rockefeller Award.

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NYS Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket)

Photo by: Assemblyman Steve Englebright, via Facebook.

Setauket, NY - January 16, 2017 - The New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA), a statewide non-profit organization of leaders in water quality management, is pleased to announce that NYS Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) is the 2016 recipient of the distinguished Nelson A. Rockefeller Award which is being presented during the NYWEA 89th Annual Meeting, February 6-8, 2017 in New York City at the Marriott Marquis. The Rockefeller Award was created by NYWEA to honor an elected official who has made substantial and meaningful contributions to advancing the quality of the water environment.

For more than 20 years, Englebright has worked on environmental issues affecting Long Island and New York State and is the chair of the NYS Assembly’s Committee on Environmental Conservation (CEC). With professional training as a geologist and biologist, Englebright brings important background and perspective to helping shape public policy relating to our health and environment.

Most recently, the assemblyman has collaborated with NYWEA leaders on increasing funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in the 2016-’17 State Budget and his legislation addressing ocean acidification was passed into law last year. Additionally, as CEC chair, Englebright is focusing on electronic waste and how it can be recycled.

A proponent of the use of clean, renewable energy, Englebright authored New York’s solar and wind net-metering laws in the 1990s and successfully pushed in 2008 for expansion of the solar net-metering to include all utility customers. Englebright also was instrumental in passing the ban on the products containing bisphenol-A (BPA), and establishing the NYS Pine Barrens Protection Act. He also supported the Pesticide Use Registry Act and the Long Island North Shore Heritage Area Act, as well as a number of other conservation and ecosystem protection measures.

About NYWEA:
Founded in 1929 by professionals in the field of water quality as a nonprofit educational organization, NYWEA has 2,500 members statewide who historically have helped lead the way for state and national clean water programs. The Association hosts several technical conferences each year for environmental engineers, scientists, public officials and others who work in water and wastewater quality management. In addition, NYWEA sponsors a major scholarship program to encourage careers in science and engineering, publishes the quarterly magazine Clear Waters, and supports humanitarian clean water projects. Headquartered in Syracuse, NY, NYWEA has seven regional chapters, 13 college student chapters and is a Member Association of the international Water Environment Federation (WEF). For more information, visit www.nywea.org.