New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) Selects Congressman Maurice Hinchey for Nelson A. Rockefeller Award

(Syracuse, NY) The New York Water Environment Association, the organization of water quality management professionals, has awarded its annual Nelson A. Rockefeller Award (2001) to New York Congressman Maurice D. Hinchey (D-26^th). The NYWEA is a nonprofit association whose membership is comprised of over 2,100 water quality and environmental professionals from across the state. The NYWEA is presenting the Rockefeller Award at its 74^th Annual Meeting February 4, 2002 in New York City to recognize an elected official who has made substantial and meaningful contributions to advancing effective water quality management.

Hinchey has served in the 26^th Congressional District of New York since 1992 after serving 18 years in the New York State Assembly. Born on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1938 and raised in Saugerties, NY, Hinchey put himself through college after serving in the U.S. Navy. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration and economics at the State University of New York at Albany. Elected in 1974 to the NYS Assembly, Hinchey became a 14-year chairman of the Environmental Conservation Committee through which he led a successful investigation into the causes of the "Love Canal" toxic dumpsite. Under his leadership, the committee developed landmark environmental legislation including the nation’s first law to control acid rain, as well as other regulations to protect clean air and water and deal with hazardous waste disposal.

Hinchey also authored legislation that created the Hudson River Valley Greenway and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.

In Congress, Hinchey served for five years on the Resources Committee, responsible for legislation affecting public lands, national parks and forests, irrigation and reclamation, mining and mineral land laws, Indian affairs and federally-owned petroleum reserves. He has strongly defended the Clean Water Act against efforts to reduce water quality standards, and has been a leading advocate for PCB cleanup in the Hudson River. A member of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Hinchey has led efforts to protect environmentally sensitive areas from drilling and mining. Additionally, he has worked to obtain federal funding to expand the Finger Lakes National Forest, as well as to acquire 15,000 acres of Sterling Forest, the largest remaining privately-owned open space in the New York Metropolitan region.

Those interested in more information about the New York Water Environment Association may call (315) 422-7811, or visit its website: www.NYWEA.org.

	Get Adobe Reader Contact us to view a hard copy or if you cannot open any of these files.

If you have any comments or recommendations on how we can use this site to better serve you as a member of the association please let us know. Email the Executive Office.

If you have experienced any difficulty with the website, please email the web master.