Will Barclay, R-Fulton and Assembly minority leader, delivers his opening remarks last week when the state Assembly opened its 2025 session.

The state Assembly’s Republican leader is now on the record opposing new freshwater wetlands regulations – though his opposition comes after the regulations have taken effect.

Late Friday, Will Barclay, R-Fulton, signaled his opposition with a news release while releasing a letter he wrote to Sean Mahar, interim state DEC commissioner, earlier this summer. Barclay’s letter said there is already a shortage of land available for development under the former delineated wetlands while raising concerns that more expansive wetlands regulations will further reduce available usable land. Barclay questioned how new wetlands regulations would impact development of a Micron computer chip factory that some say will lead to the need for more housing and additional jobs development in Central New York.

“From a practical standpoint, owning and purchasing property near water or wetlands in New York will come with additional unknown risks and variables,” Barclar wrote in September. “With this proposal, it would be hard for people to know how to plan and assess land values on parcels without knowing basic facts such as the potential for development.”

New wetlands regulations took effect Jan. 1 after calls from many in Chautauqua County for the DEC to delay implementation. While opposition to the regulations, or at least the Jan. 1 effective date for the new regulations, was loud in Chautauqua County, it was hard to find public opposition elsewhere in the state.

Barclay’s letter is one of the first signs of official opposition from somewhere outside of Chautauqua County to become public.

In 2024, the towns of Ellicott, Ellery, Busti, and North Harmony, as well as the villages of Bemus Point, Celoron, Lakewood, and Mayville passed resolutions opposing the state wetlands designation. In August County Executive PJ Wendel asked for a statewide delay for the regulations to take effect while state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, introduced legislation that would exempt navigable freshwater lakes from the new regulations.

“The new provisions amend New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act of 1975 and will greatly expand the amount of land subject to wetland restriction,” Barclay said Friday. “New York’s wetland restrictions are intended to protect the state’s water quality and the habitats of endangered species. The law will phase in over the next several years, affecting 1 million new acres of protected land. I recently penned a letter to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) expressing concerns shared by my constituents about these burdensome rules and an overall pattern of DEC and governmental overreach. I get these calls a lot, and I suspect many Upstate New Yorkers have grown tired with the heavy hand of Albany constantly meddling in what car they drive, how they heat their homes and, now, where they can build the businesses, developments and homes that help drive our economy.”

The DEC will host a webinar on Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. to provide information and answer questions about the updated Freshwater Wetlands program regulations. To register visit dec.ny.gov. Final regs and additional resources also are available on the DEC’s website.

There is also a proposed state general permit for various activities in state-regulated freshwater wetlands and adjacent areas, protected water bodies, and navigable waters. The Freshwater Wetlands General Permit (GP-0-25-003) would be for a five-year term to allow for the repair, replacement, or removal of existing structures and facilities; construction or modification of various residential, commercial, industrial, or public structures; temporary installation of access roads and laydown areas; cutting trees and vegetation; drilling test wells; and routine beach maintenance and replenishment in areas under DEC jurisdiction – the draft can be found at dec.ny.gov/regulatory/permits-licenses/general-permits/freshwater-wetlands.

Public comments will be accepted through Jan. 27 and can be submitted via email to DEPPermitting@dec.ny.gov or via mail to NYSDEC Division of Environmental Permits, Attn: Kristen Cady-Poulin, Fourth Floor, NYSDEC 625 Broadway, Albany, N.Y. 12233-1750.

“The unfortunate reality for New Yorkers is they are forced to spend more time figuring out how to undo the damage of their state government than doing what every free citizen of our nation has the right to do: live, be free and pursue the happiness and prosperity they deserve,” Barclay said.