Columbia County Environmental Management Council

The Columbia County Environmental Management Council (EMC) was created by the Columbia County Board of Supervisors in 1974 pursuant to Environmental Conservation Law Article 47 (also known as the Local Environmental Protection Act). Its purpose is to advise local and state government, and where resources within the county are influenced, the federal government, on present and proposed methods of using, protecting, and conserving the environment for the benefit of all the people.

This work may be accomplished through research, recommendations, reports, plans, inventories, and public information and education. The Columbia County EMC has worked in the following broad areas: energy production/transmission, hazardous and municipal solid waste, Hudson River and coastal zone issues, water quality and quantity issues, air quality issues, plant and animal habitats, septic systems and water wells, recycling, and major industrial project reviews.

Membership consists of representatives from the County's eighteen towns and the City of Hudson who are appointed to two years terms by the County Board of Supervisors. Monthly meetings are open to the public, and are held on the fourth Monday of each month at 6:30 pm in the Columbia County Office Building, 1st-Floor Committee Room, 401 State Street, Hudson, NY.

Michael O'Hara, Chairman
February 2021