A pivotal moment in the three-step approval process for the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) loan to fund the Tappan Zee Bridge project will happen tomorrow when the Public Authorities Control Board will take up discussion of the loan. Unanimous approval from the board is required for the loan to move forward to its next and final vote by the NYS Thruway Authority Board. In the wake of the EFC Board’s unanimous vote of approval, and in anticipation of tomorrow’s vote, the media has been nearly overwhelmed by criticism of the many facets of the controversial loan:

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Conclusively, as a matter of both law and public policy, I cannot support this proposal and, in fact believe that it should be withdrawn or left to fail on its merits, or lack thereof. Furthermore, as a member of the Public Authorities Control Board, I feel duty-bound by Section 51(3) of the Public Authorities Law to advocate against the passage of this proposal because it fails the necessary statutory test by being totally without “commitments of funds sufficient to finance the acquisition and construction of such project.”
– Bill Perkins, New York State Senator

From Day One we’ve been waiting for a complete financing plan that would include the all-important toll structure. Even after the feds came through with a $1.5 billion loan that required the filing of a financial plan, we still don’t know squat. Every attempt to FOIL the information has been denied by both the feds and the state, for no good reason.
– Fred LeBrun, Albany Times Union

In a two-page letter, the feds denied Juva-Brown’s [FOIL] request, saying the Thruway Authority had advised them to do so. The U.S. Department of Transportation said Cuomo’s financial plan — the basis for a $1.6 billion loan request — was “hypothetical,” “misleading” and “inaccurate.”  DOT spokeswoman Nancy Singer didn’t quite answer how that could be. “New York met the requirements” for the loan, she said.
– Andrea Bernstein, Senior Editor for Politics & Policy, WNYC

When there was a discussion about the Tappan Zee Bridge, I tried to get the executive director of the Thruway Authority to tell me how they were financing the bridge and there were no answers. They were going to appoint somebody and so forth. So, that’s one thing I want to get out of that meeting when it happens is that in order to decide one component of financing, you gotta know the whole financial package.
– John DeFrancisco, New York State Senator

By keeping these funds away from their intended purpose and in state coffers, Gov. Cuomo is barreling ahead overtop of federal and local objections. He says his raid means lower tolls on the new bridge, but he refuses to publicly share his math or where the remaining two billion still needed to build this bridge will come from. No one questions the need for a new Tappan Zee, but after several years of him pushing this project without a financing plan, it should not come at the expense of our communities’ clean water needs.
– Peter Iwanowicz, Executive Director, Environmental Advocates of New York

People understand the loans and bonds will eventually have to be repaid with toll revenues. What they want to know is, how they are going to do that?
– Veronica Vanterpool, Executive Director, Tri-State Transportation Campaign

LACK OF OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC REVIEW

We are particularly concerned over the how this proposal was announced. The announcement was made on Monday, June 16, with the EFC vote scheduled to be taken on June 26. (We note that, as of the date of this letter, there has been no public agenda for the scheduled board meeting to take place on that date; the date was reported in various newspaper articles.) Ten days is clearly insufficient for the public and other interested parties to review, consider and comment on this very complex and unusual proposal.
– James Brennan, New York State Assemblyman

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Please explain how the River Bottom Armoring mitigation project is eligible for CWSRF funding, since, based on your description in the May 28 letter, this activity would appear to result in the destruction of benthic habitat.
– Judith Enck, Region 2 Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency

…The proposed use of the Clean Water Fund will use monies intended to remedy existing damage to the Hudson River to pay for activities that will further damage the river.
– Tom Abinanti, New York State Assemblyman

Indeed, to the best of our knowledge, only approximately $12.5 million of the $511 million proposed financing would be utilized for genuine environmentally beneficial projects, and each of those projects has been expressly required as mitigation for the unavoidable adverse environmental impacts associated with the bridge construction and demolition project.
– Coalition of Environmental Advocates

INAPPROPRIATE USE OF LOAN FUNDS

We are, however, concerned that using dedicated wastewater infrastructure funds to fund the loan package… may create a bad precedent that could open the door for future borrowing of EFC CWSRF funds for other non-wastewater infrastructure or non-water quality related projects. We believe that a long-term loan of $511 million to the New York State Thruway Authority would lead to a sizeable reduction of CWSRF assets for the duration of the loan (typically 30 years), effectively  making fewer funds available for loans for wastewater infrastructure projects in the upcoming years.
– Steven Fangmann, President, The New York Water Environment Association, Inc.

The fund as administered by the EFC with a Board appointed by the Governor was never intended to provide a low interest loan to another branch of State government (NYS Thruway Authority) also under the control of the Governor.
– Mary Marvin, Mayor of Westchester, President of Westchester Municipal Officials Association

 There has been not enough public notice about this transaction. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimated in 2013 that New York will need many billions of dollars in new wastewater and sewage infrastructure over the next 20 years. The public has a right to know more about why the new Tappan Zee bridge has suddenly appeared at top of the list.
– NYTimes Editorial Board

Every aspect of this so-called loan is high chutzpah. There’s the mindboggling claim the that state Thruway, and therefore the bridge connecting Westchester and Rockland counties, is actually part of the ”Municipality of New York,” as in New York City. That stretch and a half has to be made to meet one of the qualifications for getting the funds. Trying to match vaguely applicable bridge construction needs with the fund’s sewer and water requirements makes for a host of other stretches as well. A lot of round pegs in square holes.
– Fred LeBrun, Albany Times Union