Summer stewards with the Adirondack Watershed Institute monitor boat launches and check watercraft for invasive species in June 2021. (Provided photo — AWI)

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law on Friday legislation that grants the state Department of Environmental Conservation the ability to conduct inspections and decontamination of boats and other watercraft to prevent aquatic invasive species spread in and around the Adirondack Park.

The new bill permanently extends the New York State Aquatic Invasive Species Transport Act, which requires boaters to their watercraft before launching in state waters, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

The law extends expired aquatic invasive species legislation from 2014 and authorizes DEC-operated to be set up at any location across the park and within a 10-mile radius of the blue line. The stations would provide certifications for boat inspection and decontamination in addition to providing education and outreach to boaters.

Aquatic invasive species are a threat to native species, and according to Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute, invasives are nearly impossible to get rid of once they’re established.

Hochul said in a statement.

The new inspection requirement will take effect 180 days after the law was signed, or May 2022.

The AWI already operates dozens of boat wash and decontamination stations in the park. While the AWI’s wash stations are voluntary, the DEC can require people with motorized boats to stop for inspection and decontamination at the new stations.

Once a boat is inspected, the DEC inspector will give boaters a certification listing the date and time the boat was inspected, if any preventative measures were performed and if the boat was decontaminated. The inspector will then attach a tamper-proof tag to the boat signaling it’s ready to launch.

The law also requires the DEC to create self-issuing certifications for people who can demonstrate that they’ve taken proper precautions against invasive species prior to launch. People can also present certification from another government entity to the DEC, according to the law, as long as that entity’s basic inspection and decontamination requirements adhere to the DEC’s.

Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, authored the bill.

Jones said in a statement.

Local green groups applauded Hochul for signing the aquatic invasive species law.

The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, a Keene-Valley based program hosted by the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, has operated for over two decades to keep aquatic invasive species in the park at bay, and program Manager Tammara Van Ryn said that the new bill is another effort in maintaining recent progress in invasive species prevention.

said Van Ryn.

Adirondack Council Executive Director Willie Janeway said in a statement that the new law boosts existing efforts to prevent aquatic invasive species spread — efforts he said are beneficial to outdoor enthusiasts and water bodies throughout the Adirondacks.

Janeway said.