Governor Andrew Cuomo this week signed legislation that lowers the legal threshold for being considered legally drunk while hunting.
The new law lowers the threshold from .10 blood alcohol content to .08, the same standard used for determining if a person is driving a car or boat while drunk.
The measure was sponsored by Sen. Anna Kaplan and Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski.
The new law follows what other states, including Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire and West Virginia, have done to lower the legal intoxication threshold.
Sponsors of the legislation in a bill memo pointed to the .08 threshold for operating a boat or car, saying hunting is an activity that should have the same level of safety.
“An individual who is too intoxicated to drive a car or pilot a boat is also unfit to engage in hunting and the increased risk is not only to the hunter, but to everyone else in the field. This bill would ensure a consistent standard for intoxication in state law,” the bill memo states.
The bill takes effect on Sept. 1, 2020.