Four lawsuits have been filed across the state from groups and municipalities concerned about the effects of the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act.

Concerns are nothing new to our readers. We’ve been reporting on them long before they were a concern throughout the rest of the state. While the lawsuits wind their way through the court system — three in state Supreme Court in Albany and one here in state Supreme Court in Mayville — it’s worth remembering that the lawsuits shouldn’t have been necessary.

The state Legislature could have headed off many of the concerns raised by passing a simple piece of legislation introduced last year by state Sen. George Borrello and former Assemblyman Andrew Goodell. It has been reintroduced by Borrello and Assemblyman Andrew Molitor this year — and hasn’t progressed out of committee either year.

That should change before the end of this legislative session.

It was one thing when the main voice of opposition was coming from the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association. Opposition was expected from the Chautauqua Lake Partnership, which has also filed a lawsuit. But the filing of lawsuits by a host of business groups and two downstate municipalities should be a sign to both Republicans and Democrats in the state Legislature that there are valid concerns about the Freshwater Wetlands Act changes that took effect this year. One way to address those concerns immediately would be passage of S.3656, which would simply exempt inland lakes that are navigable waterways and have an area of 150 acres or more from freshwater wetlands designations.

The legislation proposed by Borrello and Molitor is a common-sense step toward restoring balance in the maintenance of lakes across the state that, in our opinion, respects property owners rights and allows the DEC to do its job of making sure lakes are ecologically sound. It doesn’t deal with all of the issues raised in the Freshwater Wetlands Act lawsuits that have been filed, but it’s a first step that, in our view, should be taken between now and the end of the legislative session in June.