S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7632
I N S E N A T E
May 21, 2014
___________
Introduced by Sen. O'BRIEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, the public authori-
ties law, and the state finance law, in relation to environmental
restoration projects
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 56-0503 of the
environmental conservation law, as amended by section 4 of part D of
chapter 1 of the laws of 2003, is amended and a new subdivision 3 is
added to read as follows:
(c) A provision that THE MUNICIPALITY SHALL ASSIST IN IDENTIFYING A
RESPONSIBLE PARTY BY SEARCHING LOCAL RECORDS, INCLUDING PROPERTY TAX
ROLLS, OR DOCUMENT REVIEWS, AND if, in accordance with the required
departmental approval of any settlement with a responsible party, any
responsible party payments become available to the municipality, before,
during or after the completion of an environmental restoration project,
which were not included when the state share was calculated pursuant to
this section, the state assistance share shall be recalculated, and the
municipality shall pay to the state, for deposit into the environmental
restoration project account of the hazardous waste remedial fund estab-
lished under section ninety-seven-b of the state finance law, the
difference between the original state assistance payment and the recal-
culated state share. Recalculation of the state share shall be done each
time a payment from a responsible party is received by the municipality;
3. THE DEPARTMENT MAY UNDERTAKE AN ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION PROJECT
ON BEHALF OF A MUNICIPALITY UPON REQUEST. IF THE DEPARTMENT UNDERTAKES
THE PROJECT ON BEHALF OF THE MUNICIPALITY, THE STATE SHALL ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE MUNICIPALITY AND THE AGREEMENT SHALL REQUIRE THE
MUNICIPALITY TO PERIODICALLY PROVIDE ITS SHARE TO THE STATE FOR COSTS
INCURRED DURING THE PROGRESS OF SUCH PROJECT. THE MUNICIPALITY'S SHARE
SHALL BE THE SAME AS WOULD BE REQUIRED UNDER SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS
SECTION. THE AGREEMENT SHALL INCLUDE ALL PROVISIONS SPECIFIED IN SUBDI-
VISION TWO OF THIS SECTION AS APPROPRIATE. FOR PURPOSES OF PROJECTS
SUBJECT TO AGREEMENTS UNDER THIS SUBDIVISION, ALL REFERENCES TO
CONTRACTS IN THIS TITLE SHALL ALSO APPLY TO AGREEMENTS UNDER THIS SUBDI-
VISION AS APPROPRIATE.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14924-01-4
S. 7632 2
S 2. Subdivision 4 of section 56-0505 of the environmental conserva-
tion law, as amended by section 5 of part D of chapter 1 of the laws of
2003, is amended to read as follows:
4. After completion of such project, the municipality may use the
property for public purposes or may dispose of it. If the municipality
shall dispose of such property by sale to a responsible party, such
party shall pay to such municipality, in addition to such other consid-
eration, an amount of money constituting the amount of state assistance
provided [to the municipality] under this title plus accrued interest
and transaction costs and the municipality shall deposit that money into
the environmental restoration project account of the hazardous waste
remedial fund established under section ninety-seven-b of the state
finance law.
S 3. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 56-0508 of the environmental
conservation law, as added by section 7 of part D of chapter 1 of the
laws of 2003, are amended to read as follows:
3. such temporary incidents of ownership by such taxing district shall
also qualify it as being the owner of such property [for the purposes of
obtaining] TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR funding from the state of New York for
such environmental restoration investigation project under this article
or for such funding from any source pursuant to any other state, feder-
al, or local law, but such incidents of ownership shall not be suffi-
cient to qualify it as the owner of such property for the purposes of
holding it wholly or partially liable for any damages, past, present, or
future from any release of any hazardous material, substance, or contam-
inant into the air, ground, or water, unless such release was caused by
such taxing district.
4. within thirty days of the completion of the environmental restora-
tion investigation project and the receipt by the taxing jurisdiction of
the final report of such investigation, such taxing jurisdiction shall
file such report with the court on notice to the court and all other
parties of record, and the stay of the foreclosure shall be lifted
(unless lifted earlier by a prior court order), and all incidents of
temporary ownership of the taxing jurisdiction that was awarded such
taxing district, except any right [to receive funding] for the environ-
mental restoration investigation project TO BE FUNDED, shall cease to
exist, and nothing in this subdivision shall preclude the taxing juris-
diction that conducted the environmental restoration investigation
project or the taxing jurisdiction that commenced the foreclosure
action, if it is a different taxing jurisdiction than the taxing juris-
diction which conducted the investigation, from withdrawing the parcel
from foreclosure pursuant to section eleven hundred thirty-eight of the
real property tax law.
S 4. Subdivision 6 of section 56-0502 of the environmental conserva-
tion law, as amended by section 2 of part D of chapter 577 of the laws
of 2004, is amended to read as follows:
6. "State assistance", for purposes of this title, shall mean in the
case of a contract authorized by subdivision one of section 56-0503 of
this title, payments made to a municipality to reimburse the munici-
pality for the state share of the costs incurred by the municipality to
undertake an environmental restoration project OR IN THE CASE OF AN
AGREEMENT AUTHORIZED BY SUBDIVISION THREE OF SECTION 56-0503 OF THIS
TITLE, COSTS INCURRED BY THE STATE TO UNDERTAKE AN ENVIRONMENTAL RESTO-
RATION PROJECT BUT NOT REIMBURSED BY A MUNICIPALITY.
S 5. Section 56-0501 of the environmental conservation law, as added
by chapter 413 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
S. 7632 3
S 56-0501. Allocation of moneys. 1. Of the moneys received by the state
from the sale of bonds pursuant to the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act of
1996, two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) shall be available for
disbursements for environmental restoration projects.
2. ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION PROJECTS MAY BE FUNDED USING THE PROCEEDS
OF BONDS ISSUED PURSUANT TO SECTION TWELVE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FIVE-Q OF THE
PUBLIC AUTHORITIES LAW.
S 6. Subdivision 1 of section 1285-q of the public authorities law, as
added by section 6 of part I of chapter 1 of the laws of 2003, is
amended to read as follows:
1. Subject to chapter fifty-nine of the laws of two thousand, but
notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, in order to
assist the corporation in undertaking the administration and the financ-
ing of hazardous waste site remediation projects for payment of the
state's share of the costs of the remediation of hazardous waste sites,
in accordance with title thirteen of article twenty-seven of the envi-
ronmental conservation law and section ninety-seven-b of the state
finance law, and for payment of state costs associated with the remedi-
ation of offsite contamination at significant threat sites as provided
in section 27-1411 of the environmental conservation law, AND FOR ENVI-
RONMENTAL RESTORATION PROJECTS PURSUANT TO TITLE FIVE OF ARTICLE FIFTY-
SIX OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION LAW, pursuant to capital appropri-
ations made to the department of environmental conservation, the
director of the division of budget and the corporation are each author-
ized to enter into one or more service contracts, none of which shall
exceed twenty years in duration, upon such terms and conditions as the
director and the corporation may agree, so as to annually provide to the
corporation in the aggregate, a sum not to exceed the annual debt
service payments and related expenses required for any bonds and notes
authorized pursuant to section twelve hundred ninety of this title. Any
service contract entered into pursuant to this section shall provide
that the obligation of the state to fund or to pay the amounts therein
provided for shall not constitute a debt of the state within the meaning
of any constitutional or statutory provision and shall be deemed execu-
tory only to the extent of moneys available for such purposes, subject
to annual appropriation by the legislature. Any such service contract or
any payments made or to be made thereunder may be assigned and pledged
by the corporation as security for its bonds and notes, as authorized
pursuant to section twelve hundred ninety of this title.
S 7. Subdivision 3 of section 1285-q of the public authorities law, as
added by section 6 of part I of chapter 1 of the laws of 2003, is
amended to read as follows:
3. The maximum amount of bonds that may be issued for the purpose of
financing hazardous waste site remediation projects AND ENVIRONMENTAL
RESTORATION PROJECTS authorized by this section shall not exceed one
billion two hundred million dollars and shall not exceed one hundred
twenty million dollars for appropriations enacted for any state fiscal
year, provided that the bonds not issued for such appropriations may be
issued pursuant to reappropriation in subsequent fiscal years. No bonds
shall be issued for the repayment of any new appropriation enacted after
March thirty-first, two thousand thirteen for hazardous waste site reme-
diation projects authorized by this section. Amounts authorized to be
issued by this section shall be exclusive of bonds issued to fund any
debt service reserve funds, pay costs of issuance of such bonds, and
bonds or notes issued to refund or otherwise repay bonds or notes previ-
ously issued. Such bonds and notes of the corporation shall not be a
S. 7632 4
debt of the state, and the state shall not be liable thereon, nor shall
they be payable out of any funds other than those appropriated by this
state to the corporation for debt service and related expenses pursuant
to any service contracts executed pursuant to subdivision one of this
section, and such bonds and notes shall contain on the face thereof a
statement to such effect.
S 8. Subdivision 2 and paragraph (f) of subdivision 3 of section 97-b
of the state finance law, as amended by section 4 of part I of chapter 1
of the laws of 2003, are amended to read as follows:
2. Such fund shall consist of all of the following:
(a) moneys appropriated for transfer to the fund's site investigation
and construction account; (b) all fines and other sums accumulated in
the fund prior to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight pursuant to
section 71-2725 of the environmental conservation law for deposit in the
fund's site investigation and construction account; (c) all moneys
collected or received by the department of taxation and finance pursuant
to section 27-0923 of the environmental conservation law for deposit in
the fund's industry fee transfer account; (d) all moneys paid into the
fund pursuant to section 72-0201 of the environmental conservation law
which shall be deposited in the fund's industry fee transfer account;
(e) all moneys paid into the fund pursuant to section one hundred eight-
y-six of the navigation law which shall be deposited in the fund's
industry fee transfer account; (f) [all moneys paid into the fund by
municipalities for repayment of landfill closure loans made pursuant to
title five of article fifty-two of the environmental conservation law
for deposit in the fund's site investigation and construction account;
(g)] all monies recovered under sections 56-0503, 56-0505 and 56-0507 of
the environmental conservation law into the fund's environmental resto-
ration project account; [(h) all] (G) fees paid into the fund pursuant
to section [72-0403] 72-0402 of the environmental conservation law which
shall be deposited in the fund's industry fee transfer account; [(i)]
(H) payments received for all state costs incurred in negotiating and
overseeing the implementation of brownfield site cleanup agreements
pursuant to title fourteen OF ARTICLE TWENTY-SEVEN of the environmental
conservation law shall be deposited in the hazardous waste remediation
oversight and assistance account; and [(j)] (I) other moneys credited or
transferred thereto from any other fund or source for deposit in the
fund's site investigation and construction account.
(f) to undertake such remedial measures as the department of environ-
mental conservation may determine necessary due to environmental condi-
tions related to the property subject to an agreement [to provide state
assistance] OR CONTRACT under title five of article fifty-six of the
environmental conservation law [that were unknown to such department at
the time of its approval of such agreement which indicates that condi-
tions on such property are not sufficiently protective of human health
for its reasonably anticipated uses or due to information received, in
whole or in part, after such department's approval of such agreement's
final engineering report and certification], which indicates that such
agreement's remedial activities are not sufficiently protective of human
health for such property's reasonably anticipated uses; and, [respecting
the monies in the environmental restoration project account in excess of
ten million dollars,] shall provide state assistance under title five of
article fifty-six of the environmental conservation law;
S 9. This act shall take effect immediately.