The New York State Senate

                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  9825

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            February 13, 2020
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI -- read once and referred to the Commit-
  tee on Transportation

AN ACT to establish the New York city watershed east of the Hudson river
  road salt reduction task force, pilot plan and test program

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. 1. There is hereby established a New  York  city  watershed
east  of  the  Hudson  river  road salt reduction task force which shall
consist of the following fifteen members:
  (a) the commissioner of the department of transportation, commissioner
of department of environmental conservation, commissioner of the depart-
ment of health, or the designees of such commissioners;
  (b) the mayor of the city of New York, or his or her designee;
  (c) four appointees by the governor;
  (d) one designee of the attorney general;
  (e) two at large appointees by the Senate majority;
  (f) two at large appointees by the Assembly majority;
  (g) one appointee by the Assembly minority;
  (h) one appointee by the Senate minority.
  2. The at large members of the task force  shall  include  individuals
with  expertise  in  the science of road salt contamination and the best
practices of road management.   Task  force  members  shall  receive  no
compensation  for  their services but shall be reimbursed for actual and
necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties,  to  the
extent  funds  are appropriated for such purpose. The co-chairpersons of
the task force shall be the commissioners of environmental  conservation
and  transportation or their designees. Each member of the council shall
be entitled to one vote. The task force's approval and adoption  of  the
final  report  pursuant  to  this  section,  and  any subsequent interim
updates thereto, shall require a supermajority of  the  task  force.  No
action  may  be  taken by the task force unless there is a quorum, which
shall be a majority of the members of the task force. Any  vacancies  on
the  task  force  shall be filled in the manner provided for the initial
appointment.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD14723-01-0

A. 9825                             2

  3. The task force shall assess current  department  of  transportation
policies and practices, establishing levels of service for state roadway
management in winter weather for the New York city watershed east of the
Hudson  river.    This  assessment  shall be based on the best available
science  concerning  road  salt  contamination and the nature, scope and
magnitude of associated impacts to our surface and ground waters, public
and private lands, property and infrastructure.
  4. The task force shall prepare and submit to the governor, the tempo-
rary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chairs of
the senate committees on transportation, environmental conservation  and
health,  the  chairs of the assembly committees on transportation, envi-
ronmental conservation and health, on or  before  September  first,  two
thousand twenty-one, a report containing:
  (a)  findings  of an initial assessment of nature, scope and magnitude
of associated impacts to surface and ground waters, public  and  private
lands,  property,  health  and  infrastructure  in  the  New  York  city
watershed east of the Hudson river using  the  best  available  science.
This  assessment  shall  include  but not be limited to measures of salt
contamination to drinking water and estimates of the  cost  of  salt-in-
duced  property  damage  across  the New York city watershed east of the
Hudson river;
  (b) a review of current state road management practices and levels  of
service for state and local roadways in the New York city watershed east
of the Hudson river;
  (c)  a list of actions to be taken by members of the task force, state
and local governments and the public to:
  i. enhance winter road maintenance levels of service and best  manage-
ment  practices  and  road salt reduction techniques to reduce road salt
contamination of  surface  and  ground  waters  in  the  New  York  city
watershed east of the Hudson river;
  ii.  respond  rapidly  to surface and groundwater contamination in the
New York city watershed east of the Hudson  river  with  the  intent  to
mitigate  and  remediate  impacts  of  sodium and chloride pollution for
homeowners;
  iii. establish a training program for  state  and  local  winter  road
maintenance workers; and
  iv.  advance  a  public  education campaign to inform the public about
road salt contamination and how the public can reduce the need for  road
salt;
  (d)  a proposal to offer relief for owners of property in the New York
city watershed east of the Hudson river who can demonstrate  harm  as  a
result of the application of road salt along state roadways;
  (e) a calculation of the amount of road salt applied on state roadways
annually  for the years 2008 through 2018 in the New York city watershed
east of the Hudson river between October and April of each  winter  road
management season to serve as a baseline amount;
  (f) a publicly accessible record-keeping database system for road salt
purchases  with  information  on  applications  across the New York city
watershed east of the Hudson river;
  (g) road salt reduction targets for the New York city  watershed  east
of  the Hudson river which shall serve to guide the department of trans-
portation, department of health, and department of environmental conser-
vation in measurably reducing sodium and chloride levels in surface  and
ground waters; and
  (h)  recommendations  for a robust New York city watershed east of the
Hudson river road salt reduction pilot plan and test  program  including

A. 9825                             3

monitoring  and  operational plan goals, objectives, and activities that
will subsequently be implemented during a multi-year pilot program  from
2021 through 2024.
  §  2. 1. There is hereby established a New York city watershed east of
the Hudson river road salt reduction pilot plan and  test  program.  The
department  of  transportation,  in  partnership  with the department of
environmental conservation, shall  conduct  a  multi-year  pilot  study,
between  October  15 and June 30, for the years of 2021 through 2024, to
test best management practices, updated levels of service,  and  overall
road  salt reduction targets. The pilot plan shall be implemented on all
state-owned roadways within the boundary of the New York city  watershed
east of the Hudson river.
  2.  For  the duration of the pilot plan, the department of transporta-
tion and department of environmental conservation shall test  a  variety
of  application  techniques  and  road  management strategies, and shall
issue a report on the effectiveness of such  techniques  and  strategies
which shall include the resulting impacts to water quality and levels of
service  for  each technique and strategy. The techniques and strategies
employed shall include, but not be limited to:
  (a) varying application methods, rates and frequencies with the intent
to measurably reduce road salt applied to  state  roadways.  This  shall
include  test  comparisons of applications consisting primarily of abra-
sives and applications consisting primarily of deicers, especially anti-
icing and deicing brines;
  (b) implementation of well-established best practices such as  cutting
back  the  canopy where legal and appropriate, and pre-wetting abrasives
or solid deicers;
  (c) use of the best available technology and equipment for winter road
management;
  (d) changes to traffic management or reducing speed limits when weath-
er events make road conditions unsafe;
  (e) third party organizations monitoring water quality of surface  and
ground  waters on downhill slopes of state roadways in the New York city
watershed east of the Hudson river, with all results  disclosed  to  the
public in the pilot plan report;
  (f) monitoring road conditions with cameras along state roadways;
  (g) monitoring truck operators using post-trip reporting and real time
truck operation monitoring;
  (h) tracking accident rates in the New York city watershed east of the
Hudson river that have a connection to poor weather; and
  (i)  launching  a  public  education and outreach campaign keeping New
York city watershed east of the  Hudson  river  residents  and  visitors
informed  of  changes to winter road maintenance practices, speed limits
and engaging the public to change behaviors to  support  salt  reduction
efforts.
  3.  Following  the  completion  of  the  pilot plan, the department of
transportation and department of environmental conservation shall submit
a summary report to the New York city watershed east of the Hudson river
road salt reduction task force by August 30, 2024, identifying effective
and ineffective techniques  for  winter  road  maintenance  and  revised
levels  of  service  in  the  New York city watershed east of the Hudson
river.
  § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.