Senate Bill S1189

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1189
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 11, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. RITCHIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the public lands law, in  relation  to  eliminating  any
   yearly fees associated with the use of docks on public waterways

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 7 of section 75 of the  public
 lands  law,  as  added by chapter 791 of the laws of 1992, is amended to
 read as follows:
   (e)(i) The commissioner may impose a fee in connection with the  issu-
 ance  of  any such lease, easement, permit, or other interest, which fee
 shall be established by rule pursuant to paragraph (f) of this  subdivi-
 sion,  and  which  shall take into account other factors affecting value
 including but not limited to classes of structure, types of use (includ-
 ing whether the use is for public or  private  purposes),  location  and
 region,  size,  usefulness  of  the parcel standing alone and such other
 criteria as the commissioner may determine, but which shall exclude  the
 value  of improvements thereon constructed and maintained by the adjoin-
 ing upland owner. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL  NOT  IMPOSE  YEARLY  FEES  FOR
 LEASES, EASEMENTS, OR PERMITS, AND ANY APPLICATION FEE FOR SUCH SHALL BE
 SUBJECT  TO THE APPROVAL OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUDGET. APPLICATION FEES
 SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. The rules and regulations required
 by paragraph (f) of this subdivision shall prescribe that in  the  event
 an  applicant  for  a lease, easement or other interest in real property
 shall dispute and request a reduction  of  the  commissioner's  determi-
 nation  of  the  value  of the interest to be conveyed, the commissioner
 shall, upon the applicant's submission of an appraisal of the  value  of
 such  property  interest  conducted in accord with standard and accepted
 appraisal  methodology  by  an  independent   appraiser   qualified   as
 prescribed  in  this paragraph and which appraisal varies in its conclu-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD04897-01-9

 S. 1189                             2
 
 sion as to value by ten percent or more of the value  previously  estab-
 lished  by  the  commissioner,  and upon the applicant's agreement to be
 bound thereby, contract with a second independent  appraiser,  qualified
 as  prescribed in this paragraph, to render an appraisal of the value of
 the interest proposed to be conveyed, the  results  of  which  appraisal
 shall be binding upon both the applicant and the commissioner of general
 services. Such appraiser shall be selected by the commissioner of gener-
 al  services  from among a group of at least three appraisers identified
 by the applicant all of whom must be qualified  as  prescribed  in  this
 paragraph and each of whom must agree to employ standard appraisal meth-
 odology.  For the purposes of this provision a qualified appraiser shall
 be certified by the secretary of state to transact business  as  a  real
 estate  general  appraiser  and  shall conduct a regular business of the
 appraisal of real property interests. In the event  that  the  appraisal
 contracted for in such manner shall conclude that the value of the prop-
 erty interest in question is equal to the value previously determined by
 the  commissioner  plus  or  minus  ten percent, the entire cost of such
 appraisal shall be borne by the applicant, otherwise,  the  entire  cost
 thereof shall be borne by the commissioner of general services.
   (ii)  [For  leases,  easements  and  conveyances of such interests for
 commercial use of structures on state-owned underwater lands, the annual
 fee imposed shall not exceed two percent of the user's net annual income
 for structures not in existence on the effective date of this paragraph.
 Nor, in connection with a structure in existence and in  commercial  use
 on  the  effective  date  of  this  paragraph,  shall the fee charged in
 connection with such a conveyance made after the effective date of  this
 subparagraph  exceed  annually  the  following  schedule  for five years
 following the effective date of the interest conveyed pursuant to subdi-
 vision (b) of this section provided timely application pursuant to  that
 subdivision  has been made: .2 (two-tenths) of one percent; second year:
 .4 (four-tenths) of one percent;  third-year:  .6  (six-tenths)  of  one
 percent;  fourth year: .8 (eight-tenths) of one percent; fifth year, and
 thereafter: one percent; provided that  all  such  percentages  in  this
 paragraph  shall  be  that percentage of the net income derived from the
 structure or structures on  state-owned  lands,  excluding  transactions
 involving sales or repair of boats, and sale of gasoline; and the dollar
 valuation  of  the interest conveyed shall not be increased from year to
 year during that five year period. The fee charged shall  be  discounted
 ten percent for annual permits.
   (iii)  For  leases,  easements  and  conveyances of such interests for
 residential use of non-exempt structures in  existence  and  residential
 use  on  the  effective date of this paragraph, the annual fee shall not
 exceed the lesser of twenty dollars per slip or one hundred dollars.
   (iv)] Nothing in this paragraph shall  preclude  the  commissioner  of
 general services from agreeing, upon the request of and negotiation with
 the  owner  or  user  of  adjacent  upland, to such other conveyances or
 agreements consistent with this section providing for different periodic
 payments, or a more flexible payment structure, than the  fee  caps  and
 fees,  respectively, set forth for commercial and residential facilities
 herein. Moreover, notwithstanding the fee caps set in this section,  the
 commissioner  may  exceed those caps if required to cover the yearly pro
 rata share, over the term of the conveyance or interest, of the adminis-
 trative costs in connection with that conveyance or interest.
   § 2. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 7 of section 75 of the public  lands
 law,  as  amended by chapter 549 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read
 as follows:

 S. 1189                             3
 
   (f) The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner  of  envi-
 ronmental  conservation,  the  secretary  of state, the office of parks,
 recreation and historic preservation and other interested state agencies
 administering state-owned lands underwater, shall promulgate pursuant to
 article  two  of  the state administrative procedure act such rules with
 respect to grants, leases, easements and lesser interests for the use of
 state-owned land underwater, and the cession of jurisdiction thereof, as
 in his or her judgment are  reasonable  and  necessary  to  protect  the
 interests of the people in such lands underwater. Such regulations shall
 include  without  being  limited  to: the fees to be charged, consistent
 with the provisions of this section, including mitigation of  such  fees
 in  the  event  of economic hardship on existing commercial enterprises;
 fee limitations to administrative expenses for municipal uses which  are
 public,  non-commercial and offer services free or for nominal fees, and
 for uses undertaken and operated for public and non-commercial  purposes
 by  not-for-profit corporations characterized as charitable corporations
 as defined in paragraph (a) of section one hundred two (Definitions)  of
 the not-for-profit corporation law, and for uses undertaken and operated
 for  public  purposes  by a corporation formed pursuant to the religious
 corporation law or by a corporation formed pursuant to a special act  of
 this  state  and which has as its principal purpose a religious purpose;
 such further exemptions for projects as the commissioner  determines  do
 not  represent significant encroachments; limitations on grants, includ-
 ing conversion grants, with respect to underwater lands consistent  with
 the  public  purposes  of  this  subdivision and limiting such grants to
 exceptional circumstances; and factors to be examined in considering  an
 application for a lease, easement or other interest. Those factors shall
 include  without  limitation the following: (i) the environmental impact
 of the project; (ii) the values for natural resource management,  recre-
 ational  uses,  and  commercial  uses  of the pertinent underwater land;
 (iii) the size, character and effects of  the  project  in  relation  to
 neighboring  uses;  (iv) the potential for interference with navigation,
 public uses of the waterway and rights of other riparian owners; (v) the
 effect of the project on the natural resource interests of the state  in
 the  lands;  (vi)  the  water-dependent nature of the use; (vii) and any
 adverse economic impact on existing commercial enterprises.  [The  final
 promulgation  of  rules  establishing  fees  or fee structures] PRIOR TO
 THEIR PROMULGATION, ANY RULES  OR  REGULATIONS  DESCRIBING  FEES  TO  BE
 CHARGED  BY  THE  COMMISSIONER  shall  be subject to the approval of the
 director of the budget; HOWEVER, THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUDGET SHALL NOT BE
 AUTHORIZED TO ALLOW ANY YEARLY FEE FOR A LEASE, OR THE  GRANTING  OF  AN
 EASEMENT OR PERMIT FOR THE USE OF STATE-OWNED LAND UNDERWATER.
   §  3.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law.    Effective  immediately,  the  addition,  amendment
 and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation by the commissioner of environ-
 mental conservation necessary for the implementation of this act on  its
 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
 effective date.