Senate Bill S6824

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6824
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             November 1, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  LITTLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to establish the Adirondack 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.  This  act  shall  be known and may be cited as the "Randy
 Preston road salt reduction act".
   § 2. 1. There is hereby established an Adirondack 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  executive  director  of  the Adirondack park agency or their
 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD13704-02-9

 S. 6824                             2
 
 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.
   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 Adirondack park. 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 Adirondacks 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-induced property damage across the Adirondack park;
   (b) a review of current state road management practices and levels  of
 service for state and local roadways in the Adirondack park;
   (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 Adirondacks;
   ii. respond rapidly to surface and groundwater  contamination  in  the
 Adirondack  park  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 Adiron-
 dacks 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 Adirondacks 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 Adirondack park;
   (g)  road  salt  reduction targets for the Adirondack park which shall
 serve to guide the department of transportation, department  of  health,
 and  department  of  environmental  conservation  in measurably reducing
 sodium and chloride levels in surface and ground waters; and
   (h) recommendations for a robust Adirondack park road  salt  reduction
 pilot  plan  and  test program including monitoring and operational plan
 goals, objectives, and activities that will subsequently be  implemented
 during a multi-year pilot program from 2021 through 2024.

 S. 6824                             3
 
   §  3.  1.  There  is  hereby  established an Adirondack park 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 Adirondack park.
   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  Adirondack
 park, 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 Adirondacks that have a connection
 to poor weather; and
   (i) launching a public education and outreach campaign keeping Adiron-
 dack residents and visitors informed of changes to winter  road  mainte-
 nance  practices,  speed limits and engaging the public to change behav-
 iors 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 Adirondack 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 Adirondack
 park.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.