§ 27-1305. Reports by the department; registry of sites.

1. The department shall maintain and make available for public
inspection, either at each of its regional offices and regional
sub-offices, at the office of the county clerk or register for each
county and at the office of the town clerk for each town in Suffolk and
Nassau counties, or on its website, a registry of inactive hazardous
waste disposal sites in such region or, with respect to the office of
the county clerk or register, in such county, or with respect to its
website, the entire state. The department shall provide a written copy
upon requests by any person. The department shall take all necessary
action to ensure that the registry provides a complete and up-to-date
listing of all such sites within the region. The department shall, on or
before January first, two thousand four, and annually thereafter,
transmit the updated registry to the legislature and the governor. A
notice of the availability of the updated registry shall be sent to the
department of health and the chief executive officer of every county.
Upon identification of an inactive hazardous waste disposal site not
included in the registry for the immediately preceding year, the
department shall notify in writing the chief executive officer of each
county, city, town and village and the public water supplier which
services the area in which such site is located that such site has been
so identified. For the purposes of this section, "water supplier" shall
mean any public water system as such term is defined for the purposes of
the sanitary code of the state of New York as authorized by section two
hundred twenty-five of the public health law. Such registry shall
include but need not be limited to those items among the following which
the commissioner determines to be necessary:

a. A description of the sites consisting of:

(i) a general description of the site, which shall include the name,
if any, of the site, the address of the site, the type and quantity of
the hazardous waste disposed of at the site and the name of the current
owners of the site;

(ii) an assessment by the department of any significant environmental
problems at and near the site;

(iii) an assessment prepared by the department of health of any
serious health problems in the immediate vicinity of the site and any
health problems deemed by the department of health to be related to
conditions at the site;

(iv) the status of any testing, monitoring or remedial actions in
progress or recommended by the department;

(v) the status of any pending legal actions and any federal, state or
local government permits or approvals concerning the site; and

(vi) an assessment of the relative priority of the need for action at
each site to remedy environmental and health problems resulting from the
presence of wastes at such site;

b. Address and site boundaries including tax map parcel numbers or
section, block and lot numbers, and if the site is located within a
disadvantaged community;

c. Time period of use for disposal of hazardous waste;

d. Name of the current owner and operator and names of any past and
reported owners and operators during the time period of use for disposal
of hazardous waste;

e. Names of persons responsible for the generation and transportation
of hazardous waste disposed of;

f. Type and quantity of hazardous waste disposed of;

g. Manner of disposal of hazardous waste;

h. Nature of soils at the site;

i. Depth of water table at the site;

j. Location, nature and size of aquifers at the site;

k. Direction of present and historic groundwater flows at the site;

l. Location, nature and size of all surface waters at and near the
site;

m. Levels of contaminants, if any, in groundwater, surface water, air
and soils at and near the site resulting from hazardous wastes disposed
of at the site or from any other cause and areas known to be directly
affected or contaminated by wastes from the site;

n. As determined by the department of health, current quality of all
drinking water drawn from or distributed through the area in which the
site is located when the department of health determines that water
quality may have been affected by the site in question and any known
change in the quality of such drinking water over time;

o. Proximity of the site to private residences, public buildings or
property, school, daycare, medical, or senior care facilities, places of
work or other areas where individuals may be present, or location within
a disadvantaged community; and

p. The name, address and telephone number of the public water supplier
which services the area in which such site is located.

2. a. The department shall conduct investigations of the sites listed
in the registry and shall investigate areas or sites which it has reason
to believe should be included in the registry. The purpose of these
investigations shall be to develop the information required by
subdivision one of this section to be included in the registry.

b. (1) Assessment and classification. The department shall, as part of
the registry, assess and, based upon new information received, reassess
by March thirty-first of each year, in cooperation with the department
of health, the relative need for action at each site to remedy
environmental and health problems resulting from the presence of
hazardous wastes at such sites including in such assessment whether
sites shall be prioritized under subdivision five of this section due to
site location in an area identified as a disadvantaged community;
provided, however, that if at the time of such assessment or
reassessment, the department has not placed a site in classification 1
or 2, as described in clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph, and
such site is the subject of negotiations for, or implementation of, a
brownfield site cleanup agreement pursuant to title fourteen of this
article, obligating the person subject to such agreement to, at a
minimum, eliminate or mitigate all significant threats to the public
health and environment posed by the hazardous waste pursuant to such
agreement, the department shall defer its assessment or reassessment
during the period such person is engaged in good faith negotiations to
enter into such an agreement and, following its execution, is in
compliance with the terms of such agreement, and shall assess or
reassess such site upon completion of remediation to the department's
satisfaction. In making its assessments, the department shall place
every site in one of the following classifications:

(i) Causing or presenting an imminent danger of causing irreversible
or irreparable damage to the public health or environment--immediate
action required;

(ii) Significant threat to the public health or environment--action
required;

(iii) Does not present a significant threat to the public health or
environment--action may be deferred;

(iv) Site properly closed--requires continued management;

(v) Site properly closed, no evidence of present or potential adverse
impact--no further action required.

(2) Prioritization. The department shall, in accordance with
subdivision five of this section, prioritize remedial programs at sites
placed in classification 1 or 2, as described in clauses (i) and (ii) of
subparagraph one of this paragraph, that are located in disadvantaged
communities, consistent with the protection of public health and the
environment.

c. (1) Any owner or operator of a site listed pursuant to this section
may petition the commissioner for deletion of such site, modification of
the site classification, or modification of any information regarding
such site by submitting a written statement in such form as the
commissioner may require setting forth the grounds of the petition.

(2) Within ninety days after the submittal of such petition, the
commissioner may convene an administrative hearing to determine whether
a particular site should be deleted from the registry, receive a
modified site classification or whether any information regarding the
site should be modified. In any such hearing the burden of proof shall
be on the petitioner. No less than thirty days prior to the hearing the
commissioner shall cause a notice of hearing to be published in the next
available environmental notice bulletin, on the department's website,
and in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
site is located. The commissioner shall also notify in writing any owner
or operator of the site, as well as the owners of record of adjacent
properties, no less than thirty days prior to the hearing. The cost of
any such hearing, including the cost of any public notification, shall
be at the petitioner's expense.

(3) No later than thirty days following receipt of the complete record
as that term is defined in the state administrative procedure act, or
following the decision not to hold a hearing the commissioner shall
provide the owner or operator with a written determination accompanied
by reason therefor regarding the deletion of such site, modification of
the site classification or modification of any information regarding
such site. Any final decision rendered by the commissioner shall be
reviewable under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and
rules.

(4) The commissioner may not delete any site from the registry without
providing public notice no less than sixty days prior to the proposed
deletion. Such notice of deletion shall be published in the next
available environmental notice bulletin, on the department's website,
and in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
site is located. The commissioner shall also notify in writing any owner
or operator of the site, if applicable, no less than sixty days prior to
the proposed deletion. The commissioner shall provide a thirty-day
period for submission of written comments and an opportunity for
submission of oral comments at a public meeting at or near the site. The
commissioner shall summarize any comments received and make the summary
available to the public on the department's website. The commissioner
may convene an administrative hearing to determine whether a particular
site should be deleted from the registry, receive a modified site
classification or whether any information regarding the site should be
modified.

(5) The department shall notify, as soon as possible and within
available resources all public repositories of the registry, including
updating its website, of any modifications or deletions to such
registry. The department shall also note any such deletions or
modifications in the next annual report and publication of the registry.

(6) The department shall, within ten days of any determination notify
the local governments of jurisdiction whenever a change is made in the
registry pursuant to this subdivision.

d. (1) Within seven months after the effective date of this
subdivision the department shall notify by certified mail the owner of
all or any part of each site or area included in the registry, of the
inclusion of the site or area by mailing notice to such owner at the
owner's last known address. Thereafter, fifteen days before any site or
area is added to the registry, the department shall notify in writing by
certified mail the owner of all or any part of such site or area of the
inclusion of such site or area by mailing notice to each such owner at
the owner's last known address.

(2) Notice pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision shall include
but not be limited to a description of the duties and restrictions
imposed by section 27-1317 of this title and by section one thousand
three hundred eighty-nine-d of the public health law.

(3) Non-receipt of any notice mailed to an owner pursuant to this
subdivision shall in no way affect the responsibilities, duties or
liabilities imposed on any person by this title or title XII-A of
article thirteen of the public health law.

e. The department shall, in consultation with the department of
health, evaluate existing site evaluation systems and shall develop a
system to select and prioritize sites for remedial action. Such system
shall incorporate environmental, natural resource and public health
concerns, and a site's location within a disadvantaged community.

f. The department shall develop a site status reporting system and
utilize such system to ensure that the registry required by subdivision
one of this section provides a complete and up-to-date listing of all
sites in each region.

3. The department shall, as soon as possible but in no event later
than January first, nineteen hundred eighty-four, and annually
thereafter prepare and submit in writing a "state inactive hazardous
waste remedial plan," hereinafter referred to as "the plan" to the state
superfund management board. Such board shall then approve of the plan or
make such modification as it is empowered to do pursuant to section
27-1319 of this chapter and submit the approved plan or modified plan,
to the governor and the legislature on or before March first, nineteen
hundred eighty-four and annually thereafter. In preparing, compiling and
updating the plan, the department shall:

a. Conduct or cause to be conducted field investigations of high
priority sites listed in the inactive hazardous waste disposal sites
registry for the purpose of further defining necessary remedial action.
To the maximum extent practicable, the department shall utilize existing
information including, but not limited to, subsurface borings and any
analyses or tests of samples taken from such sites by owners or
operators, other responsible persons and any federal or non-federal
agencies.

b. Make any subsurface borings and any analyses or tests of samples
taken as may be necessary or desirable to effectuate the field
investigations of sites as required under this section subject to the
requirements of this title.

c. Make any record searches or document reviews as may be necessary or
desirable to effectuate the purposes of this section subject to the
requirements of this title.

d. Consider the effects on the health, environment and economy of the
state when assessing the relative priority of sites as required by this
section, especially any actual or significant threat of direct human
contact or contamination of groundwater or drinking water.

e. Detail the recommended strategy, methods and time frame by which
remedial action at sites shall be carried out, except that no
information or work product associated with actual or pending litigation
shall be divulged unless otherwise required by law.

f. Estimate, with reasonable specificity, based upon the field
investigations, assessments, analyses, document reviews and other
appropriate data gathering, the costs of remedial action for sites
included in the plan, considering the appropriate methods and techniques
as currently exist in the field of hazardous waste management and any
such estimates or recommendations shall reflect such costs as are
reasonably necessary to contain, alleviate or end the threat to life or
health or to the environment.

4. On or before July first, nineteen hundred eighty-six and July first
of each succeeding year, the department shall prepare a status report on
the implementation of the plan, and an update of the policies, program
objectives, methods and strategies as outlined in the plan which guide
the overall inactive hazardous waste site remediation program. Such
status report shall reflect information available to the department as
of March thirty-first of each year, and shall include an accounting of
all monies expended or encumbered from the environmental quality bond
act of nineteen hundred eighty-six or the hazardous waste remedial fund
during the preceding fiscal year, such accounting to separately list:

a. monies expended or encumbered for the purpose of conducting site
investigations;

b. monies expended or encumbered for the purpose of conducting
remedial investigations and feasibility studies;

c. monies expended or encumbered for the purpose of conducting
remedial design studies;

d. monies expended or encumbered for the purpose of conducting
remedial construction activities;

e. monies expended or encumbered for operation, maintenance, and
monitoring activities;

f. monies expended or encumbered for interim remedial measures;

g. monies expended or encumbered for administrative personnel costs
associated with activities conducted at inactive hazardous waste
disposal sites;

h. monies expended or encumbered for oversight activities at inactive
hazardous waste disposal sites;

i. monies expended or encumbered in stand-by contracts entered into
pursuant to section 3-0309 of this chapter and the purposes for which
these stand-by contracts were entered into; and

j. an accounting of payments received and payments obligated to be
received pursuant to this title, and a report of the department's
attempts to secure such obligations.

5. Site cleanup prioritization. The department shall, no later than
January first, two thousand twenty-six, submit to the governor and
legislature and publish on its website site cleanup prioritization
criteria. The department shall review and update criteria as necessary.
The department shall describe the criteria and processes it uses to
determine the relative prioritization of sites, and an explanation of
the rationale of such criteria and processes. In preparing and updating
such criteria, the department shall consider the effects on the health,
environment and economy of the state, with particular consideration for
the effects on disadvantaged communities.

6. Status report. The department no later than December thirty-first
of each year, shall, using the information available to it, submit to
the governor and legislature, and make public on the department's
website an inactive hazardous waste remedial program status report for
the previous fiscal year. Such report shall include a status update of
all registered sites and an accounting of all monies expended or
encumbered from the environmental quality bond act of nineteen hundred
eighty-six, the hazardous waste remedial fund, the department's natural
resource damages fund, or any other monies otherwise appropriated for
the implementation of this title, during the preceding fiscal year, such
accounting to separately list:

(i) monies expended or encumbered for the purpose of conducting site
investigations;

(ii) monies expended or encumbered for the purpose of conducting
remedial investigations and feasibility studies;

(iii) monies expended or encumbered for the purpose of conducting
remedial design studies;

(iv) monies expended or encumbered for the purpose of conducting
remedial construction activities;

(v) monies expended or encumbered for operation, maintenance, and
monitoring activities;

(vi) monies expended or encumbered for interim remedial measures;

(vii) monies expended or encumbered for oversight activities,
including personnel and contractor costs, at inactive hazardous waste
disposal sites;

(viii) monies expended or encumbered in stand-by contracts entered
into pursuant to section 3-0309 of this chapter and the purposes for
which these stand-by contracts were entered into;

(ix) an accounting of payments received and payments obligated to be
received pursuant to this title, and a report of the department's
attempts to secure such obligations; and

(x) an accounting of all response costs recovered statewide and
natural resource damages recovered at each site, including through
settlement or agreement, commissioner order, judicial determination and
award, a required instrument of financial responsibility, or an
environmental lien.