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SECTION 27-1419
Certification of completion
Environmental Conservation (ENV) CHAPTER 43-B, ARTICLE 27, TITLE 14
§ 27-1419. Certification of completion.

1. Upon certification by the applicant that the remediation
requirements of this title have been or will be achieved in accordance
with the schedules provided in reports submitted to the department on
the remedial work plan for the brownfield site, such applicant shall
submit to the department a final engineering report prepared by an
individual licensed or otherwise authorized in accordance with article
one hundred forty-five of the education law to practice the profession
of engineering.

2. A final engineering report shall include, at a minimum:

(a) a description of the remediation activities completed pursuant to
the remedial work plan and any interim remedial measures for the
brownfield site;

(b) a certification that the data submitted to the department
demonstrates that the remediation requirements set forth in the remedial
work plan and any other relevant provisions of this title have been or
will be achieved in accordance with the timeframes, if any, established
in such work plan;

(c) the boundaries of the real property that is subject to a
brownfield site cleanup agreement;

(d) a complete description of any institutional and/or engineering
controls employed at the site, including the mechanisms that will be
used to continually implement, maintain, monitor, and enforce such
controls both by the applicant, the applicant's successors and assigns,
and by state or local government;

(e) a certification that any use restrictions, institutional controls,
engineering controls and/or any operation and maintenance requirements
applicable to the site are contained in an environmental easement
created and recorded pursuant to title thirty-six of article seventy-one
of this chapter and that any affected local governments, as defined in
title thirty-six of article seventy-one of this chapter have been
notified that such easement has been recorded;

(f) a certification that an operation and maintenance plan has been
submitted by the applicant for the continual and proper operation,
maintenance, and monitoring of any engineering controls employed at the
site including the proper maintenance of any remaining monitoring wells,
and that such plan has been approved by the department; and

(g) a certification that any financial assurance mechanisms required
by the department pursuant to this title have been executed.

3. Upon receipt of the final engineering report, the department shall
review such report and the data submitted pursuant to the brownfield
site cleanup agreement as well as any other relevant information
regarding the brownfield site. Upon satisfaction of the commissioner
that the remediation requirements set forth in this title have been or
will be achieved in accordance with the timeframes, if any, established
in the remedial work plan, the commissioner shall issue a written
certificate of completion. The certificate shall include such
information as determined by the department of taxation and finance,
including but not limited to the brownfield site boundaries included in
the final engineering report, the date of the brownfield site cleanup
agreement, and the applicable percentages available as of the date of
the certificate of completion for that site for purposes of section
twenty-one of the tax law. For those sites for which the department has
issued a notice to the applicant on or after July first, two thousand
fifteen or the date of publication in the state register of proposed
regulations defining "underutilized" as provided in subdivision thirty
of section 27-1405 of this title, whichever shall be later, that its
request for participation has been accepted under subdivision six of
section 27-1407 of this title, the tangible property credit component of
the brownfield redevelopment tax credit pursuant to paragraph three of
subdivision (a) of section twenty-one of the tax law shall only be
available to the taxpayer if the criteria for receiving such tax
component have been met. For those sites for which the department has
issued a notice to the taxpayer after June twenty-third, two thousand
eight that its request for participation has been accepted under
subdivision six of section 27-1407 of this title, the applicable
percentage for the site preparation credit component pursuant to
paragraph two of subdivision (a) of section twenty-one of the tax law,
and the on-site groundwater remediation credit component pursuant to
paragraph four of subdivision (a) of section twenty-one of the tax law
shall be based on the level of cleanup achieved pursuant to subdivision
four of section 27-1415 of this title and the level of cleanup of soils
to contaminant-specific soil cleanup objectives promulgated pursuant to
subdivision six of section 27-1415 of this title, up to a maximum of
fifty percent, as follows:

(a) soil cleanup for unrestricted use, the protection of groundwater
or the protection of ecological resources, the applicable percentage
shall be fifty percent;

(b) soil cleanup for residential use, the applicable percentage shall
be forty percent, except for Track 4 which shall be twenty-eight
percent;

(c) soil cleanup for commercial use, the applicable percentage shall
be thirty-three percent, except for Track 4 which shall be twenty-five
percent;

(d) soil cleanup for industrial use, the applicable percentage shall
be twenty-seven percent, except for Track 4 which shall be twenty-two
percent.

4. The commissioner shall not issue a certificate of completion to any
applicant who has been identified by the administrator of the New York
environmental protection and spill compensation fund pursuant to
subdivision four of section 27-1407 of this title as a person
responsible for the cleanup and removal costs for the discharge of
petroleum at or emanating from the brownfield site for which the
applicant is seeking a certificate of completion where the applicant has
not resolved any outstanding claim at such site pursuant to article
twelve of the navigation law.

5. A certificate of completion issued pursuant to this section may be
transferred by the applicant or subsequent holder of the certificate of
completion to a successor to a real property interest, including legal
title, equitable title or leasehold, in all or a part of the brownfield
site for which the certificate of completion was issued. Notwithstanding
any provision of this chapter to the contrary, a certificate of
completion shall not be transferred to a responsible party. Further, a
certificate of completion may be modified or revoked by the commissioner
upon a finding that:

(a) Either the applicant, or the applicant's successors or assigns,
has failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the brownfield
site cleanup agreement;

(b) The applicant made a misrepresentation of a material fact tending
to demonstrate that: (i) it was qualified as a volunteer; or (ii) met
the criteria set forth in subdivision one-a of section 27-1407 of this
title for the purpose of receiving the tangible property credit
component of the brownfield redevelopment tax credit pursuant to
paragraph three of subdivision (a) of section twenty-one of the tax law;

(c) Either the applicant, or the applicant's successors or assigns,
made a misrepresentation of a material fact tending to demonstrate that
the cleanup levels identified in the brownfield site cleanup agreement
were reached; or

(d) There is good cause for such modification or revocation.

6. Upon the commissioner's determination pursuant to subdivision three
or five of this section, the commissioner shall provide the applicant
with notice of such determination and notice of the right to appeal such
determination. The commissioner's determination shall be final unless a
hearing is requested by certified mail sent to the commissioner within
thirty days after receiving notice of such determination. After such
hearing, the commissioner shall give notice of final determination to
such applicant. The commissioner may promulgate regulations to
effectuate the purposes of this section.

7. Nothing herein shall be construed as abrogating any powers or
duties of the administrator of the New York environmental protection and
spill compensation fund as provided in article twelve of the navigation
law.

8. A notice of such certification of completion shall be recorded and
indexed in the office of the recording officer for the county or
counties where such brownfield site is located in the manner prescribed
by article nine of the real property law within thirty days of the
issuance of the certificate of completion if the applicant is an owner
or within thirty days of acquiring title to the brownfield site if the
person is a prospective purchaser.