§ 363-bb. State police accidental disability retirement allowance. a.
A member may elect to receive an accidental disability retirement
allowance as provided under this section in lieu of the benefits
provided under section three hundred sixty-three-b of this title if, at
the time application therefor is filed, he or she is:

1. Physically or mentally incapacitated for performance of duty as the
natural and proximate result of an accident not caused by his or her own
willful negligence sustained in such service and while actually a member
of the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, and

2. Actually in service upon which his or her membership is based.
However, in a case if a member is discontinued from service subsequent
to the accident, either voluntarily or involuntarily, application may be
made not later than two years after the member is first discontinued
from service and provided that the member meets the requirements of
paragraph one of this subdivision.

b. Application for an accidental disability retirement allowance for
such a member may be made by:

1. Such member, or

2. The superintendent of state police or his or her designee, or

3. A person acting on behalf of and authorized by such member.

c. 1. After the filing of such an application such member shall be
given one or more medical examinations. No such application shall be
approved, however, unless the member or some other person on his or her
behalf shall have filed written notice in the office of the comptroller
within ninety days after the accident, setting forth:

(a) The time when and the place where such accident occurred,

(b) The particulars thereof,

(c) The nature and extent of the member's injuries, and

(d) His or her alleged incapacity.

2. The notice required by this section need not be given:

(a) If notice of such accident shall be filed in accordance with the
provisions of the workers' compensation law of any state within which a
participating employer shall have its employees located or performing
functions and duties within the normal scope of their employment, or

(b) If the application for accidental disability retirement is filed
within one year after the date of such accident, or

(c) If a failure to file notice has been excused for good cause shown
as provided by rules and regulations promulgated by the comptroller.

d. If the comptroller determines that the member is physically or
mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty and ought to be
retired for accidental disability, such member shall be so retired. Such
retirement shall be effective as of a date approved by the comptroller.

e. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the retirement
allowance payable upon accidental disability retirement shall consist
of:

1. An annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of the member's
accumulated contributions, plus

2. A pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the
reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay to which he or she may be entitled,
if any, plus

3. A pension of three-quarters of his or her final average salary. The
payment of such pension shall be subject to the provisions of section
three hundred sixty-four of this title.

f. If the member, at the time of filing of an application under the
provisions of subdivision b of this section, is eligible for a service
retirement benefit, then and in that event, he or she may simultaneously
file an application for service retirement in accordance with the
provisions of section seventy of this chapter, provided that the member
indicates on the application for service retirement that such
application is filed without prejudice to the applicant for accidental
disability retirement.

g. For purposes of this section, the term "accident" shall have the
same meaning and be interpreted in the same manner as such term is
defined and/or interpreted to mean in section three hundred sixty-three
of this title, as amended.

h. 1. (a) Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
regulation to the contrary, any condition or impairment of health caused
by a qualifying condition or impairment of health resulting in
disability to a member who participated in World Trade Center rescue,
recovery or cleanup operations for a minimum of forty hours shall be
presumptive evidence that it was incurred in the performance and
discharge of duty and the natural and proximate result of an accident
not caused by such member's own willful negligence, unless the contrary
be proved by competent evidence. A member shall be eligible for the
presumption provided for under this paragraph notwithstanding the fact
that the member did not participate in World Trade Center recovery and
cleanup operations for a minimum of forty hours, provided that: (i) the
member participated in the rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations at
the World Trade Center site between September eleventh, two thousand one
and September twelfth, two thousand one; (ii) the member sustained a
documented physical injury at the World Trade Center site between
September eleventh, two thousand one and September twelfth, two thousand
one that is a qualifying condition or impairment of health resulting in
disability to the member that prevented the member from continuing to
participate in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations
for a minimum of forty hours; and (iii) the documented physical injury
that resulted in a disability to the member that prevented the member
from continuing to participate in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or
cleanup operations for a minimum of forty hours is the qualifying
condition or impairment of health which the member seeks to be eligible
for the presumption provided for under this paragraph.

(b) In order to be eligible for the presumption provided for under
subparagraph (a) of this paragraph, a member must have successfully
passed a physical examination for entry into public service which failed
to disclose evidence of the qualifying condition or impairment of health
that formed the basis for the disability.

(c) For purposes of this subdivision, "qualifying condition or
impairment of health" shall include:

(i) Diseases of the upper respiratory tract and mucosae, including
conditions such as conjunctivitis, rhinitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis,
laryngitis, vocal cord disease, upper airway hyper-reactivity and
tracheo-bronchitis, or a combination of such conditions;

(ii) Diseases of the lower respiratory tract, including but not
limited to bronchitis, asthma, reactive airway dysfunction syndrome, and
different types of pneumonitis, such as hypersensitivity, granulomatous,
or eosinophilic;

(iii) Diseases of the gastroesophageal tract, including esophagitis
and reflux disease, either acute or chronic, caused by exposure or
aggravated by exposure;

(iv) Diseases of the psychological axis, including post-traumatic
stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or any combination of such
conditions;

(v) Diseases of the skin such as contact dermatitis or burns, either
acute or chronic in nature, infectious, irritant, allergic, idiopathic
or non-specific reactive in nature, caused by exposure or aggravated by
exposure; or

(vi) New onset diseases resulting from exposure as such diseases occur
in the future including cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
asbestos-related disease, heavy metal poisoning, musculoskeletal disease
and chronic psychological disease;

(d) For purposes of this subdivision, "participated in World Trade
Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations" shall mean any member
who:

(i) participated in the rescue, recovery, or clean up operations at
the World Trade Center site between September eleventh, two thousand one
and September twelfth, two thousand two, or

(ii) worked at the Fresh Kills Land Fill in New York between September
eleventh, two thousand one and September twelfth, two thousand two, or

(iii) worked at the New York city morgue or the temporary morgue on
pier locations on the west side of Manhattan between September eleventh,
two thousand one and September twelfth, two thousand two, or

(iv) manned the barges between the west side of Manhattan and the
Fresh Kills Land Fill in New York between September eleventh, two
thousand one and September twelfth, two thousand two. For the purposes
of this subdivision, "World Trade Center site" shall mean anywhere below
a line starting from the Hudson River and Canal Street; east on Canal
Street to Pike Street; south on Pike Street to the East River; and
extending to the lower tip of Manhattan.

(e) In order to be eligible for consideration for such presumption,
such member must file either a written and sworn statement with the
member's retirement system on a form provided by such system, or as
allowed by the member's retirement system, electronically submit a
statement on a form provided by such system through a secure online
portal maintained by the member's retirement system that has duly
validated the member's identity, indicating the dates and locations of
employment. Such statement must be filed not later than four years
following the effective date of chapter one hundred four of the laws of
two thousand five.

(f) The comptroller is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and
regulations to implement the provisions of this paragraph.

2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
regulation to the contrary, if a member who participated in World Trade
Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations for a minimum of forty
hours, and subsequently retired on a service retirement, an ordinary
disability retirement, a performance of duty disability retirement or a
state police disability retirement pursuant to section three hundred
sixty-three-b of this title and subsequent to such retirement incurred a
disability caused by any qualifying condition or impairment of the
health which the comptroller determines to have been caused by such
member's having participated in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or
cleanup operations for a minimum of forty hours, upon such determination
by the comptroller it shall be presumed that such disability was
incurred in the performance and discharge of duty as the natural and
proximate result of an accident not caused by such member's own willful
negligence, and that the member would have been physically or mentally
incapacitated for the performance and discharge of duty of the position
from which he or she retired had the condition been known and fully
developed at the time of the member's retirement, unless the contrary is
proven by competent evidence. A member shall be eligible for the
presumption provided for under this paragraph notwithstanding the fact
that the member did not participate in World Trade Center rescue,
recovery or cleanup operations for a minimum of forty hours, provided
that: (i) the member participated in the rescue, recovery, or cleanup
operations at the World Trade Center site between September eleventh,
two thousand one and September twelfth, two thousand one; (ii) the
member sustained a documented physical injury at the World Trade Center
site between September eleventh, two thousand one and September twelfth,
two thousand one that is a qualifying condition or impairment of health
resulting in disability to the member that prevented the member from
continuing to participate in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or
cleanup operations for a minimum of forty hours; and (iii) the
documented physical injury that resulted in a disability to the member
that prevented the member from continuing to participate in World Trade
Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations for a minimum of forty
hours is the qualifying condition or impairment of health which the
member seeks to be eligible for the presumption provided for under this
paragraph.

(b) The reclassification provided for in subparagraph (a) of this
paragraph shall not be granted, unless:

(i) the member files either a written and sworn statement with the
member's retirement system on a form provided by such system, or as
allowed by the member's retirement system, electronically submits a
statement on a form provided by such system through a secure online
portal maintained by the member's retirement system that has duly
validated the member's identity, indicating the dates and locations of
employment within four years following the effective date of chapter one
hundred four of the laws of two thousand five; and

(ii) the member must have successfully passed a physical examination
for entry into public service which failed to disclose evidence of the
qualifying condition or impairment of health that formed the basis for
the disability.

(c) The comptroller shall consider a reclassification of the member's
retirement as an accidental disability retirement effective as of the
date of such reclassification.

(d) Such member's retirement option shall not be changed as a result
of such reclassification.

(e) The member's former employer at the time of the member's
retirement shall have an opportunity to be heard on the member's
application for reclassification by the comptroller according to
procedures developed by the comptroller.

(f) The comptroller is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and
regulations to implement the provisions of this paragraph.

i. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
regulation to the contrary, if a retiree who: (1) has met the criteria
of subdivision h of this section and retired on a service or disability
retirement, or would have met the criteria if not already retired on an
accidental disability; and (2) has not been retired for more than
twenty-five years; and (3) dies from a qualifying condition or
impairment of health, as defined in subparagraph (c) of paragraph one of
subdivision h of this section, that is determined by the applicable head
of the retirement system or applicable medical board to have been caused
by such retiree's participation in the World Trade Center rescue,
recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in subparagraph (d) of
paragraph one of subdivision h of this section, then unless the contrary
be proven by competent evidence, such retiree shall be deemed to have
died as a natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the
performance of duty and not as a result of willful negligence on his or
her part. Such retiree's eligible beneficiary, as set forth in section
three hundred sixty-one of this title, shall be entitled to an
accidental death benefit as provided by section three hundred sixty-one
of this title, however, for the purposes of determining the salary base
upon which the accidental death benefit is calculated, the retiree shall
be deemed to have died on the date of his or her retirement. Upon the
retiree's death, the eligible beneficiary shall make a written
application to the head of the retirement system within the time for
filing an application for an accidental death benefit as set forth in
section three hundred sixty-one of this title requesting conversion of
such retiree's service or disability retirement benefit to an accidental
death benefit. At the time of such conversion, the eligible beneficiary
shall relinquish all rights to the prospective benefits payable under
the service or disability retirement benefit, including any
post-retirement death benefits, since the retiree's death. If the
eligible beneficiary is not the only beneficiary receiving or entitled
to receive a benefit under the service or disability retirement benefit
(including, but not limited to, post-retirement death benefits or
benefits paid or payable pursuant to the retiree's option selection),
the accidental death benefit payments to the eligible beneficiary will
be reduced by any amounts paid or payable to any other beneficiary.

j. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
regulation to the contrary, if a member who: (1) has met the criteria of
subdivision h of this section; and (2) dies in active service from a
qualifying condition or impairment of health, as defined in subparagraph
(c) of paragraph one of subdivision h of this section, that is
determined by the applicable head of the retirement system or applicable
medical board to have been caused by such member's participation in the
World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in
subparagraph (d) of paragraph one of subdivision h of this section, then
unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence, such member shall
be deemed to have died as a natural and proximate result of an accident
sustained in the performance of duty and not as a result of willful
negligence on his or her part. Such member's eligible beneficiary, as
set forth in section three hundred sixty-one of this title, shall be
entitled to an accidental death benefit provided he or she makes written
application to the head of the retirement system within the time for
filing an application for an accidental death benefit as set forth in
section three hundred sixty-one of this title.