Bill Text: NY A05477 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Provides that the statute of limitations for public water suppliers and wholesale water suppliers to commence an action for injury to property shall be three years.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 31-8)

Status: (Passed) 2019-11-04 - SIGNED CHAP.442 [A05477 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A05477-Amended.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         5477--B
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 12, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  THIELE, STERN, LiPETRI, ENGLEBRIGHT, LAVINE,
          D'URSO, MONTESANO, MIKULIN, RAIA, RA,  GOTTFRIED,  COLTON,  ZEBROWSKI,
          McDONOUGH,   SCHMITT,  DeSTEFANO,  JEAN-PIERRE,  ORTIZ,  L. ROSENTHAL,
          MAGNARELLI, REYES -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. DenDEKKER --  read
          once   and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Judiciary  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee -- again reported from said  committee  with  amend-
          ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the
          statute of limitations for public water suppliers and wholesale  water
          suppliers to commence an action for injury to property
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
     2  section 214-h to read as follows:
     3    § 214-h. Certain actions by public water suppliers to recover  damages
     4  for injury to property. 1. In this section:
     5    (a)  "Contaminant"  means  any  physical, chemical, microbiological or
     6  radiological substance or matter in water and includes but is not limit-
     7  ed to an emerging contaminant listed pursuant to section eleven  hundred
     8  twelve of the public health law.
     9    (b)  "Person"  means  an  individual, corporation, public corporation,
    10  company, association, partnership, or entity of  the  state  or  federal
    11  government.
    12    (c) "Public water supplier" means a person that owns, manages or oper-
    13  ates a community, noncommunity or nontransient noncommunity water system
    14  that provides water to the public for human consumption through pipes or
    15  other  constructed conveyances, if such system has at least five service
    16  connections or regularly serves an average of at least twenty-five indi-
    17  viduals daily at least sixty days out of the year.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03302-10-9

        A. 5477--B                          2
     1    (d) "Wholesale water supplier" means a person that  owns,  manages  or
     2  operates  a  public water system that treats a source of water supply as
     3  necessary to produce finished water and then delivers  some  or  all  of
     4  that finished water to a public water supplier.
     5    (e)  "Source of water supply" means any groundwater aquifer or waterc-
     6  ourse from which water  is taken either periodically or continuously for
     7  drinking, culinary or food-processing purposes, or which has been desig-
     8  nated for present or future use as a source of water supply for domestic
     9  or municipal purposes.
    10    (f) "Plant intake" means the works or structures  at  the  head  of  a
    11  conduit  through  which  water is diverted from a source of water supply
    12  into the treatment plant by a public water supplier.
    13    (g) "Well" means any excavation used for obtaining water by  a  public
    14  water supplier.
    15    (h) "Raw water" means water immediately before the first or only point
    16  of disinfection or other treatment.
    17    2.  Notwithstanding any provision of any other law, any civil claim or
    18  cause of action brought by a public water supplier  or  wholesale  water
    19  supplier  against  any  person  alleging intentional, negligent or other
    20  wrongful acts or omissions by a person to recover damages for injury  to
    21  property  owned,  managed  or  operated  by a public water supplier or a
    22  wholesale water supplier resulting from the presence of a contaminant in
    23  a source of water supply shall be commenced within three  years  of  the
    24  latest of any of the following:
    25    (a)  the  detection  of a contaminant in the raw water of each well or
    26  plant intake sampling point in excess of any notification level,  action
    27  level,  maximum  contaminant  level,  or  maximum contaminant level goal
    28  established by the commissioner of health, the department of  health  or
    29  the United States Environmental Protection Agency for that contaminant;
    30    (b)  the  last  wrongful act by any person whose conduct substantially
    31  contributed to the presence of a contaminant in a source of water supply
    32  or the raw water of each well or plant intake sampling point; or
    33    (c) the date the contaminant is last detected in the raw water of each
    34  well or plant intake sampling point in excess of any notification level,
    35  action level, maximum contaminant level, or  maximum  contaminant  level
    36  goal established by the commissioner of health, the department of health
    37  or  the  United  States Environmental Protection Agency for that contam-
    38  inant.
    39    3. This three-year period shall apply   to each well  and  each  plant
    40  intake for each contaminant separately, and the expiration of the three-
    41  year  period at one well or plant intake shall not affect the three-year
    42  period for another well or plant intake.
    43    4. Nothing in this section shall  abridge  or  limit  a  public  water
    44  supplier's  or  a wholesale water supplier's right to bring an action to
    45  abate an imminent threat of contamination of any well or plant intake or
    46  to recover as damages the costs of such abatement.
    47    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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