Bill Text: NY A05767 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to the filling of borrow pits in Jamaica Bay.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2019-12-20 - tabled [A05767 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A05767-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5767--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 19, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the filling of borrow pits in Jamaica Bay; and to amend chapter 288 of the laws of 2014 amending the environmental conservation law relating to the filling of borrow pits in Jamaica Bay, in relation to making the provisions of such chapter permanent The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative intent. Due to the increase in vessel size in 2 recent years, New York State waterways such as channels, berthing areas 3 and harbors are being excavated in a process known as dredging to main- 4 tain sufficient depth for safe and efficient vessel operation. 5 Dredged material is naturally accumulated sediment, much of the 6 dredged material does contain some contaminants at varying concen- 7 trations. 8 Jamaica Bay was dredged to supply soil for a number of construction 9 projects. This process created borrow pits in the bay. These borrow pits 10 have been identified as an attractive alternative for the disposing of 11 dredge material. 12 § 2. Subdivisions 1 and 3-a of section 15-0505 of the environmental 13 conservation law, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 233 of the laws of 14 1979 and subdivision 3-a as added by chapter 288 of the laws of 2014, 15 are amended to read as follows: 16 1. No person, local public corporation or interstate authority shall 17 excavate or place fill below the mean high water level in any of the 18 navigable waters of the state, or in marshes, estuaries, tidal marshes 19 and wetlands that are adjacent to and contiguous at any point to any of 20 the navigable waters of the state and that are inundated at mean high EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09819-02-9A. 5767--A 2 1 water level or tide, without a permit issued pursuant to subdivision 3 2 of this section. For the purposes of this section, fill shall include, 3 but shall not be limited to, earth, clay, silt, sand, gravel, stone, 4 rock, shale, concrete (whole or fragmentary), ashes, cinders, slag, 5 metal, dredged material or any other similar material whether or not 6 enclosed or contained by (1) crib work of wood, timber, logs, concrete 7 or metal, (2) bulkheads and cofferdams of timber sheeting, bracing and 8 piling or steel sheet piling or steel H piling, separated or in combina- 9 tion. Nothing contained in this section is intended to be, nor shall be 10 construed to limit, impair or affect the memorandum of understanding 11 which any state department enters into with the Department of Environ- 12 mental Conservation or the general powers and duties of the Department 13 of Transportation relating to canals or the general powers and duties of 14 the Department of Environmental Conservation relating to flood control. 15 3-a. [The department may only grant a permit for the filing of the16Jamaica Bay borrow pits if the proposed sediments and fill materials:17(1) have been tested and the test results are in accordance with the18requirements set forth in the department's technical operational guid-19ance series 5.1.9 for the in water management of sediment and dredge20material; and21(2) meet the department's class a criteria] In filling the Jamaica Bay 22 borrow pits the department may only grant a permit if the proposed sedi- 23 ments and fill materials meet the following criteria: 24 (1) comply with federal unrestricted ocean dumping criteria; 25 (2) have been tested and test results indicate no unacceptable toxici- 26 ty or bioaccumulation in biological test systems; 27 (3) has no potential short-term (acute) impacts or long-term (chronic) 28 impacts; and 29 (4) requires no special precautionary measures are required during 30 disposal. 31 § 3. Section 3 of chapter 288 of the laws of 2014 amending the envi- 32 ronmental conservation law relating to the filling of borrow pits in 33 Jamaica Bay, as amended by chapter 499 of the laws of 2016, is amended 34 to read as follows: 35 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately [and shall expire and be36deemed repealed June 30, 2022]. 37 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.