Bill Text: NY A05905 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Directs the department of environmental conservation, in conjunction with the department of health and the department of labor, to establish the municipal asbestos abatement grant program to provide financial assistance to municipalities for the abatement of asbestos in vacant and/or abandoned commercial properties; makes a $15,000,000 appropriation therefor.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-14 - held for consideration in environmental conservation [A05905 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A05905-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          5905
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 20, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. BARCLAY, MANKTELOW, MORINELLO, SALKA -- read once
          and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
        AN ACT to amend the state finance law and the environmental conservation
          law,  in  relation  to  establishing  the municipal asbestos abatement
          grant program; and making an appropriation therefor
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Legislative  intent.  Many  of our local communities have
     2  buildings that are vacant and left abandoned by their  original  owners.
     3  Those  buildings containing asbestos are especially difficult and costly
     4  to clean  up.  For  decades  asbestos  was  commonly  used  in  building
     5  construction  as  a  fire  proofing  material, as well as an additive to
     6  concrete, asphalt, pipes,  siding  and  floor  tiles.  Asbestos  becomes
     7  hazardous  when  damaged and its fibers are known to cause certain types
     8  of cancer. These asbestos filled buildings  pose  significant  financial
     9  challenges  to  our local governments that cannot afford to renovate and
    10  reuse them.
    11    The Legislature seeks to support local government efforts to  revital-
    12  ize  economies by helping return these abandoned and vacant buildings to
    13  productive use.  Therefore, the Legislature hereby creates The Municipal
    14  Asbestos Abatement Grant Program with the intention of providing  finan-
    15  cial  assistance  to  municipalities  for  the demolition, renovation or
    16  restoration of abandoned or vacant  asbestos  laden  buildings  for  the
    17  purpose of returning them to productive use.
    18    §  2.  Paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision  6 of section 92-s of the state
    19  finance law, as amended by section 3 of part U of chapter 58 of the laws
    20  of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
    21    (b) Moneys from the solid waste account shall be  available,  pursuant
    22  to appropriation and upon certificate of approval of availability by the
    23  director of the budget, for any non-hazardous municipal landfill closure
    24  project;  municipal  waste reduction or recycling project, as defined in
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02531-01-9

        A. 5905                             2
     1  article fifty-four  of  the  environmental  conservation  law;  for  the
     2  purposes  of  section  two  hundred  sixty-one  and  section two hundred
     3  sixty-four of the economic development law; any project for the develop-
     4  ment,  updating or revision of local solid waste management plans pursu-
     5  ant to sections 27-0107 and 27-0109 of  the  environmental  conservation
     6  law;  environmental  justice projects and grants [and], for the develop-
     7  ment of the pesticide sales and use data base pursuant to  title  twelve
     8  of  article  thirty-three  of the environmental conservation law; and to
     9  establish the municipal asbestos abatement grant program.
    10    § 3. Article 54 of the environmental conservation law  is  amended  by
    11  adding a new title 17 to read as follows:
    12                                  TITLE 17
    13                 MUNICIPAL ASBESTOS ABATEMENT GRANT PROGRAM
    14  Section 54-1701. Municipal asbestos abatement grant program.
    15          54-1703. Municipal asbestos abatement grant program database.
    16  § 54-1701. Municipal asbestos abatement grant program.
    17    The  department,  in conjunction with the department of health and the
    18  department of labor, shall establish the  municipal  asbestos  abatement
    19  grant  program to provide financial assistance to municipalities for the
    20  abatement of asbestos in vacant and/or abandoned commercial  properties.
    21  Such program shall include, but not be limited to: definitions of eligi-
    22  ble  projects; matching grants for approved asbestos abatement projects;
    23  eligible municipalities; the percentage that will be the  state's  share
    24  as  well as the municipality's share; maximum per-building awards; maxi-
    25  mum total project awards; as well as any other standards, guidelines  or
    26  rules as may be necessary.
    27  § 54-1703. Municipal asbestos abatement grant program database.
    28    The  department  in coordination with relevant state agencies, munici-
    29  palities and the federal government, shall establish a database  listing
    30  every abandoned commercial building in need of asbestos abatement within
    31  the  state,  including,  but not limited to, the address, square footage
    32  and approximate age. The initial database list is  to  be  sent  to  the
    33  governor,  temporary  president of the senate, the speaker of the assem-
    34  bly, the minority leader of the senate and the minority  leader  of  the
    35  assembly by December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-two, and shall be
    36  updated annually.
    37    §  4.  The  sum  of  fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), or so much
    38  thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the department of
    39  environmental conservation out of any moneys in the  state  treasury  in
    40  the general fund to the credit of the solid waste account, not otherwise
    41  appropriated,  and made immediately available, for the purpose of carry-
    42  ing out the provisions of this act. Such moneys shall be payable on  the
    43  audit  and  warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved
    44  by  the  commissioner  of  environmental  conservation  in  the   manner
    45  prescribed by law.
    46    § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    47  it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
    48  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    49  tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
    50  completed on or before such effective date.
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