Bill Text: NY A06152 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires the owner of sites where any action is or was taken which may have a significant impact on the environment to establish and maintain an environmental maintenance trust fund.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to environmental conservation [A06152 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A06152-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6152

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      April 3, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. K. BROWN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Environmental Conservation

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  environmental  conservation law, in relation to
          requiring the owner of certain sites  to  establish  and  maintain  an
          environmental maintenance trust fund

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Article 9 of the environmental conservation law is  amended
     2  by adding a new title 23 to read as follows:
     3                                   TITLE 23
     4                    ENVIRONMENTAL MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND
     5  Section 9-2301. Definitions.
     6          9-2303. Environmental maintenance trust fund.
     7  § 9-2301. Definitions.
     8    For  the  purposes  of  this title, the following terms shall have the
     9  following meanings:
    10    1. "covered site" means a site upon which any action is or  was  taken
    11  which may have a significant impact on the environment.
    12    2.  "environmental  maintenance" means the remediation and restoration
    13  of the environment.
    14  § 9-2303. Environmental maintenance trust fund.
    15    1. (a) Each owner of a covered site shall establish  and  maintain  an
    16  environmental  maintenance  trust  fund  which  shall be held in a trust
    17  fund.  Such trust fund shall not be used  for  any  purpose  other  than
    18  those  described  in this section and shall only be dissolved in accord-
    19  ance with this section.
    20    (b) Upon the completed use by the owner of a covered site, the depart-
    21  ment shall conduct an inspection of such site to determine if any  envi-
    22  ronmental  maintenance is required due to the actions of the owners.  If
    23  after such inspection the department determines that  the  covered  site
    24  does  not  require  any  environmental  maintenance,  the owner shall be

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10116-01-3
        A. 6152                             2

     1  permitted to dissolve the environmental maintenance trust fund for  such
     2  covered  site.  If after such inspection the department determines envi-
     3  ronmental maintenance is required at such  covered  site,  the  environ-
     4  mental  maintenance  trust  fund  shall be used to finance such environ-
     5  mental maintenance. If the environmental maintenance trust fund  is  not
     6  sufficient  to  complete  the environmental maintenance, the owner shall
     7  complete the environmental maintenance using other funds.
     8    (c) If the owner of a covered  site  does  not  perform  environmental
     9  maintenance  on  such covered site after the department determines envi-
    10  ronmental maintenance is required, the department shall use  funds  from
    11  the  associated environmental maintenance trust fund to ensure the envi-
    12  ronmental maintenance is completed. Upon  completion  of  such  environ-
    13  mental  maintenance, if the site is no longer considered a covered site,
    14  the environmental maintenance trust fund  shall  be  dissolved  and  any
    15  remaining funds shall be distributed to the owner.
    16    2.  The  principal of an environmental maintenance trust fund shall be
    17  invested in securities permitted for the investment of  trust  funds  by
    18  sections  11-2.2  and  11-2.3 of the estates, powers and trusts law. The
    19  income in the form of interest and ordinary dividends therefrom shall be
    20  used solely for the environmental maintenance of the covered site.
    21    3. The department shall promulgate  rules  and  regulations  regarding
    22  environmental  maintenance  trust funds including the size of such trust
    23  funds, the mechanism for ensuring funds in such trust funds are not able
    24  to be used until permitted under this section,  and  when  environmental
    25  maintenance is required.
    26    4. Nothing in this section shall prevent the department, the state, or
    27  any  political subdivision thereof from recovering the costs of environ-
    28  mental maintenance under any other provision of law.
    29    § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become  a
    30  law.