Bill Text: NY A08767 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Establishes the Adirondack road salt reduction task force, pilot plan and test program.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-3)
Status: (Passed) 2020-12-02 - approval memo.25 [A08767 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A08767-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Establishes the Adirondack road salt reduction task force, pilot plan and test program.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-3)
Status: (Passed) 2020-12-02 - approval memo.25 [A08767 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A08767-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8767 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY November 25, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JONES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to establish the Adirondack road salt reduction task force, pilot plan and test program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Randy 2 Preston road salt reduction act". 3 § 2. 1. There is hereby established an Adirondack road salt reduction 4 task force which shall consist of the following fifteen members: 5 (a) the commissioner of the department of transportation, commissioner 6 of department of environmental conservation, commissioner of the depart- 7 ment of health, or the designees of such commissioners; 8 (b) the executive director of the Adirondack park agency or their 9 designee; 10 (c) four appointees by the governor; 11 (d) one designee of the attorney general; 12 (e) two at large appointees by the Senate majority; 13 (f) two at large appointees by the Assembly majority; 14 (g) one appointee by the Assembly minority; 15 (h) one appointee by the Senate minority. 16 2. The at large members of the task force shall include individuals 17 with expertise in the science of road salt contamination and the best 18 practices of road management. Task force members shall receive no 19 compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for actual and 20 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, to the 21 extent funds are appropriated for such purpose. The co-chairpersons of 22 the task force shall be the commissioners of environmental conservation 23 and transportation or their designees. Each member of the council shall 24 be entitled to one vote. The task force's approval and adoption of the 25 final report pursuant to this section, and any subsequent interim EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13704-02-9A. 8767 2 1 updates thereto, shall require a supermajority of the task force. No 2 action may be taken by the task force unless there is a quorum, which 3 shall be a majority of the members of the task force. Any vacancies on 4 the task force shall be filled in the manner provided for the initial 5 appointment. 6 3. The task force shall assess current department of transportation 7 policies and practices, establishing levels of service for state roadway 8 management in winter weather for the Adirondack park. This assessment 9 shall be based on the best available science concerning road salt 10 contamination and the nature, scope and magnitude of associated impacts 11 to our surface and ground waters, public and private lands, property and 12 infrastructure. 13 4. The task force shall prepare and submit to the governor, the tempo- 14 rary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chairs of 15 the senate committees on transportation, environmental conservation and 16 health, the chairs of the assembly committees on transportation, envi- 17 ronmental conservation and health, on or before September first, two 18 thousand twenty-one, a report containing: 19 (a) findings of an initial assessment of nature, scope and magnitude 20 of associated impacts to surface and ground waters, public and private 21 lands, property, health and infrastructure in the Adirondacks using the 22 best available science. This assessment shall include but not be limited 23 to measures of salt contamination to drinking water and estimates of the 24 cost of salt-induced property damage across the Adirondack park; 25 (b) a review of current state road management practices and levels of 26 service for state and local roadways in the Adirondack park; 27 (c) a list of actions to be taken by members of the task force, state 28 and local governments and the public to: 29 i. enhance winter road maintenance levels of service and best manage- 30 ment practices and road salt reduction techniques to reduce road salt 31 contamination of surface and ground waters in the Adirondacks; 32 ii. respond rapidly to surface and groundwater contamination in the 33 Adirondack park with the intent to mitigate and remediate impacts of 34 sodium and chloride pollution for homeowners; 35 iii. establish a training program for state and local winter road 36 maintenance workers; and 37 iv. advance a public education campaign to inform the public about 38 road salt contamination and how the public can reduce the need for road 39 salt; 40 (d) a proposal to offer relief for owners of property in the Adiron- 41 dacks who can demonstrate harm as a result of the application of road 42 salt along state roadways; 43 (e) a calculation of the amount of road salt applied on state roadways 44 annually for the years 2008 through 2018 in the Adirondacks between 45 October and April of each winter road management season to serve as a 46 baseline amount; 47 (f) a publicly accessible record-keeping database system for road salt 48 purchases with information on applications across the Adirondack park; 49 (g) road salt reduction targets for the Adirondack park which shall 50 serve to guide the department of transportation, department of health, 51 and department of environmental conservation in measurably reducing 52 sodium and chloride levels in surface and ground waters; and 53 (h) recommendations for a robust Adirondack park road salt reduction 54 pilot plan and test program including monitoring and operational plan 55 goals, objectives, and activities that will subsequently be implemented 56 during a multi-year pilot program from 2021 through 2024.A. 8767 3 1 § 3. 1. There is hereby established an Adirondack park road salt 2 reduction pilot plan and test program. The department of transportation, 3 in partnership with the department of environmental conservation, shall 4 conduct a multi-year pilot study, between October 15 and June 30, for 5 the years of 2021 through 2024, to test best management practices, 6 updated levels of service, and overall road salt reduction targets. The 7 pilot plan shall be implemented on all state-owned roadways within the 8 boundary of the Adirondack park. 9 2. For the duration of the pilot plan, the department of transporta- 10 tion and department of environmental conservation shall test a variety 11 of application techniques and road management strategies, and shall 12 issue a report on the effectiveness of such techniques and strategies 13 which shall include the resulting impacts to water quality and levels of 14 service for each technique and strategy. The techniques and strategies 15 employed shall include, but not be limited to: 16 (a) varying application methods, rates and frequencies with the intent 17 to measurably reduce road salt applied to state roadways. This shall 18 include test comparisons of applications consisting primarily of abra- 19 sives and applications consisting primarily of deicers, especially anti- 20 icing and deicing brines; 21 (b) implementation of well-established best practices such as cutting 22 back the canopy where legal and appropriate, and pre-wetting abrasives 23 or solid deicers; 24 (c) use of the best available technology and equipment for winter road 25 management; 26 (d) changes to traffic management or reducing speed limits when weath- 27 er events make road conditions unsafe; 28 (e) third party organizations monitoring water quality of surface and 29 ground waters on downhill slopes of state roadways in the Adirondack 30 park, with all results disclosed to the public in the pilot plan report; 31 (f) monitoring road conditions with cameras along state roadways; 32 (g) monitoring truck operators using post-trip reporting and real time 33 truck operation monitoring; 34 (h) tracking accident rates in the Adirondacks that have a connection 35 to poor weather; and 36 (i) launching a public education and outreach campaign keeping Adiron- 37 dack residents and visitors informed of changes to winter road mainte- 38 nance practices, speed limits and engaging the public to change behav- 39 iors to support salt reduction efforts. 40 3. Following the completion of the pilot plan, the department of 41 transportation and department of environmental conservation shall submit 42 a summary report to the Adirondack road salt reduction task force by 43 August 30, 2024, identifying effective and ineffective techniques for 44 winter road maintenance and revised levels of service in the Adirondack 45 park. 46 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
