Bill Text: NY A08998 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Enacts the "schools impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act"; prohibits the commissioner of education from approving the plans for the erection of any new schoolhouse within five hundred feet of a controlled-access highway unless the commissioner of education determines that space limitations are so severe that there is no other site to erect such new schoolhouse.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-08 - print number 8998a [A08998 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A08998-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8998--A IN ASSEMBLY February 1, 2024 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TAPIA, STIRPE, HEVESI, EPSTEIN, RAGA, MAHER, BURGOS, SEPTIMO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Trans- portation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "schools impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act" 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 "schools 2 impacted by gross highways (SIGH) act". 3 § 2. Section 408 of the education law is amended by adding a new 4 subdivision 3-a to read as follows: 5 3-a. The commissioner shall not approve the plans for the erection of 6 any new schoolhouse within five hundred feet of a controlled-access 7 highway as defined in this subdivision unless the commissioner deter- 8 mines that space is so limited that there is no other site to erect such 9 schoolhouse. For purposes of this subdivision, a "controlled-access 10 highway" shall mean: (a) a controlled-access highway as defined by 11 section one hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law under the juris- 12 diction of the commissioner of transportation which has been func- 13 tionally classified by the department of transportation as principal 14 arterial - interstate or principal arterial - other freeway/expressway 15 on official functional classification maps approved by the federal high- 16 way administration pursuant to part 470.105 of title 23 of the code of 17 federal regulations, as amended from time to time; and (b) a divided 18 highway under the jurisdiction of the New York state thruway authority 19 for mixed traffic with access limited as the authority may determine and 20 generally with grade separations at intersections. 21 § 3. Section 2556 of the education law is amended by adding a new 22 subdivision 5-a to read as follows: 23 5-a. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision three-a of section four hundred 24 eight of this chapter, it shall be unlawful for a new schoolhouse to be 25 constructed in the city of New York within five hundred feet of a cont- 26 rolled-access highway unless (i) the president of the New York city EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05407-02-4A. 8998--A 2 1 school construction authority determines that there is no other appro- 2 priate site to erect such schoolhouse; (ii) if such schoolhouse is 3 planned to contain a secondary school, the community district, as such 4 term is defined in section twenty-five hundred ninety-a of this chapter, 5 in which the site of such schoolhouse is to be located has a projected 6 enrollment rate for secondary school education greater than seventy 7 percent of its capacity, based on the most recent report issued pursuant 8 to section 21-988 of the administrative code of the city of New York; 9 (iii) if such schoolhouse is planned to contain an elementary school or 10 a middle school, the subdistrict, as such term is defined in section 11 21-989 of the administrative code of the city of New York, in which the 12 site of such schoolhouse is to be located has a projected enrollment 13 rate for elementary school education or middle school education, as 14 applicable, greater than seventy percent of capacity, based on the most 15 recent report issued pursuant to section 21-988 of such administrative 16 code; (iv) the site of such schoolhouse is located on a property a 17 portion of which is used or is planned to be used for residential or 18 commercial purposes; or (v) plans for the schoolhouse include adequate 19 engineering controls to address air quality, based on regulations 20 promulgated by the New York city department of environmental protection. 21 (b) For purposes of this subdivision, neither the construction of a 22 schoolhouse upon the site of an existing schoolhouse nor an addition nor 23 an annex constructed to serve an existing schoolhouse shall be consid- 24 ered construction of a new schoolhouse. This subdivision shall not be 25 interpreted to create a direct or indirect right of action to enforce 26 its terms or the terms of any other provision of law. 27 (c) For purposes of this subdivision, a "controlled-access highway" 28 shall mean: (i) a controlled-access highway as defined by section one 29 hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law under the jurisdiction 30 of the commissioner of transportation which has been functionally clas- 31 sified by the department of transportation as principal arterial - 32 interstate or principal arterial - other freeway/expressway on official 33 functional classification maps approved by the federal highway 34 administration pursuant to part 470.105 of title 23 of the code of 35 federal regulations, as amended from time to time; and (ii) a divided 36 highway under the jurisdiction of the New York state thruway authority 37 for mixed traffic with access limited as the authority may deter- 38 mine and generally with grade separations at intersections. 39 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 40 the date upon which it shall have become a law; provided, however, that 41 sections two and three of this act shall take effect five years after it 42 shall have become a law; and provided, further, that school districts 43 which have a new schoolhouse construction project with advertisements 44 for bids or requests for proposals issued prior to such effective date, 45 or which have acquired real property to construct a new schoolhouse as 46 approved by the board of education or trustees of a school district, or 47 which have had a building permit issued by the state education depart- 48 ment shall be exempt from the provisions of this act with respect to 49 construction on such a project; and provided further that in a city 50 school district in a city having a million inhabitants or more, a new 51 schoolhouse construction project for which an advertisement for bids or 52 requests for proposals for the planning, design or construction of such 53 project was issued prior to such effective date or for which a site was 54 selected pursuant to section 1732 of the public authorities law prior to 55 such effective date shall be exempt from the provisions of this act.
