Bill Text: NY S05813 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Declares the waters of the state to be public trust resources.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION [S05813 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S05813-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5813

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     March 17, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation

        AN ACT to amend the  environmental  conservation  law,  in  relation  to
          declaring the waters of the state as public trust resources

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

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 13 of  section  15-0103  of  the  environmental
     2  conservation law is amended to read as follows:
     3    13.  All  the  waters  of  this  state  are  deemed to be public trust
     4  resources. The waters of the state are valuable public natural resources
     5  and this state has a duty as trustee to conserve and manage  its  waters
     6  effectively  for the use and enjoyment of present and future inhabitants
     7  and for the protection of the environment. It is in the best interest of
     8  the state that provision be made for the regulation and  supervision  of
     9  activities  that  deplete,  defile, damage or otherwise adversely affect
    10  the waters of the state and land resources associated therewith.
    11    § 2. The opening paragraph of section  15-0105  of  the  environmental
    12  conservation law is amended to read as follows:
    13    In  recognition  that  the  waters  of  the  state  are  public  trust
    14  resources, and in recognition of its  sovereign  duty  to  conserve  and
    15  control  its  water  resources for the benefit of all inhabitants of the
    16  state, it is hereby declared to be the public policy of the state of New
    17  York that:
    18    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.



         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08951-01-3