Bill Text: NY S07367 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Establishes the New York city watershed road salt reduction task force, pilot plan and test program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-22 - referred to transportation [S07367 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S07367-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7367--A IN SENATE January 22, 2020 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation -- commit- tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom- mitted to said committee AN ACT to establish the New York city watershed 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. 1. There is hereby established a New York city watershed 2 road salt reduction task force which shall consist of the following 3 fifteen members: 4 (a) the commissioner of the department of transportation, commissioner 5 of department of environmental conservation, commissioner of the depart- 6 ment of health, or the designees of such commissioners; 7 (b) the mayor of the city of New York, or his or her designee; 8 (c) four appointees by the governor; 9 (d) one designee of the attorney general; 10 (e) two at large appointees by the Senate majority; 11 (f) two at large appointees by the Assembly majority; 12 (g) one appointee by the Assembly minority; 13 (h) one appointee by the Senate minority. 14 2. The at large members of the task force shall include individuals 15 with expertise in the science of road salt contamination and the best 16 practices of road management. Task force members shall receive no 17 compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for actual and 18 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, to the 19 extent funds are appropriated for such purpose. The co-chairpersons of 20 the task force shall be the commissioners of environmental conservation 21 and transportation or their designees. Each member of the council shall 22 be entitled to one vote. The task force's approval and adoption of the 23 final report pursuant to this section, and any subsequent interim 24 updates thereto, shall require a supermajority of the task force. No 25 action may be taken by the task force unless there is a quorum, which 26 shall be a majority of the members of the task force. Any vacancies on EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14723-02-0S. 7367--A 2 1 the task force shall be filled in the manner provided for the initial 2 appointment. 3 3. The task force shall assess current department of transportation 4 policies and practices, establishing levels of service for state roadway 5 management in winter weather for the New York city watershed. This 6 assessment shall be based on the best available science concerning road 7 salt contamination and the nature, scope and magnitude of associated 8 impacts to our surface and ground waters, public and private lands, 9 property and infrastructure. 10 4. The task force shall prepare and submit to the governor, the tempo- 11 rary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chairs of 12 the senate committees on transportation, environmental conservation and 13 health, the chairs of the assembly committees on transportation, envi- 14 ronmental conservation and health, on or before September first, two 15 thousand twenty-one, a report containing: 16 (a) findings of an initial assessment of nature, scope and magnitude 17 of associated impacts to surface and ground waters, public and private 18 lands, property, health and infrastructure in the New York city 19 watershed using the best available science. This assessment shall 20 include but not be limited to measures of salt contamination to drinking 21 water and estimates of the cost of salt-induced property damage across 22 the New York city watershed; 23 (b) a review of current state road management practices and levels of 24 service for state and local roadways in the New York city watershed; 25 (c) a list of actions to be taken by members of the task force, state 26 and local governments and the public to: 27 i. enhance winter road maintenance levels of service and best manage- 28 ment practices and road salt reduction techniques to reduce road salt 29 contamination of surface and ground waters in the New York city 30 watershed; 31 ii. respond rapidly to surface and groundwater contamination in the 32 New York city watershed with the intent to mitigate and remediate 33 impacts of sodium and chloride pollution for homeowners; 34 iii. establish a training program for state and local winter road 35 maintenance workers; and 36 iv. advance a public education campaign to inform the public about 37 road salt contamination and how the public can reduce the need for road 38 salt; 39 (d) a proposal to offer relief for owners of property in the New York 40 city watershed who can demonstrate harm as a result of the application 41 of road salt along state roadways; 42 (e) a calculation of the amount of road salt applied on state roadways 43 annually for the years 2008 through 2018 in the New York city watershed 44 between October and April of each winter road management season to serve 45 as a baseline amount; 46 (f) a publicly accessible record-keeping database system for road salt 47 purchases with information on applications across the New York city 48 watershed; 49 (g) road salt reduction targets for the New York city watershed which 50 shall serve to guide the department of transportation, department of 51 health, and department of environmental conservation in measurably 52 reducing sodium and chloride levels in surface and ground waters; and 53 (h) recommendations for a robust New York city watershed road salt 54 reduction pilot plan and test program including monitoring and opera- 55 tional plan goals, objectives, and activities that will subsequently be 56 implemented during a multi-year pilot program from 2021 through 2024.S. 7367--A 3 1 § 2. 1. There is hereby established a New York city watershed road 2 salt reduction pilot plan and test program. The department of transpor- 3 tation, in partnership with the department of environmental conserva- 4 tion, shall conduct a multi-year pilot study, between October 15 and 5 June 30, for the years of 2021 through 2024, to test best management 6 practices, updated levels of service, and overall road salt reduction 7 targets. The pilot plan shall be implemented on all state-owned roadways 8 within the boundary of the New York city watershed. 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 New York city 30 watershed, with all results disclosed to the public in the pilot plan 31 report; 32 (f) monitoring road conditions with cameras along state roadways; 33 (g) monitoring truck operators using post-trip reporting and real time 34 truck operation monitoring; 35 (h) tracking accident rates in the New York city watershed that have a 36 connection to poor weather; and 37 (i) launching a public education and outreach campaign keeping New 38 York city watershed residents and visitors informed of changes to winter 39 road maintenance practices, speed limits and engaging the public to 40 change behaviors to support salt reduction efforts. 41 3. Following the completion of the pilot plan, the department of 42 transportation and department of environmental conservation shall submit 43 a summary report to the New York city watershed road salt reduction task 44 force by August 30, 2024, identifying effective and ineffective tech- 45 niques for winter road maintenance and revised levels of service in the 46 New York city watershed. 47 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
