BILL NUMBER:S7753               REVISED 06/24/10

TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to local
enforcement by county health commissioners of the control of the bulk
storage of petroleum and the collection of fines and penalties

PURPOSE:
This bill would allow the five county health departments (Cortland,
Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester) that have been delegated the
authority to enforce Petroleum Bulk Storage regulations to assess up to
the same maximum fine that the Department of Environmental Conservation
may assess for the same violation outside those five counties.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends subdivision three of section 71-1939 of the environ-
mental conservation law (ECL) by adding a new subdivision to authorize
any county approved by the commissioner of the Department of Environ-
mental Conservation (DEC) to enforce the Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS)
regulations to seek to recover any penalty provided for under section
71-1929 of the ECL for a violation of such regulations that occurs in
such county. Section one further provides that the fines and penalties
collected by the enforcing county shall be paid to the county, except
that one-quarter of such fines and penalties shall be paid to the gener-
al fund of the state purposes account. Section two provides the effec-
tive date.
              

JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, five county health departments, Cortland, Nassau, Rockland,
Suffolk, and Westchester, have been delegated by the DEC the authority
to enforce Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS) regulations under local sanitary
code regulations. Because their enforcement is conducted pursuant to the
sanitary code, the counties are limited by the maximum penalty that can
be assessed under the public health law (P1-IL). PHL provides for a
maximum penalty of $1,000 per violation, however, the maximum penalty
that can be assessed under ECL for the same violation is $37,500.
Accordingly, if a party violates a PBS regulation in one of the five
delegated counties, it would be subject to a maximum fine of $1,000,
whereas if the party violates the same regulation outside those five
counties, it would be subject to a maximum fine of $37,500. There is no
rational basis for this disparate enforcement of the PBS regulations.
This bill will align the maximum penalties that may be assessed by the
five counties with the rest of the state. Allowing the five counties to
assess a higher penalty will likely improve compliance with the PBS
regulations in the counties, and thereby lead to savings in staff time
and resources due to the reduction in resources devoted to enforcement.
In addition, the increase in penalties may bring the five counties addi-
tional revenues as well as to the State, which will receive one-quarter
of the penalties collected by the counties.

The bill is not intended to provide for duplicate enforcement actions by
DEC and the county in which a violation occurs and has been delegated
the authority to enforce the violation and is not intended to provide
for the imposition by both DEC and such county of duplicate penalties
for the same violation. Rather, where a county with delegated authority
pursues enforcement, the bill will allow such county to seek a penalty
up to the same maximum penalty that DEC could seek if DEC had initiated
enforcement action for such violation.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
No costs to the State or to the five counties. The counties will have
the potential to recognize savings through the reduction of staff time
and resources as a result of improved compliance with the PBS regu-
lations. In addition, the higher penalties may bring in additional
revenues to the counties thereby potentially reducing the tax levy on
their already tax-burdened residents.  The State has the potential to
receive additional revenues because it will share in amounts collected
by delegated counties to enforce violations of the PBS regulations.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the January 1 following the date on which
the act shall have become a law.