BILL NUMBER:S7106

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend chapter 748 of the laws of 1991, amending the environmental
conservation law and various other laws relating to establishing the
Hudson river valley greenway, in relation to extending the expiration of
certain provisions relating to indemnity to communities

PURPOSE:
To provide a five year extension of the existing indemnity
provision included in the Greenway Act of 1991 for communities in the
Hudson River Valley Greenway for certain actions related to their
participation in the Greenway Compact.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Extends the sunset date of December 31, 2012 in
Section 44-0119(7) of the environmental conservation law for five
additional years, until December 31, 2017.

EXISTING LAW:
Section 44-0119(7) of the Environmental Conservation
Law provides that communities in the Hudson River Valley Greenway, as
defined in the Greenway Act, that choose to participate in the
Greenway Compact, are provided indemnity from the state in the event
of legal actions brought against the community or its agents that may
              

result from the community's acquisition of land or the adoption or
implementation of land use controls that are consistent with the
Compact. This indemnity provision does not apply to the counties of
New York and Bronx for legal actions that result from New York City's
adoption of a regional plan or amendments to the plan. The indemnity
applies to the extent that any such claim exceeds the insurance
coverage obtained by the council, but does not apply to any claims
resulting from intentional wrongdoing, recklessness, gross negligence
or an unlawful discriminatory practice.

In any claim against a participating community of unlawful
discriminatory practice, the Attorney General shall not represent the
defendant(s). However, if the plaintiff in such action is not the
prevailing party, the state is required to reimburse the defendant(s)
for all reasonable attorneys' fees and related litigation expenses.
Section 44-0119(7) includes a sunset provision date of December
31, 2012

JUSTIFICATION:
This amendment is necessary in order to help further
the goals of the Greenway Act of 1991, and specifically, to help
develop the Greenway Compact in the Hudson River Valley. Currently,
communities that have adopted the Greenway Compact are indemnified by
the state against lawsuits brought as a result of the purchase of
land or land use controls or amendments pursuant to the Compact.

Those communities that have
adopted the Compact would lose this benefit if this subdivision were
allowed to expire.
Such an outcome could result in communities withdrawing their
participation in the compact.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
The original Greenway Act of 1991 (Chapter 748 of
the Laws of 1991) included an expiration date of December 31, 1997
for the indemnity provisions of Section 44-0019(7). In 1997, the
expiration date was extended five years, until December 31, 2002
(Chapter 342 of the Laws of 1997). In 2002, the expiration was again
extended for five years until December 31, 2007 (Chapter 138 of the
Laws of 2002) and again in 2007 (Chapter 359 of the Laws of 2007).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.