NY State Senate Bill 2017-S1571

Senate Bill S1571

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Establishes a task force on tree maintenance and safety in the city of New York and provides for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Cities Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to cities
Jan 10, 2017	referred to cities

2017-S1571 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Cities
Law Section:: New York City
Versions Introduced in 2015-2016 Legislative Session:: S6895

2017-S1571 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a task force on tree maintenance and safety in the city of New York to evaluate the department of parks and recreation's policies on tree maintenance, and to determine any improvements necessary to ensure public safety.

2017-S1571 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1571

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to establish a task force on tree maintenance
and safety in the city of New York; and providing for the repeal of
such provisions upon expiration thereof

 PURPOSE :

To establish a task force on tree maintenance and safety in the city
of New York and provides for the repeal of such provisions upon
expiration thereof.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section I of this bill establishes a task force on tree maintenance
and safety in the city of New York to examine, evaluate, accept public
comment and make recommendations concerning the adequacy of the New
York city department of parks and recreation's policies for tree
maintenance and the status and safety of trees within the city of New
York.

Section 2 of this bill describes the composition of the task force,
which shall consist of eleven members to be appointed as follows:
Three members appointed by the New York State Arborists; Two members
appointed by New Yorkers for Parks; Two members appointed by Park
Advocates; One member appointed by the temporary president of the

Senate; One member appointed by the speaker of the Assembly; and two
members appointed by the Governor.

Section 3 of this bill states that members shall receive no
compensation for their services, but shall be allowed their actual and
necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties
pursuant to this act.

Section 4 of this bill states that the task force shall be entitled to
request and receive resources and data of any department, division,
board, bureau, commission, district or agency of the state or any
political subdivision thereof as it may reasonably request to properly
carry out its powers and duties pursuant to this act.

Section 5 of this bill requires the task force to submit, within
eighteen months of the effective date of this act, a report of its
findings, conclusions and recommendations to the Governor, temporary
president of the Senate, speaker of the Assembly, minority leader of
the Senate and minority leader of the Assembly. It also states that
the report shall include legislative proposals deemed necessary to
implement its recommendations.

Section 6 of this bill states that this act shall take effect
immediately and shall expire and be deemed repealed 18 months after
such date or on the date the report is submitted, whichever shall be
later; provided that the task force on tree maintenance and safety in
the city of New York shall notify the legislative bill drafting
commission upon the submission of such report in order that the
commission may maintain an accurate and timely effective data base of
the official text of the laws of the state of New York in furtherance
of the effectuating the provisions of section 44 of the legislative
law and section 70-b of the public officers law.

 JUSTIFICATION :

For years there has been an increasing number of serious injuries and
deaths resulting from falling trees in New York City. For example, in
Bryant Park on September 4, 2015 a large tree branch fell on top of
five people, injuring three of them seriously. In 2013, a young woman,
Yingyi Li-Dikov--6 months pregnant with her first child. was killed
when she was struck by a falling tree in Kissena Park in Queens.
Between 2010 -2013 there were at least 4 deaths that resulted from
diseased or damaged trees that had fallen.

Public properties belonging to the city of New York are home to
thousands of trees in varying states of health. The city is
responsible for maintaining these trees so that they remain healthy
and do not pose extraordinary dangers to public safety. and property.

Due to widespread concerns that New York City's policies on the care
and maintenance of trees is not sufficient to protect the public from
unsafe trees, and to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent in
the most efficient and effective manner, a task force should be
created to investigate the New York City Department of Parks and
Recreation's policies on tree maintenance and safety.

This bill would create a task force on tree maintenance and safety in
the city of New York to examine, evaluate, accept public comment and
make recommendations concerning the adequacy of the New York City
Department of Parks and Recreation's policies for tree maintenance and
the status and safety of trees within the city of New York.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New Bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed
repealed 18 months after such date or on the date the report is
submitted, whichever shall be later; provided that the task force on
tree maintenance and safety in the city of New York shall notify the
legislative bill drafting commission upon the submission of such
report in order that the commission may maintain an accurate and
timely effective data base of the official text of the laws of the
state of New York in furtherance of the effectuating the provisions of
section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the public
officers law.

2017-S1571 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1571
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 10, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  AVELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities
 
 AN ACT to establish a task force on tree maintenance and safety  in  the
   city of New York; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon
   expiration thereof

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. A task force on tree maintenance and safety in the city  of
 New  York  is  hereby  established  to  examine, evaluate, accept public
 comment and make recommendations concerning the adequacy of the New York
 city department of parks and recreation's policies for tree  maintenance
 and the status and safety of trees within the city of New York. The task
 force  shall  determine  whether such policies are currently being prac-
 ticed and whether such policies are sufficient to prevent accidents. The
 task force may make such recommendations, as it deems fit, to revise and
 alter policies for tree maintenance in the city of New  York  to  better
 promote safety and protect the public.
   § 2. The task force shall consist of eleven members to be appointed as
 follows:
   (a)  three members appointed by the New York State Arborists (Interna-
 tional Society of Arboriculture Chapter);
   (b) two members appointed by New Yorkers for Parks;
   (c) two members appointed by Park Advocates;
   (d) one member appointed by the temporary president of the senate;
   (e) one member appointed by the speaker of the assembly; and
   (f) two members appointed by the governor.
   The members of the task force shall each have experience or  education
 in  the various facets of tree maintenance and public safety. The gover-
 nor shall designate the chair of the task force from among the  appoint-
 ees.  Vacancies  in  the membership of the task force shall be filled in
 the manner provided for original appointments.

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

                                                            LBD01230-01-7

 S. 1571                             2
 
   § 3. The members of the task force shall receive no  compensation  for
 their services, but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses
 incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant to this act.
   §  4. To the maximum extent feasible, the task force shall be entitled
 to request and receive, and shall utilize  and  be  provided  with  such
 facilities,  resources  and  data  of  any  department, division, board,
 bureau, commission, district or agency of the  state  or  any  political
 subdivision  thereof  as it may reasonably request to properly carry out
 its powers and duties pursuant to this act.
   § 5. The task force shall submit, within eighteen months of the effec-
 tive date of this act, a report of its findings, conclusions and  recom-
 mendations  to  the governor, temporary president of the senate, speaker
 of the assembly, minority leader of the senate and  minority  leader  of
 the assembly. The report shall include such legislative proposals as the
 task force deems necessary to implement its recommendations.
   §  6.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
 deemed repealed 18 months after such date or  on  the  date  the  report
 required  by  section  five of this act is submitted, whichever shall be
 later; provided that the task force on tree maintenance  and  safety  in
 the  city of New York shall notify the legislative bill drafting commis-
 sion upon the submission of such report in order that the commission may
 maintain an accurate and timely effective data base of the official text
 of the laws of the state of New York in furtherance of effectuating  the
 provisions  of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the
 public officers law.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.