NY State Senate Bill 2023-S7052

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance 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, 2024	referred to finance
May 17, 2023	referred to finance

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5851
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Appropriations
Laws Affected:: Add §3-0322, En Con L

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a wastewater infrastructure and drinking water program for the purpose of making payments toward the replacement and rehabilitation of existing local municipally-owned and funded drinking water, storm water and sanitary sewer systems; appropriates six million dollars to initially fund such program.

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7052

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
establishing the wastewater infrastructure and drinking water program;
and making an appropriation therefor

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to legislatively expand the Environmental
Planning Grant available for wastewater projects to include drinking
water projects, and to appropriate six million dollars for this purpose.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. A new section 3-0322 is added to the Environmental Conserva-
tion Law, which establishes the Wastewater Infrastructure and Drinking
Water Program. This program shall apply to any drinking water system,
storm water system, or sanitary sewer system that is under maintenance
and/or operational jurisdiction of a county, city, town, village or

public authority, and provided such system is not maintained or operated
by a private entity. The Commissioner, with the Environmental Facilities
corporation shall promulgate all necessary rules and regulations to see
that the program is distributed equitably. The program shall offer
grants to municipalities to pay for the initial planning of eligible
projects.  Funding will be used for the preparation of an engineering
report.

Section 2. Six million dollars with be appropriated to the Department of
Environmental Conservation out of the State's General Fund.

Section 3. Establishes the effective date.

 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):

This portion of this memorandum is not applicable at this time.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In 2022, the Construction Industry Council collaborated with Hudson
Valley Pattern for Progress on a report that examined the past 10 years
of infrastructure investments across a nine-county region directly north
of New York City. The most urgent findings of the report were related to
water and sewer infrastructure, and while since 2015, the NYS Legisla-
ture has appropriated approximately $4 billion for upgrades to these
systems, only 18% of that money reached our communities. The research
showed that many small and medium sized communities found the applica-
tion process challenging, the up-front costs intimidating, or they
wrongly believed the programs were not intended for their villages,
hamlets or towns. As a result, monies are not reaching the communities
so desperately in need of these infrastructure upgrades. This legis-
lation is one of two steps that can be taken legislatively, in the near-
term, so that these challenges facing small and medium communities can
be minimized.

Currently, Environmental Planning Grants managed by the New York State
Environmental Facilities Corporation steer small and medium towns to
state funding to provide vital help with up-front engineering assist-
ance. Last year, about $3 million dollars were awarded statewide for
wastewater projects. This same engineering/planning is also necessary to
improve access to drinking water funds. This legislation will expand the
current Wastewater Infrastructure Engineering Planning Grant to include
Drinking Water so that water quality projects will be affordable for all
communities.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is new legislation.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

The current fiscal implications are unknown at this time.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the 120th day after is shall have become
law.

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7052
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 17, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN ACT to amend the  environmental  conservation  law,  in  relation  to
   establishing the wastewater infrastructure and drinking water program;
   and making an appropriation therefor

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by  adding  a
 new section 3-0322 to read as follows:
 § 3-0322. WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE AND DRINKING WATER PROGRAM.
   1.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY OTHER PROVISIONS OF THIS CHAPTER OR ANY OTHER
 LAW, RULE OR REGULATION, AND SUBJECT TO AN APPROPRIATION  MADE  THEREFOR
 AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION AND WITH THE RULES
 AND REGULATIONS PROMULGATED BY THE COMMISSIONER IN CONNECTION THEREWITH,
 ON  AND AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF APRIL, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR, A WASTE-
 WATER INFRASTRUCTURE AND DRINKING WATER PROGRAM  IS  HEREBY  ESTABLISHED
 FOR  THE PURPOSE OF MAKING PAYMENTS TOWARD THE REPLACEMENT AND REHABILI-
 TATION OF EXISTING LOCAL MUNICIPALLY-OWNED AND  FUNDED  DRINKING  WATER,
 STORM  WATER  AND  SANITARY SEWER SYSTEMS. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION,
 SUCH PROGRAM SHALL APPLY TO  ANY  DRINKING  WATER  SYSTEM,  STORM  WATER
 SYSTEM OR SANITARY SEWER SYSTEM WITHIN THE STATE THAT IS UNDER THE MAIN-
 TENANCE AND/OR OPERATIONAL JURISDICTION OF A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN, VILLAGE
 OR  PUBLIC  AUTHORITY;  PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT SUCH SYSTEM SHALL NOT BE
 UNDER THE MAINTENANCE AND/OR OPERATIONAL JURISDICTION OF A PRIVATE ENTI-
 TY. THE COMMISSIONER, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE  ENVIRONMENTAL  FACILITIES
 CORPORATION,  SHALL  PROMULGATE  ALL  NECESSARY RULES AND REGULATIONS TO
 CARRY OUT THE PROGRAM SO THAT AN EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF AID SHALL  BE
 MADE  FOR  THE  GENERAL OPERATION AND/OR GENERAL MAINTENANCE OF ANY SUCH
 EXISTING DRINKING WATER SYSTEM, STORM WATER  SYSTEM  OR  SANITARY  SEWER
 SYSTEM.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10009-01-3
 S. 7052                             2

 
   2.  SUCH  PROGRAM SHALL OFFER GRANTS TO MUNICIPALITIES TO HELP PAY FOR
 THE INITIAL PLANNING  OF  ELIGIBLE  CLEAN  WATER  STATE  REVOLVING  FUND
 (CWSRF) WATER QUALITY PROJECTS.
   3.  FUNDING  MAY  BE  USED BY MUNICIPALITIES FOR THE PREPARATION OF AN
 ENGINEERING REPORT. THIS INCLUDES PLANNING ACTIVITIES TO  DETERMINE  THE
 SCOPE  OF  WATER  QUALITY  ISSUES,  EVALUATION  OF ALTERNATIVES, AND THE
 RECOMMENDATION OF A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. IN ADDITION, THE  COSTS
 TO  CONDUCT  AN ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR THE RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVE ARE
 ELIGIBLE. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION COSTS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE. PRIORITY SHALL
 BE GIVEN TO MUNICIPALITIES PROPOSING PLANNING ACTIVITIES THAT ARE:
   (A) REQUIRED BY AN EXECUTED ORDER ON CONSENT; OR
   (B) REQUIRED BY A DRAFT OR FINAL STATE POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION
 SYSTEM (SPDES) PERMIT (E.G. NUTRIENT REMOVAL, INFLOW  AND  INFILTRATION,
 DISINFECTION); OR
   (C) UPGRADING OR REPLACING AN EXISTING WASTEWATER SYSTEM; OR
   (D)  CONSTRUCTING  A WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND/OR COLLECTION SYSTEM FOR
 AN AREA WITH FAILING ONSITE SEPTIC SYSTEMS; OR
   (E) ADDRESSING A POLLUTANT OF CONCERN IN  A  WATERSHED  IMPLEMENTATION
 PLAN (I.E. TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL), NINE ELEMENT WATERSHED PLAN,
 OR DEC HABS ACTION PLAN).
   §  2.  The sum of six million dollars ($6,000,000) is hereby appropri-
 ated to the department of environmental conservation out of  any  moneys
 in  the  state treasury in the general fund, not otherwise appropriated,
 and made immediately available, for the purposes of providing  emergency
 municipal  drinking  water,  wastewater  and  storm water infrastructure
 grants for infrastructure projects where there is an imminent threat  to
 the  environment and/or the public health, specifically for the wastewa-
 ter infrastructure and drinking water  program.  Such  moneys  shall  be
 payable  on  the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certi-
 fied or approved by the department of environmental conservation.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
 it shall have become a 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.

Senate Bill S7052

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S7052

Share this bill

Sponsored By

James Skoufis

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S7052 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments