§ 177. Emergency oil spill control network. 1. The commissioner shall
establish an emergency oil spill control network which shall be
comprised of available equipment from appropriate town, county and state
highway departments. Such network shall be employed to provide an
immediate response to a discharge on any of the waters of the state.
Furthermore, such network shall be employed in conjunction with the
cleanup operations of the owner or operator, the department and any
federal agency.

2. The commissioner shall make an inventory of all equipment in town,
county, and state highway departments that would be capable of
participating in discharge cleanup operations.

3. The commissioner shall have the power to deploy such equipment to
participate in a discharge cleanup operation at his discretion and to
reimburse such town, county, and state highway departments for use of
such equipment from the fund.

4. The commissioner may request and shall receive from any other state
agency such assistance and data as will enable him to carry out his
responsibilities pursuant to this section.

5. (a) The commissioner shall issue a catalogue designed to expedite
responses to discharges of petroleum.

(b) The catalogue shall contain the following information, broken down
by geographical area:

(i) a listing of state stand-by contractors, their equipment and spill
response capabilities;

(ii) a listing of state-owned equipment which could be used in the
event of a major discharge of petroleum;

(iii) a listing of companies and organizations that have spill
response equipment available for sale, lease or loan; and

(iv) a listing of organizations which are involved in the cleanup and
rehabilitation of birds and wildlife.

(c) The catalogue shall be updated as deemed appropriate by the
commissioner.

(d) The commissioner shall notify the chief executive officer of all
counties which border on any navigable waters of the state or on the
marine and coastal district, as defined in section 13-0303 of the
environmental conservation law, of the availability of the catalogue.
This catalogue shall be distributed upon request at a maximum fee of
twenty-five cents per page. Any such fee shall be deposited into the New
York environmental protection and spill compensation fund established
pursuant to section one hundred seventy-nine of this article.

6. The commissioner may institute a program to educate local officials
on procedures to follow in reporting and responding to spill
emergencies.