§ 558. Retirement for disability incurred in performance of duty. a.
After January first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, a member who becomes
physically or mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty shall
be covered by the provisions of this section in lieu of the provisions
of section five hundred fifty-six of this article; except, however, any
such member who last entered or re-entered service prior to that date
shall be entitled to apply for disability retirement pursuant to such
section and to receive the benefit so payable in lieu of the benefit
payable pursuant to this section.

b. Eligibility. A member shall be entitled to retirement for
disability incurred in the performance of duty if, at the time
application therefor is filed, he or she is:

1. Physically or mentally incapacitated for performance of duty as the
natural and proximate result of a disability not caused by his or her
own willful negligence sustained in such service and while actually a
member of the retirement system, and

2. Actually in service upon which his or her membership is based.
However, in a case where a member is discontinued from service, and
provided that the member meets the requirements of paragraph one of this
subdivision, application may be made, either (a) by a vested member
incapacitated as the result of a qualifying World Trade Center condition
as defined in section two of this chapter at any time, or (b) not later
than two years after the member is discontinued from service and
provided that the member meets the requirements of subdivision a of this
section and this subdivision.

An application for disability retirement shall not be disapproved on
the basis of a deputy sheriff having failed to engage directly in
criminal law enforcement activities that aggregate fifty per centum of a
deputy sheriff's service during a period preceding the filing of the
application provided the failure to do so was the result of the
disability alleged in the application and further provided the deputy
sheriff was certified as so engaged in criminal law enforcement
activities by the county sheriff at the time the physical or mental
incapacitation for the performance of duty is alleged to have occurred.

c. Application. Application for retirement for disability incurred in
performance of duty may be made by:

1. Such member, or

2. The head of the department in which such member is employed.

d. Verification of disability. After the filing of such an
application, such member shall be given one or more medical
examinations. If the comptroller determines that the member is
physically or mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty
pursuant to subdivision b of this section and ought to be retired, he or
she shall be so retired. Such retirement shall be effective as of a
date approved by the comptroller.

e. 1. No such application shall be approved, however, unless the
member or some other person on his or her behalf shall have filed
written notice in the office of the comptroller within ninety days after
the occurrence which is the basis for the disability incurred in the
performance of duty, setting forth:

(a) The time, date and place of such occurrence, and

(b) The particulars thereof, and

(c) The nature and extent of the member's injuries, and

(d) The alleged disability.

2. The notice herein required need not be given:

(a) If notice of such occurrence shall be filed in accordance with the
provisions of the workers' compensation law of any state within which a
participating employer shall have its employees located or performing
functions and duties within the normal scope of their employment, or

(b) If the application for retirement for disability incurred in the
performance of duty is filed within one year after the date of the
occurrence which forms the basis for the application, or

(c) If a failure to file notice has been excused for good cause shown
as provided by rules and regulations promulgated by the comptroller.

3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
provisions of this subdivision shall apply to all occurrences before or
after the effective date of this section.

f. The retirement allowance payable upon retirement for disability
incurred in the performance of duty shall consist of a pension of
one-half of his or her final average salary plus an annuity which shall
be the actuarial equivalent of the member's accumulated contributions,
if any.

g. If the member, at the time of the filing of an application under
the provisions of subdivision c of this section, is eligible for a
service retirement benefit, then and in that event, he or she may
simultaneously file an application for service retirement provided that
the member indicates on the application for service retirement that such
application is filed without prejudice to the application for the
retirement for disability incurred in performance of duty.

h. Any benefit provided pursuant to this section shall not be
considered as an accidental disability benefit within the meaning of
section five hundred fifty-six of this article. Any benefit payable
pursuant to the workers' compensation law to a member receiving a
disability allowance pursuant to this section shall be in addition to
such retirement for disability incurred in performance of duty
allowance.

i. A final determination of the comptroller that the member is not
entitled to retirement benefits pursuant to this section shall not in
any respect be, or constitute, a determination with regard to benefits
payable pursuant to section two hundred seven-c of the general municipal
law.

j. 1. (a) Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
regulation to the contrary, if any condition or impairment of health is
caused by a qualifying World Trade Center condition as defined in
section two of this chapter, it shall be presumptive evidence that it
was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the natural
and proximate result of an accident not caused by such member's own
willful negligence, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.

(b) The comptroller is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and
regulations to implement the provisions of this paragraph.

2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
regulation to the contrary, if a member who participated in World Trade
Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in section two
of this chapter, and subsequently retired on a service retirement, an
ordinary disability retirement or a performance of duty disability
retirement and subsequent to such retirement is determined by the
comptroller to have a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as
defined in section two of this chapter, upon such determination by the
comptroller it shall be presumed that such disability was incurred in
the performance and discharge of duty as the natural and proximate
result of an accident not caused by such member's own willful
negligence, and that the member would have been physically or mentally
incapacitated for the performance and discharge of duty of the position
from which he or she retired had the condition been known and fully
developed at the time of the member's retirement, unless the contrary is
proven by competent evidence.

(b) The comptroller shall consider a reclassification of the member's
retirement as an accidental disability retirement effective as of the
date of such reclassification.

(c) Such member's retirement option shall not be changed as a result
of such reclassification.

(d) The member's former employer at the time of the member's
retirement shall have an opportunity to be heard on the member's
application for reclassification by the comptroller according to
procedures developed by the comptroller.

(e) The comptroller is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and
regulations to implement the provisions of this paragraph.

k. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
regulation to the contrary, if a retiree who:

(1) has met the criteria of subdivision j of this section and retired
on a service or disability retirement, or would have met the criteria if
not already retired on an accidental disability; and

(2) has not been retired for more than twenty-five years; and

(3) dies from a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in
section two of this chapter, as determined by the applicable head of the
retirement system or applicable medical board, then unless the contrary
be proven by competent evidence, such retiree shall be deemed to have
died as a natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the
performance of duty and not as a result of willful negligence on his or
her part. Such retiree's eligible beneficiary, as set forth in section
five hundred one of this article, shall be entitled to an accidental
death benefit as provided by section five hundred nine of this article,
however, for the purposes of determining the salary base upon which the
accidental death benefit is calculated, the retiree shall be deemed to
have died on the date of his or her retirement. Upon the retiree's
death, the eligible beneficiary shall make a written application to the
head of the retirement system within the time for filing an application
for an accidental death benefit as set forth in section five hundred
nine of this article requesting conversion of such retiree's service or
disability retirement benefit to an accidental death benefit. At the
time of such conversion, the eligible beneficiary shall relinquish all
rights to the respective benefits payable under the service or
disability retirement benefit, including any post-retirement death
benefits, since the retiree's death. If the eligible beneficiary is not
the only beneficiary receiving or entitled to receive a benefit under
this service or disability retirement benefit (including, but not
limited to, post-retirement death benefits or benefits paid or payable
pursuant to the retiree's option selection), the accidental death
benefit payments to the eligible beneficiary will be reduced by any
amounts paid or payable to any other beneficiary.

l. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
regulation to the contrary, if a member who:

(1) has met the criteria of subdivision j of this section; and

(2) dies in active service from a qualifying World Trade Center
condition as defined in section two of this chapter, as determined by
the applicable head of the retirement system or applicable medical
board, then unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence, such
member shall be deemed to have died as a natural and proximate result of
an accident sustained in the performance of duty and not as a result of
willful negligence on his or her part.

Such member's eligible beneficiary, as set forth in section five
hundred one of this article, shall be entitled to an accidental death
benefit provided he or she makes written application to the head of the
retirement system within the time for filing an application for an
accidental death benefit as set forth in section five hundred nine of
this article.