* § 605-b. Accidental disability retirement for New York city
uniformed sanitation members. a. Definitions. The following terms as
used in this section shall have the following meanings unless a
different meaning is plainly required by the context:

1. "New York city uniformed sanitation member" shall mean a member (as
defined in subdivision e of section six hundred one of this article) of
NYCERS who is a member of the uniformed force of the New York city
department of sanitation.

2. "NYCERS" shall mean the New York city employees' retirement system.

3. "Eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree" shall mean
a person who retired for disability as a NYCERS member and as a member
of the uniformed force of the New York city department of sanitation
pursuant to section five hundred seven or six hundred five of this
chapter, with an effective date of retirement on or after November
first, nineteen hundred eighty-two, and prior to the effective date of
this section.

b. 1. A New York city uniformed sanitation member who, on or after the
effective date of this section, is determined by NYCERS to be physically
or mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty as the natural and
proximate result of an accident, not caused by his or her own willful
negligence, sustained in the performance of such uniformed sanitation
service while actually a member of NYCERS shall be retired for
accidental disability. Such retirement shall be effective as of the date
approved by the board of trustees of NYCERS.

2. Except as provided in paragraph one of subdivision c of this
section, applications for accidental disability retirement may be made
not later than two years after the occurrence of the accident upon which
the application is based. Such application may be made by:

(a) a New York city uniformed sanitation member;

(b) the commissioner of the New York city department of sanitation; or

(c) any person acting on behalf of and authorized by such member.

3. NYCERS shall process applications for accidental disability
retirement pursuant to this section in accordance with the applicable
statutory provisions and the rules and regulations of NYCERS pertaining
generally to the processing of disability retirement applications.
Unless inconsistent with the provisions of this section, the provisions
of section 13-169 of the administrative code of the city of New York,
relating to medical review procedures, and section 13-171 of such code,
relating to safeguards on disability retirement, shall be applicable to
accidental disability retirements pursuant to this section. The board of
trustees of NYCERS shall have the authority to adopt rules and
regulations for the purposes of implementing this section.

4. Subject to the provisions of section 13-176 of the administrative
code of the city of New York, the annual retirement allowance payable to
accidental disability retirees pursuant to this section shall be an
amount equal to three-quarters of the member's final average salary. The
retirement allowance payable pursuant to this section shall be in lieu
of any other disability retirement allowance which may otherwise be
payable by NYCERS.

c. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs one and two of
subdivision b of this section or any other provision of law to the
contrary, any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree (as
defined in paragraph three of subdivision a of this section) shall be
eligible to apply for accidental disability retirement pursuant to
subdivision b of this section either (a) if the member is vested and is
incapacitated as the result of a qualifying World Trade Center condition
as defined in section two of this chapter, or (b) by filing an
application with NYCERS within one year of the effective date of this
section.

2. Any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree who
files a timely application for accidental disability retirement pursuant
to paragraph one of this subdivision, and who retired either for
disability pursuant to section six hundred five of this article with
less than ten years of credited service, or for accidental disability
pursuant to section five hundred seven of this chapter, shall be granted
accidental disability retirement benefits pursuant to subdivision b of
this section, with payability of those benefits to begin on the earlier
of (a) January first, two thousand five, or (b) a date certified as the
payability date for all persons entitled to accidental disability
retirement benefits pursuant to this subdivision by the commissioner of
labor relations for the city of New York in a letter to the executive
director of NYCERS.

3. Any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree who
files a timely application for accidental disability retirement pursuant
to paragraph one of this subdivision, and who retired for disability
pursuant to section six hundred five of this article with ten or more
years of credited service, shall have that application processed in
accordance with the applicable provisions which govern the processing of
accidental disability retirement applications filed pursuant to
subdivision b of this section by or on behalf of active New York city
uniformed sanitation members of NYCERS. NYCERS shall use its best
efforts to make its determinations on such applications as soon as
practicable. Where NYCERS determines that any such prior uniformed
sanitation disability retiree is entitled to accidental disability
retirement benefits pursuant to subdivision b of this section,
payability of those benefits shall begin on the earlier of (a) January
first, two thousand five, or (b) a date certified as the payability date
for all persons entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits
pursuant to this subdivision by the commissioner of labor relations for
the city of New York in a letter to the executive director of NYCERS.

4. The accidental disability retirement allowance payable pursuant to
this section to any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability
retiree determined by NYCERS to be entitled to such benefit shall be in
lieu of any other disability retirement benefit which such member may
have been receiving or entitled to receive from NYCERS. Any such person
who was receiving disability retirement benefits from NYCERS pursuant to
any statutory provision other than this section shall continue to
receive payment of such benefits until accidental disability retirement
benefits become payable pursuant to this section on the applicable date
specified in paragraphs two and three of this subdivision. On and after
such date he or she shall no longer be entitled to receive disability
benefits from NYCERS pursuant to such other statutory provisions.

5. Any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree who
becomes entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits pursuant
to this section shall have the same method of payment applied to such
benefits as was applicable to the disability retirement benefits he or
she was receiving from NYCERS pursuant to a statutory provision other
than this section, and such person shall not be permitted to change such
method of payment from the maximum retirement allowance to an option or
from the option selected previously to another option or to the maximum
retirement allowance.

6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for the
purposes of calculating the cost-of-living adjustment which may
otherwise become payable pursuant to section 13-696 of the
administrative code of the city of New York to an eligible prior
uniformed sanitation disability retiree for any period of time after
such person has begun receiving accidental disability retirement
benefits pursuant to this section, the year of retirement of such person
shall be deemed to be the year in which he or she retired for disability
pursuant to section five hundred seven or six hundred five of this
chapter, as the case may be.

d. 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 head of the retirement system 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, a performance of duty disability
retirement, or was separated from service with a vested right to
deferred payability of a retirement allowance and subsequent to such
retirement or separation which is determined by the head of the
retirement system to have a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as
defined in section two of this chapter, upon such determination by the
head of the retirement system 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 head of the retirement system shall consider a
reclassification of the member's retirement or vesting 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 head of the retirement system
according to procedures developed by the head of the retirement system.

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

e. 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 or vestee who: (1) has met the
criteria of subdivision d of this section and retired on a service or
disability retirement, would have met the criteria if not already
retired on an accidental disability, or was separated from service with
a vested right to deferred payability of a retirement allowance; 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 or vestee 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 or vestee's eligible beneficiary, as set forth
in section six hundred one of this article, shall be entitled to an
accidental death benefit as provided by section six hundred seven of
this article, however, for the purposes of determining the salary base
upon which the accidental death benefit is calculated, the retiree or
vestee shall be deemed to have died on the date of his or her retirement
or separation from service with vested rights. Upon the retiree's or
vestee'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 six hundred seven of this article requesting conversion of such
retiree's or vestee'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 prospective benefits
payable under the service or disability retirement benefit, or vested
right to such benefit, including any post-retirement death benefits,
since the retiree's or vestee's death. If the eligible beneficiary is
not the only beneficiary receiving or entitled to receive a benefit
under the 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), or that will be eligible
under the vested right, the accidental death benefit payments to the
eligible beneficiary will be reduced by any amounts paid or payable to
any other beneficiary.

f. 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 d of this section; (2) dies in active service or after
separating from service with a vested right to deferred payability of a
retirement allowance, but prior to the payability of that retirement
allowance; 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 to
have been caused by such member's participation in the World Trade
Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in section two
of this chapter, 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 six 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 six hundred seven of this article.

* NB There are 2 § 605-b's