Requires corporations to provide written notice to the municipality in which the canal is located and properties adjacent to such canal prior to commencing work along such canal; requires the corporation to hold a public hearing prior to commencing such work; allows for exceptions in certain situations.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7430A
SPONSOR: Jensen TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the canal law, in relation to requiring corporations to
provide written notice to the municipality in which the canal is located
and properties adjacent to such canal prior to commencing work along
such canal
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To have the canal corporation give written notice to municipalities no
less than ninety days and no more than one hundred and twenty days of
any work that must be completed along or adjacent to the canal.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Section 42 of the canal law to require the canal corpo-
ration to give written notice to municipalities of any work to remove
vegetation, encroachments and trees no less than ninety days before work
begins and no more than one hundred and twenty days before work begins.
If the work has not started between ninety and one hundred and twenty
days, the canal corporation can issue a notice of extension to the muni-
cipality no further than thirty days from the original anticipated start
date. The corporation shall hold a public hearing between thirty to
forty-five days prior to start of work to inform the community of such
work.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In communities across upstate New York, the Erie Canal serves as the
focal point of the community. For generations, it served as an economic
engine for the communities has boats navigated the length of the canal
and still today, the businesses and public land around it serve as a
municipality's "downtown.' With the same idea, the Erie Canal has driven
community members to invest in property that is adjacent to the canal
due to the beauty and peacefulness that this body of water provides. As
a public entity, the New York.State Canal Corporation has a responsibil-
ity to respect the people and communities who interact with the Erie
Canal every day, living and working just steps from the banks of the
canal. Whenever the Canal Corporation looks to adjust property along the
canal, it should be expected that they engage with stakeholders in the
community who will be affected.
With this legislation, the Canal Corporation would be obligated to
promptly notify local government when they plan on doing work along the
canal as well as provide an opportunity for community members to have
their voice heard through a public hearing held locally. At every level
of government, the best decisions are made when members of the public
and community stakeholders have a change to be heard and the decisions
made by the Canal Corporation on the stewardship of the Erie Canal is no
different.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Unknown
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become the law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7430--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 7, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JENSEN, GALLAHAN, B. MILLER, MANKTELOW, SMULLEN,
BYRNES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the canal law, in relation to requiring corporations to
provide written notice to the municipality in which the canal is
located and properties adjacent to such canal prior to commencing work
along such canal
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 42 of the canal law, as amended by chapter 335 of
2 the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 42. Removal of encroachments, trees and vegetation. 1. The corpo-
4 ration is authorized to cause to be removed from canal property any
5 building, part of a building or structure erected, placed, maintained or
6 otherwise occupying such canal property, if, in its opinion, the removal
7 is necessary for the improvement, use, maintenance, control, management,
8 repair or operation of the canal system. It shall be the duty of any
9 person owning or maintaining such a building, part of a building or
10 structure to remove the same within thirty days from the service by the
11 corporation upon said person of a notice ordering its removal. Upon the
12 failure of the person so ordered to remove the building, part of a
13 building or structure, the corporation may, without liability on the
14 part of the state or the corporation, take whatever action it may deem
15 necessary to cause the removal. Service of the order of removal must be
16 personal if the person to be served can be found within the state. If
17 the corporation shall not be able to serve such notice or cause the same
18 to be served on the said person within the state after making a reason-
19 able effort so to do, service may be made by attaching such notice to
20 the said building, part of a building or structure.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11088-02-1
A. 7430--A 2
1 2. The corporation shall provide written notice to any municipality in
2 which any work along a canal shall be done, as well as any and all prop-
3 erties adjacent to such canal, no less than ninety days and no more than
4 one hundred twenty days prior to the start date of such work. Work
5 requiring notice shall include but not be limited to the clearing of
6 trees and vegetation. If such work stated in the written notice to the
7 municipality and adjacent properties has not started within ninety to
8 one hundred twenty days from the date of such written notice being sent,
9 the corporation may issue a notice of extension to such municipality and
10 adjacent properties with the updated date upon which work shall begin.
11 Such updated date shall be no further out than an additional thirty days
12 from the originally anticipated start date. If such work fails to
13 commence within such thirty-day extension, the corporation shall issue a
14 new notification of such work to the municipality and adjacent proper-
15 ties no less than ninety days and no more than one hundred twenty days
16 prior to the new start date of such work.
17 3. The corporation shall hold a public hearing between thirty and
18 forty-five days prior to the scheduled commencement of any work occur-
19 ring along any canal in the municipality in which the work is scheduled
20 to take place. Such public hearing shall be noticed to residents of
21 such municipality in a way that is designed to properly notice such
22 community. Such notice shall include the time, place, and location of
23 such meeting as well as the proposed scope of work and the specific
24 location of the work to be undertaken. Methods of notice to a community
25 include but are not limited to coverage on the local news and written
26 notice in the local paper.
27 4. The corporation shall be exempted from the notification and public
28 hearing requirements under this section if there is an emergency situ-
29 ation that could result in an immediate failure of canal dams or embank-
30 ments, or to address flooding that would jeopardize lives and property.
31 Removal of danger trees shall be included in emergency situations. For
32 purposes of this subdivision "danger tree" shall mean any tree that, due
33 to location and condition, poses an imminent threat of falling and
34 damaging the canal.
35 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
36 have become a law.
