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.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A5851
SPONSOR: Levenberg
 
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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5851
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LEVENBERG -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Environmental Conservation
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:
1 Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a
2 new section 3-0322 to read as follows:
3 § 3-0322. Wastewater infrastructure and drinking water program.
4 1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter or any other
5 law, rule or regulation, and subject to an appropriation made therefor
6 and in accordance with the provisions of this section and with the rules
7 and regulations promulgated by the commissioner in connection therewith,
8 on and after the first day of April, two thousand twenty-four, a waste-
9 water infrastructure and drinking water program is hereby established
10 for the purpose of making payments toward the replacement and rehabili-
11 tation of existing local municipally-owned and funded drinking water,
12 storm water and sanitary sewer systems. For purposes of this section,
13 such program shall apply to any drinking water system, storm water
14 system or sanitary sewer system within the state that is under the main-
15 tenance and/or operational jurisdiction of a county, city, town, village
16 or public authority; provided, however, that such system shall not be
17 under the maintenance and/or operational jurisdiction of a private enti-
18 ty. The commissioner, in conjunction with the environmental facilities
19 corporation, shall promulgate all necessary rules and regulations to
20 carry out the program so that an equitable distribution of aid shall be
21 made for the general operation and/or general maintenance of any such
22 existing drinking water system, storm water system or sanitary sewer
23 system.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10009-01-3
A. 5851 2
1 2. Such program shall offer grants to municipalities to help pay for
2 the initial planning of eligible Clean Water State Revolving Fund
3 (CWSRF) water quality projects.
4 3. Funding may be used by municipalities for the preparation of an
5 engineering report. This includes planning activities to determine the
6 scope of water quality issues, evaluation of alternatives, and the
7 recommendation of a capital improvement project. In addition, the costs
8 to conduct an environmental review for the recommended alternative are
9 eligible. Design and construction costs are not eligible. Priority shall
10 be given to municipalities proposing planning activities that are:
11 (a) required by an executed Order on Consent; or
12 (b) required by a draft or final State Pollutant Discharge Elimination
13 System (SPDES) permit (e.g. nutrient removal, inflow and infiltration,
14 disinfection); or
15 (c) upgrading or replacing an existing wastewater system; or
16 (d) constructing a wastewater treatment and/or collection system for
17 an area with failing onsite septic systems; or
18 (e) addressing a pollutant of concern in a watershed implementation
19 plan (i.e. Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), Nine Element Watershed Plan,
20 or DEC HABs Action Plan).
21 § 2. The sum of six million dollars ($6,000,000) is hereby appropri-
22 ated to the department of environmental conservation out of any moneys
23 in the state treasury in the general fund, not otherwise appropriated,
24 and made immediately available, for the purposes of providing emergency
25 municipal drinking water, wastewater and storm water infrastructure
26 grants for infrastructure projects where there is an imminent threat to
27 the environment and/or the public health, specifically for the wastewa-
28 ter infrastructure and drinking water program. Such moneys shall be
29 payable on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certi-
30 fied or approved by the department of environmental conservation.
31 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
32 it shall have become a law.