Amd 3-0305, En Con L; amd 3.17, Pks & Rec L; amd 63, Exec L
Authorizes the attorney general to approve certain state land acquisitions made for the purposes of land conservation, and to accept a title policy from a commercial insurer to cover any title defects that would otherwise render the title unmarketable.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7372A
SPONSOR: Thiele TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, the parks, recre-
ation and historic preservation law, and the executive law, in relation
to authorizing the attorney general to approve certain state land acqui-
sitions made for the purposes of land conservation
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to streamline and accelerate the state's
acquisition of land for purposes of meeting the state's conservation
goals by enabling the attorney general to use title insurance in its
process of reviewing land titles.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill amends section 3-0305 of the environmental conservation law
and subdivision 1 of section 3.17 of the parks, recreation and historic
preservation law by providing authority to the attorney general to
approve title from commercial insurers where the title policy names the
state of New York as the insured.
The bill adds a new subdivision 17 to section 63 of the executive law to
provide that the attorney general's powers and duties include the abili-
ty to approve land acquisitions made by the state for conservation
purposes in accordance with amendments made above to section 3-0305 of
the ECL and section 3.17 of the Parks law.
** Amendments to this bill make the use of title insurance an option
rather than a mandate. The language now reads the attorney general "may"
use instead of "shall" use.
JUSTIFICATION:
To meet the ambitious goals of New York's Climate Action Plan, the New
York State "30 x 30" law (CH.747 of the Laws of 2022), and to meet the
expectations of voters who approved the Clean Water, Clean Air, and
Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, state agencies are directed to
protect and conserve significantly more land each year. For example, if
New York is to achieve one of its "30 x 30" targets, it is estimated
that the state and its land trust partners together will have to
conserve and protect approximately 225,000 acres per year over the next
eight years. However, based on the Annual State Land Acquisition report,
https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5069.html, the results of recent years make
clear that the state is not even close to attaining this pace. In 2020,
DEC & OPRHP combined acquired 6,005 acres, and in 2022, DEC acquired
4,416 acres. The backlog is caused in part by lengthy title review at
the Office of Attorney General.
Currently, the Office of Attorney General does not accept title insur-
ance and instead undertakes its own review of land titles going back 100
years or more. This standard is established by longstanding tradition at
the Attorney General's Office, not by statute, and involves long look-
back title abstracting, painstaking title review and often the time-con-
suming and costly pre-closing resolution of title issues that a commer-
cial insurer would consider a remote and insurable risk. Other states
and federal government land agencies, as well as private parties, share
concerns about title risk but have found reliance on commercial insur-
ance, used in combination with careful and thoughtful title due dili-
gence, to be a mitigation measure that is well-accepted for satisfactory
title risk amelioration. New York law requires the Attorney General to
approve title (see ECL § 3-0305(1) and PRHPL § 3.17(1)) but is otherwise
silent on the standards for acceptability. This bill will ensure that
there is statutory clarity with respect to the standard for accepting
title, and accordingly promote the policies underlying the 30x30 law and
other policy-based decisions that require the State to accelerate its
land acquisition. Providing in statute that N ew York State will follow
the modern practice of accepting insurable title will remove a barrier
to achieving the goals of many state programs.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7372--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. THIELE, REYES, LEVENBERG, STIRPE, L. ROSENTHAL,
KELLES, COLTON, SIMONE, STERN, DURSO, GANDOLFO, JACOBSON, OTIS -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation --
recommitted to the Committee on Environmental Conservation in accord-
ance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, the parks, recre-
ation and historic preservation law, and the executive law, in
relation to authorizing the attorney general to approve certain state
land acquisitions made for the purposes of land conservation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and
2 declares that in order to achieve our state's land protection goals as
3 promoted in the Climate Action Plan, the "30 by 30" land conservation
4 law (chapter 747 of the laws of 2022), and the financial commitment
5 within the 2022 Bond Act, additional measures are needed to accelerate
6 the process whereby the state acquires land. Specifically, the review
7 process by the attorney general's office can be streamlined by enabling
8 the use of title insurance. This will also relieve land trusts of the
9 financial burden of holding onto land, in trust, for years at a time.
10 Further, it will reduce the backlog of pending acquisitions that is
11 unnecessarily jeopardizing the solvency of many of these organizations.
12 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 3-0305 of the environmental conservation
13 law, as added by chapter 727 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as
14 follows:
15 1. The commissioner when moneys therefor have been appropriated by the
16 legislature or are otherwise available, may acquire any real property
17 which he or she deems necessary for any of the purposes or functions of
18 the department, by purchase or as provided in the eminent domain proce-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10532-03-3
A. 7372--A 2
1 dure law. Title to such real property shall be taken in the name of and
2 be vested in the people of the state of New York. No real property shall
3 be so acquired by purchase unless the title thereto is approved by the
4 attorney general. The attorney general may approve any title where it
5 has determined that the current owner can convey marketable title to the
6 real property. The attorney general may accept from any reputable
7 commercial insurer, a title policy naming the people of the state of New
8 York as insured, with such policy to cover any title defects which would
9 otherwise render the title unmarketable. The terms "property" or "real
10 property" as used in this section shall mean "real property" as defined
11 by section one hundred three of the eminent domain procedure law.
12 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 3.17 of the parks, recreation and
13 historic preservation law, as amended by chapter 727 of the laws of
14 1978, is amended to read as follows:
15 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner may
16 acquire such property as may be necessary for the purposes and functions
17 of the office, within the amounts appropriated or available therefore.
18 Such property may be acquired pursuant to the provisions of the eminent
19 domain procedure law, or by purchase, lease, exchange, grant, condemna-
20 tion, gift, devise, bequest, or by any other lawful means. No real prop-
21 erty shall be so acquired unless the title thereto is approved by the
22 attorney general. The attorney general may approve any title where it
23 has determined that the current owner can convey marketable title to the
24 real property. The attorney general may accept from any reputable
25 commercial insurer, a title policy naming the people of the state of New
26 York as insured, with such policy to cover any title defects which would
27 otherwise render the title unmarketable. Notwithstanding the provisions
28 of section eleven of the state finance law, the commissioner may accept
29 a conditional grant, gift, devise or bequest with the approval of the
30 director of the budget. Title to real property which is acquired shall
31 be taken in the name of and be vested in the people of the state of New
32 York.
33 § 4. Section 63 of the executive law is amended by adding a new subdi-
34 vision 17 to read as follows:
35 17. Be authorized to approve land acquisitions made by the state for
36 conservation purposes, in accordance with the provisions of subdivision
37 one of section 3-0305 of the environmental conservation law and subdivi-
38 sion one of section 3.17 of the parks, recreation and historic preserva-
39 tion law.
40 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
