Relates to the tolling of the statute of limitations relating to personal injury caused by contact with or exposure to any substance or combination of substances found within an area designated as a superfund site.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9568A
SPONSOR: McDonald (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in
relation to the tolling of the statute of limitations relating to
personal injury caused by contact with or exposure to any substance or
combination of substances found within an area designated as a superfund
site
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Allows personal injury actions arising from exposure to chemicals or
other substances contained within an area to be commenced within three
years of that site's designation as a state or federal superfund site.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new section 214-f to the civil procedure law and rules
that allows a personal injury action arising from exposure to chemicals
or other substances contained within an area to be commenced by a plain-
tiff within the period authorized under section 214-c of the civil prac-
tice law and rules or within three years of that site's designation as a
state or federal superfund site, whichever is latest.
Section 2 contains the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The recent discovery of water contamination in Hoosick Falls, New York
and Flint, Michigan has raised great alarm across our country and our
state. These instances of contamination have been cited as the potential
cause of many previously unexplained illnesses suffered by members of
those communities. In many cases, the statute of limitations to bring a
personal injury action has long since run before any contamination was
ever discovered. This bill seeks to address this inequity and give those
who have been sickened legal recourse to be made whole.
This legislation would allow a personal injury action to be brought
within three years of the time when a site containing chemicals and
other substances has been designated as a state or federal superfund
site. Under current state law, the three year statute of limitations for
personal injury actions related to the latent effects of exposure begins
to run when an injury is discovered or reasonably should have been
discovered, whichever is sooner.
This bill would create a narrowly tailored legal mechanism to address
instances where extraordinary circumstances negatively impact public
health. What distinguishes the injuries suffered by many residents of
Hoosick Falls from other exposure cases is that members of this communi-
ty had no idea they had even been exposed to any hazardous toxins until
years after they had become sick. Individuals in Hoosick Falls should
not be denied any legal recourse simply because the statute of limita-
tions has run on a claim they never knew that they had.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9568--A
IN ASSEMBLY
March 17, 2016
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD, FAHY, SANTABARBARA, ENGLEBRIGHT,
LIFTON, MOSLEY, OTIS, SKOUFIS, THIELE, TITONE, BRAUNSTEIN, CAHILL,
COOK, GOTTFRIED, McLAUGHLIN, RAIA, PALUMBO, ABINANTI, GUNTHER --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CERETTO, MARKEY, RAMOS -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Judiciary -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the
tolling of the statute of limitations relating to personal injury
caused by contact with or exposure to any substance or combination of
substances found within an area designated as a superfund site
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
2 section 214-f to read as follows:
3 § 214-f. Action to recover damages for personal injury caused by
4 contact with or exposure to any substance or combination of substances
5 found within an area designated as a superfund site. Notwithstanding any
6 provision of law to the contrary, an action to recover personal damages
7 for injury caused by contact with or exposure to any substance or combi-
8 nation of substances contained within an area designated as a superfund
9 site pursuant to either Chapter 103 of Section 42 of the United States
10 Code and/or section 27-1303 of the environmental conservation law, may
11 be commenced by the plaintiff within the period allowed pursuant to
12 section two hundred fourteen-c of this article or within three years of
13 such designation of such an area as a superfund site, whichever is
14 latest.
15 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14332-02-6
