Establishes the office of wastewater surveillance; creates a grant program; provides such office shall monitor wastewater testing and analyze wastewater test results; provides the grant program shall assist labs in conducting wastewater testing; establishes an advisory council which shall provide advice on: best practices for wastewater sampling, testing and test results analysis; the creation of standards and systems of reporting on wastewater surveillance; the creation of a dashboard; integrate wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 into the office of wastewater surveillance; and any topics deemed essential by the commissioner of health.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6370
SPONSOR: Hyndman TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing the
office of wastewater surveillance and creating a grant program; and
making an appropriation therefor
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to establish the Office of Wastewater
Surveillance and create a grant program.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill would amend the Public Health Law by adding a new
title which creates the office of wastewater surveillance, a grant
program and an advisory council.
Section 2 of this bill would make an appropriation for the establishment
of the Office of Wastewater Surveillance and a grant program.
Section 3 of this bill would provide that the effective date shall take
effect immediately; provided, however, that sections eleven hundred
eighty and eleven hundred eighty-one of the public health law as added
by section one of this act shall take effect on the one hundred eight-
ieth day after this act shall have become a law.
JUSTIFICATION:
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on New York State. Communities are
still feeling the effect of a statewide shutdown that occurred in March
of 2020. This severe and overarching pause could have been avoided with
wastewater surveillance.
Individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 shed RNA in their feces, which
makes it possible for scientists to detect the presence of the virus
within communities through their wastewater systems. Many laboratories
have already been conducting testing of wastewater independently. This
kind of testing has been instrumental in detecting COVID-1 9 in inde-
pendent populations and it would be beneficial to the state to be able
to do the same on a larger scale. Coronavirus is not the first, nor
will it be the last pandemic that New York will face. Wastewater testing
is necessary to a pandemic relief plan in the future and is the first
step to learning from our current experiences and circumstances.
Establishing the office of wastewater surveillance would not only help
monitor the rate of coronavirus infections but would also help track
other pathogens that pose a major risk to public health; these include
environmental toxins, lead levels, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV,
and respiratory diseases among others. The possibilities of wastewater
surveillance are endless. With the appropriate support and funding New
York could be the pioneer in establishing targeted responses for vulner-
able communities.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: S3110 (Mannion) - Referred to Finance
2021-22: S.7361 (Mannion) - Referred to Finance.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars as appropriated for
the establishment of the office and the grant program.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that sections
eleven hundred eighty and eleven hundred eighty-one of the public health
law as added by section one of this act shall take effect on the one
hundred eightieth day after this act shall have become a law. Effective
immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regu-
lation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
date are authorized to be made on or before such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6370
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. HYNDMAN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing the
office of wastewater surveillance and creating a grant 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. Article 11 of the public health law is amended by adding a
2 new title V to read as follows:
3 TITLE V
4 WASTEWATER SURVEILLANCE
5 Section 1180. Office of wastewater surveillance.
6 1181. Grant program.
7 1182. Advisory council.
8 § 1180. Office of wastewater surveillance. 1. The commissioner in
9 conjunction with the commissioner of environmental conservation shall
10 establish an office within the department that shall monitor wastewater
11 surveillance including the testing and analysis of wastewater for public
12 health.
13 2. The office shall partner and coordinate with:
14 (a) labs established pursuant to this article that as of the effective
15 date of this section, are engaged in COVID-19 wastewater testing, in
16 order to expand testing to include other pathogens; and
17 (b) the state university of New York and other institutions of higher
18 learning that as of the effective date of this section, are engaged in
19 wastewater surveillance.
20 3. The office shall create a standardized system for labs to report
21 wastewater test results and shall provide incentives for such labs to
22 report accurate wastewater test results.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09685-01-5
A. 6370 2
1 4. The office shall create an online public-facing dashboard where
2 data from wastewater surveillance are published and such dashboard shall
3 comply with the health insurance portability and accountability act.
4 5. (a) The office shall prepare and submit a report within one year of
5 the effective date of this section and annually thereafter to the gover-
6 nor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly,
7 minority leader of the senate, minority leader of the assembly, chair of
8 the senate committee on health and the chair of the assembly health
9 committee of its policy recommendations based on the results from waste-
10 water surveillance.
11 (b) In the event that wastewater surveillance shows an abnormally high
12 level of pathogens which is indicative of a possible community wide
13 infection of such pathogen, the office shall notify and make policy
14 recommendations to the governor, the temporary president of the senate,
15 the speaker of the assembly, minority leader of the senate, minority
16 leader of the assembly, chair of the senate committee on health and the
17 chair of the assembly health committee as soon as practicable.
18 § 1181. Grant program. The commissioner shall establish and adminis-
19 ter a grant program that shall assist labs established pursuant to this
20 article in conducting wastewater testing.
21 § 1182. Advisory council. 1. The commissioner in conjunction with the
22 commissioner of environmental conservation shall establish an advisory
23 council, which shall provide advice on:
24 (a) best practices for wastewater sampling, wastewater testing and
25 analysis of wastewater test results;
26 (b) the creation of standards and systems of reporting on wastewater
27 surveillance;
28 (c) the creation of the dashboard established pursuant to subdivision
29 four of section eleven hundred eighty of this title;
30 (d) integrating wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 into the office
31 of wastewater surveillance established pursuant to section eleven
32 hundred eighty of this title; and
33 (e) any topics deemed essential by the commissioner.
34 2. The advisory council shall consist of a minimum of five members and
35 no more than nine members with such members coming from public and
36 private institutions of higher learning with experience in wastewater
37 surveillance who shall be appointed by the commissioner in conjunction
38 with the commissioner of environmental conservation. Such members shall
39 include, but not be limited to persons who have a background and/or
40 experience in the following fields:
41 (a) microbiologist;
42 (b) chemist;
43 (c) environmental engineer;
44 (d) epidemiologist; and
45 (e) geographer.
46 3. Membership on the advisory council shall be geographically repre-
47 sentative of the state. The members shall serve three-year terms. The
48 chairperson shall be selected by majority vote of the members of the
49 council. The council shall meet at the call of the commissioner, but no
50 less than four times per year. A majority of the members shall consti-
51 tute a quorum.
52 4. The members of the advisory council shall receive no compensation
53 for their services as members of the council, but each of them shall be
54 allowed the necessary and actual expenses which they shall incur in the
55 performance of their duties under this section. The department shall
A. 6370 3
1 provide staff and support necessary for the advisory council to carry
2 out its duties and responsibilities.
3 5. The advisory council shall convene its first meeting within forty-
4 five days of the effective date of this section.
5 6. The advisory council shall report its findings to the office of
6 wastewater surveillance established pursuant to section eleven hundred
7 eighty of this title within one year of its first meeting and annually
8 thereafter.
9 § 2. The sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars
10 ($1,500,000), or so much thereof as may be available, is hereby appro-
11 priated to the department of health from any moneys in the state treas-
12 ury in the general fund to the credit of the state purposes account, not
13 otherwise appropriated, and made immediately available, for the purposes
14 of establishing the office of wastewater surveillance and for the
15 creation of the grant program with an annual appropriation thereafter to
16 be determined by the commissioner of health. Such moneys shall be paya-
17 ble on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certified or
18 approved by the commissioner of health in the manner prescribed by law.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
20 sections 1180 and 1181 of the public health law as added by section one
21 of this act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
22 shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
23 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
24 of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
25 completed on or before such effective date.
