Provides that where the total number of commercial food fish license, commercial crab permits, commercial whelk and conch licenses, and marine and coastal district party and charter boat license applications from persons who were not issued such license in the previous year exceeds the number of licenses that are available, the department of environmental conservation shall randomly select recipients of the available licenses from among those applications received by the first business day of the applicable license year; provides for a temporary authorization where in the event of a temporary emergency, a licensee or permittee may provide written authorization for a person to temporarily undertake any licensed activities on the licensee's or permittee's behalf; makes related provisions.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A2005
SPONSOR: Thiele
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
certain commercial food fish licenses, commercial crab permits, commer-
cial whelk or conch licenses, marine and coastal district party and
charter boat licenses and certain temporary authorizations for certain
licenses and permits
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation relates to the Department of Environmental Conserva-
tion's authority to issue commercial fishing licenses and permits and
provides for a temporary authorization program in the event of a tempo-
rary emergency.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) § 13-0328
to authorize the Department of Environmental Conservation to modify the
manner of issuance for limited entry commercial licenses to authorize
the Department to randomly select new license recipients and to provide
a preference for those who have unsuccessfully applied in past years.
A new subdivision 8 is added to ECL § 13-0328 authorizing the Department
to implement a temporary authorization program for limited entry commer-
cial fishing licenses. Subject to approval by the Department, a limited
entry commercial fishing licensee may, during a temporary emergency,
issue a written authorization allowing a person to exercise the licensed
fishing privileges.
Section 2. Provides for an immediate effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This legislation would implement recommendations made in the New York
Marine Fisheries Licensing Review, a draft report prepared by George
Lapointe ("George Lapointe Report"). It creates a preference for previ-
ously unsuccessful license applicants to enhance their opportunity to
receive a limited entry commercial license, and it adds a new section
that will allow a licensee or permittee to authorize another person to
temporarily undertake licensed/permitted activity on the licensee's
behalf in the event of an emergency. Both these concepts were among the
recommendations contained in the draft George Lapointe report.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.10574
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2005
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
certain commercial food fish licenses, commercial crab permits,
commercial whelk or conch licenses, marine and coastal district
party and charter boat licenses and certain temporary authorizations
for certain licenses and permits
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph c of subdivision 1, subpara-
2 graph (i) of paragraph c of subdivision 3, subparagraph (i) of paragraph
3 c of subdivision 4 and subparagraph (i) of paragraph c of subdivision 5
4 of section 13-0328 of the environmental conservation law, as amended by
5 chapter 760 of the laws of 2022, are amended and a new subdivision 8 is
6 added to read as follows:
7 (i) [licenses shall be issued in the order in which the applications
8 were received, except that where multiple applications are received by
9 the department on the same day,] where the total number of commercial
10 food fish license applications from persons who were not issued such
11 license in the previous year exceeds the number of licenses that are
12 available, the department shall randomly select recipients of the avail-
13 able licenses from among those applications received by the first busi-
14 ness day of the applicable license year, provided however that appli-
15 cants shall receive one extra entry for each previous year that they
16 applied for such license and were not selected, and applicants for whom
17 the department has received notice of successful completion of an
18 apprenticeship pursuant to subdivision seven of this section shall [be
19 considered by the department prior to other applicants] receive one
20 extra entry, and provided further that the department is authorized to
21 adopt regulations to amend or supplement this process for issuing
22 commercial food fish licenses;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05703-01-3
A. 2005 2
1 (i) [permits shall be issued in the order in which the applications
2 were received, except that where multiple applications are received by
3 the department on the same day,] where the total number of commercial
4 crab permit applications from persons who were not issued such permit in
5 the previous year exceeds the number of permits that are available, the
6 department shall randomly select recipients of the available permits
7 from among those applications received by the first business day of the
8 applicable permit year, provided however that applicants shall receive
9 one extra entry for each previous year that they applied for such permit
10 and were not selected, and applicants for whom the department has
11 received notice of successful completion of an apprenticeship pursuant
12 to subdivision seven of this section shall [be considered by the depart-
13 ment prior to other applicants] receive one extra entry, and provided
14 further that the department is authorized to adopt regulations to amend
15 or supplement this process for issuing commercial crab permits;
16 (i) [licenses shall be issued in the order in which the applications
17 were received, except that where multiple applications are received by
18 the department on the same day,] where the total number of commercial
19 crab permit applications from persons who were not issued such permit in
20 the previous year exceeds the number of permits that are available, the
21 department shall randomly select recipients of the available permits
22 from among those applications received by the first business day of the
23 applicable permit year, provided however that applicants shall receive
24 one extra entry for each previous year that they applied for such permit
25 and were not selected, and applicants for whom the department has
26 received notice of successful completion of an apprenticeship pursuant
27 to subdivision seven of this section shall [be considered by the depart-
28 ment prior to other applicants] receive one extra entry, and provided
29 further that the department is authorized to adopt regulations to amend
30 or supplement this process for issuing commercial crab permits;
31 (i) [licenses shall be issued in the order in which the applications
32 were received] where the total number of marine and coastal district
33 party and charter boat license applications from persons who were not
34 issued such license in the previous year exceeds the number of licenses
35 that are available, the department shall randomly select recipients of
36 the available licenses from among those applications received by the
37 first business day of the applicable license year, provided however that
38 applicants shall receive one extra entry for each previous year that
39 they applied and were not selected, and provided further that the
40 department is authorized to adopt regulations to amend or supplement
41 this process for issuing marine and coastal district party and charter
42 boat licenses;
43 8. Temporary authorization. In the event of a temporary emergency, a
44 licensee or permittee may provide written authorization for a person to
45 temporarily undertake any licensed activities on the licensee's or
46 permittee's behalf. Such authorization shall not be effective until it
47 has been approved by the department. A copy of such written authori-
48 zation shall be filed with the department, and the department shall
49 determine what constitutes a temporary emergency and the appropriate
50 maximum duration of a temporary emergency for the purposes of this
51 subdivision. The department is authorized to adopt regulations to
52 establish requirements for this program.
53 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.