Establishes the "Long Island water pollution control act"; further establishes the Long Island water quality commission and the Long Island clean water quality and protection plan; provides for a state of the aquifer report.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8163
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
August 30, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SWEENEY -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to establish the "Long Island water pollution control act"; and
to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to establish-
ing the Long Island water quality commission
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Long
2 Island water pollution control act".
3 § 2. Legislative intent. Long Island's water resources are unique in
4 the region, unusual in the nation, and of exceptional importance to the
5 state of New York because of the economic, environmental and public
6 health values that Long Island's water resources provide to the millions
7 of people who live and recreate on Long Island.
8 Long Island has been designated as a federal sole source aquifer; nine
9 special groundwater protection areas have been established across the
10 region; and three estuary based watershed planning efforts have been
11 created - in the Peconic Bay, the Long Island Sound, and the state-de-
12 signated South Shore Estuary Reserve.
13 In spite of these designations and other planning efforts, Long
14 Island's water resources have continued to be impacted by increasing
15 quantities of nutrients, pathogens, pesticides, volatile organic contam-
16 inants and saltwater intrusion, as well as a number of emerging threats
17 such as prescription drugs and sea level rise.
18 In response to these environmental impacts, the region has already
19 experienced an increasing number of harmful algal blooms and other docu-
20 mented declines in key biological indicators which demonstrate continued
21 and increasing stress on the region's groundwater resources and coastal
22 ecosystems.
23 Continued water quality and coastal habitat decline, will result in
24 more harmful algal blooms, shellfishing closures, beach closures, and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11505-02-3
A. 8163 2
1 fishing restrictions, along with the further contamination of private
2 and public wells. These impacts will inevitably have significant nega-
3 tive effects on the tourism economy of Long Island--and on the quality
4 of life and public health for the millions of residents of the region.
5 § 3. Article 15 of the environmental conservation law is amended by
6 adding a new title 35 to read as follows:
7 TITLE 35
8 LONG ISLAND WATER QUALITY COMMISSION
9 Section 15-3501. Long Island water quality commission.
10 15-3503. Long Island clean water quality and protection plan.
11 15-3505. Implementation of the Long Island clean water quality
12 and protection plan.
13 15-3507. State of the aquifer report.
14 15-3509. Groundwater standards.
15 § 15-3501. Long Island water quality commission.
16 1. There is hereby established the Long Island water quality commis-
17 sion to provide input on the development and to manage and oversee the
18 implementation of the Long Island clean water quality and protection
19 plan established pursuant to section 15-3503 of this title.
20 2. For the purpose of this title, the term "commission" shall mean the
21 Long Island water quality commission and "plan" shall mean the "Long
22 Island clean water quality and protection plan".
23 3. The commission shall consist of the following eleven members: two
24 appointed by the governor; one appointed by the senate; one appointed by
25 the speaker of the assembly; the Nassau county executive or his or her
26 designee; the Suffolk county executive or his or her designee; the
27 presiding officer of the Nassau county legislature or his or her desig-
28 nee; the presiding officer of the Suffolk county legislature or his or
29 her designee; the chair of the citizens advisory committee; the chair of
30 the technical advisory committee; and the chair of the local government
31 committee.
32 4. The local government committee shall consist of the following
33 members: thirteen town supervisors or their designees, representing
34 towns from Long Island; two mayors or their designees representing all
35 cities on Long Island, two mayors or their designees selected by the
36 Nassau county village officials association and two mayors or their
37 designees selected from the Suffolk county village officials associ-
38 ation.
39 5. The citizen advisory committee shall consist of the following
40 members: the Long Island Association, the Nature Conservancy, the Asso-
41 ciation of Marine Industries, the Long Island Builders Institute, the
42 Long Island Farm Bureau, the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, the
43 Long Island Council of Churches, the Group for the East End, the Long
44 Island Liquid Waste Association, the Long Island Pine Barrens Society,
45 the Peconic Baykeeper, the Nassau County League of Women Voters, the
46 Suffolk County League of Women Voters, the North Shore Land Alliance,
47 Friends of the Bay, the Great South Bay Bayman's Association, Hempstead
48 Harbor Protection Committee, Operation Splash, the Long Island Conven-
49 tion and Visitor's Bureau, and the Hauppauge Industrial Association. In
50 addition, each town board on Long Island may select two appointees, for
51 a maximum number of forty-seven appointments.
52 6. The technical advisory committee shall consist of the following
53 members; the department, the Suffolk county departments of health,
54 public works and economic development and planning, the Nassau county
55 departments of health, planning, and public works, New York State Sea
56 Grant, the Suffolk County Water Authority, the Long Island Water Confer-
A. 8163 3
1 ence, the state university of New York school of marine and atmospheric
2 science, and the NY institute of technology center of energy, environ-
3 ment and economics. The commission shall request the participation of
4 the director of region two of the federal environmental protection agen-
5 cy and the director of the United States Geological Survey New York
6 Water Science Center, both of whom may appoint a designee.
7 7. The commission shall prepare an annual report assessing and evalu-
8 ating the implementation of the plan, and conduct annual public hearings
9 to take input on the implementation and outcomes of the plan and/or any
10 other water quality issues facing the region over time. The commission
11 shall also develop and adopt water quality standards and regulations as
12 necessary to implement the outcomes of the plan.
13 § 15-3503. Long Island clean water quality and protection plan.
14 1. Within two years, the department shall prepare a comprehensive
15 clean water quality and protection plan to address both restoration and
16 protection measures for surface water and groundwater resources. Such
17 plan shall be subject to public hearing, adopted by the commission, and
18 fully implemented within seven years of the effective date of this title
19 and shall include:
20 (a) a comprehensive groundwater and surface water quality assessment
21 and a restoration and pollution reduction plan for Long Island that
22 recognizes and manages for the integrated protection and restoration of
23 both groundwater and surface water resources.
24 (i) The plan shall explicitly identify, prioritize and address the
25 treatment and pollution prevention measures necessary to protect and
26 restore the declining quality of Long Island's water resources.
27 (ii) The plan shall provide measurable and enforceable groundwater
28 quality criteria and standards that ensure the long-term protection of
29 public and private drinking water supplies, as well as a regional
30 surface water quality sufficient to propagate thriving populations of
31 fish, shellfish, and water-dependent wildlife, and vibrant public recre-
32 ational opportunities both in and on the water.
33 (iii) The plan shall include an evaluation of how existing and future
34 human development activity and regional water quality trends can be
35 expected to impact Long Island's water resources, and water-dependent
36 ecosystems over time. Such information shall be used to guide the amount
37 and type of human development activity, the corrective measures, and the
38 water quality infrastructure needed to protect Long Island's drinking
39 water, coastal environments, and living resources while still maintain-
40 ing or improving existing ground and surface water quality, and protect-
41 ing unique ecological features.
42 (iv) Nothing in the plan shall impact established drinking water qual-
43 ity standards or the regular operations and management requirements of
44 any existing public water supplier;
45 (b) designation of specific areas suitable and appropriate for public
46 acquisition;
47 (c) designation of high priority water quality areas for which further
48 degradation shall not be permitted;
49 (d) recommendations and compliance requirements to ensure the contin-
50 ued, uniform, consistent implementation of the plan by local govern-
51 ments;
52 (e) a local participation plan, which describes how local citizens,
53 officials and members of the tourism, agricultural and fishing indus-
54 tries will participate in the planning and implementation of the water
55 quality management program and which contains a statement identifying
56 support for such program by the participating local governments; and
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1 (f) a financial assessment estimating the necessary costs and poten-
2 tial funding sources to carry out recommendations in the plan over a
3 five-year period and evaluate the benefits therefrom.
4 2. Within two years, the department shall establish local and sub-re-
5 gional water quality protection goals and interim regulatory require-
6 ments necessary to meet defined water quality improvement goals.
7 3. Within three years, the department shall establish wastewater
8 treatment requirements that mandate the use of nitrogen-reducing tech-
9 nologies that meet or exceed the National Sanitary Foundation Standard
10 245 specifications for all new construction and reconstruction, and for
11 the removal and upgrade of current on-site septic systems in all areas
12 within one thousand feet to surface waters, tidal and freshwater
13 wetlands and public supply wells. The department shall also define
14 maximum nitrogen concentration limits for regional surface and ground
15 watersheds on Long Island, and develop water quality standards that
16 achieve both on-site and regional nitrogen reduction goals defined in
17 the plan. Implementation of such requirements shall be delegated to the
18 appropriate local or regional wastewater management authority and
19 subject to a biennial evaluation by the department. The department
20 shall prepare and submit a compliance report to the commission, which
21 shall be made fully available to the public. The department shall have
22 the right to amend or rescind any delegated wastewater authority to
23 assure compliance with established wastewater management standards or
24 requirements. The department shall work with delegated wastewater
25 authorities to achieve the highest degree of water quality compliance
26 consistent with the goals of the plan.
27 4. Within four years the department shall identify those unsewered
28 areas most in need of advanced treatment wastewater management technolo-
29 gy and promulgate rules and regulations necessary to maximize the phase-
30 out, and/or incentivized retirement and replacement of such on-site
31 systems over the next decade. In addition, the department shall also
32 implement changes in nitrogen and pesticide application and management
33 practices to minimize groundwater contamination.
34 5. Within five years the department shall develop specific clean water
35 handling and management guidelines and public information programs to
36 minimize the contamination of waters by pharmaceuticals, household toxic
37 and volatile organic compounds.
38 § 15-3505. Implementation of the Long Island clean water quality and
39 protection plan.
40 Within six months after the plan has been adopted by the commission,
41 each county legislature, city council, town board, village board, health
42 department or water quality management agency (with permitting authori-
43 ty) on Long Island shall adopt and amend as necessary land use, zoning,
44 and engineering specifications, by local law, ordinance, rule or regu-
45 lation to conform their land use and water quality regulations to the
46 plan. Such actions shall be collectively coordinated and identified as
47 each jurisdiction's or water quality management authority's "local water
48 quality plan".
49 1. At least thirty days before adoption thereof, the town or village
50 board, or water quality management agency shall submit its proposed
51 local water quality protection plan to the commission for its review and
52 approval.
53 2. Within thirty days of receipt of such local water quality plan the
54 commission shall review and approve such plan, or if it does not approve
55 them, return them with comments on what revisions need to be made. For
56 each jurisdiction, consistency with the plan shall be deemed to be
A. 8163 5
1 implemented upon adoption by the town or village board of approved land
2 use regulations.
3 3. The interim regulations provisions of this article shall remain in
4 effect for each county, city, town, village or water management agency
5 until it has adopted approved land use regulations to conform to the
6 plan.
7 4. After the approval of any county, city, town, village or management
8 agency regulations the commission shall periodically review its approval
9 of any county, city, town, village or management agency regulations
10 adopted to achieve conformity with the stated water quality goals of the
11 plan.
12 5. Any member of the public or any commissioner may also petition the
13 commission to assert its review authority to evaluate any approved local
14 water quality plan for conformity with the stated water quality goals of
15 the plan.
16 6. Upon a finding by the commission that a town or village or water
17 management entity has changed such regulations in a manner substantially
18 inconsistent with the plan or has administered its approved regulations
19 in a manner substantially inconsistent with the plan, the commission
20 shall withdraw approval of such land use or water quality regulations
21 and the provisions of the interim regulations of this title shall be
22 reinstituted.
23 7. Such withdrawal of any approved local water quality plan shall be
24 made not before fourteen days after the commission holds a public hear-
25 ing in the affected town, city or village on the proposed withdrawal.
26 Notice of such hearing shall be published in a newspaper having general
27 circulation in the political jurisdiction affected and notice of such
28 hearing shall also be given by registered mail to the supervisor, mayor
29 or water management agency.
30 8. Requests for local water quality plan review shall be made to the
31 commission on forms and in such manner as the plan and commission shall
32 designate.
33 9. Upon any decision to commence a nonperiodic review of any local
34 water quality plan based on a petition, the commission must make a deci-
35 sion within one hundred twenty days of the receipt of a completed
36 request for plan review application. If the commission fails to make a
37 decision within one hundred twenty days, the local water quality plan
38 shall be automatically reinstated by the commission, unless the review
39 is extended by mutual agreement of the municipality, water management
40 agency and the commission.
41 § 15-3507. State of the aquifer report.
42 The department shall prepare a triennial report for the purpose of
43 tracking, evaluating, and measuring the water quality conditions, as
44 well as the water quality outcomes of the plan. The State of the Aquifer
45 report shall include:
46 1. An overview of the aquifer resource system on Long Island.
47 2. A survey of Long Island's water supply (public and private) and
48 wastewater infrastructure and its current operational status.
49 3. An assessment of groundwater management principles.
50 4. An assessment of current conditions:
51 (a) Recharge, precipitation, evapotranspiration, depletion;
52 (b) Water quantity - supply demand, water budgets which describe the
53 inputs and outputs to any water system;
54 (c) Water quality (groundwater and surface water);
55 (d) Contaminant levels;
56 (e) Priority contaminants of concern;
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1 (f) Movement of contaminants:
2 (i) Groundwater and surface water;
3 (ii) Saltwater intrusion;
4 (iii) Monitoring;
5 (g) Current regulatory and management assessment:
6 (i) The plan;
7 (ii) The department;
8 (iii) Local/state health and public works agencies;
9 (iv) United States environmental protection agency;
10 5. Future conditions and trends:
11 (a) Quantity;
12 (b) Quality:
13 (i) Progress on existing contaminants;
14 (ii) Emerging contaminants;
15 (iii) Degradation predictions;
16 (iv) Treatment needs and trends; and
17 6. Recommendations:
18 (a) Assessment of plan implementation;
19 (b) Water distribution and management assessment;
20 (c) Regulatory evaluation and assessment.
21 § 15-3509. Groundwater standards.
22 Within two years of the effective date of this title, following at
23 least one public hearing, the department shall establish an ambient
24 groundwater standard of no more than two milligrams per liter of nitro-
25 gen where groundwater enters surface waters; provided however, that in
26 areas with an ambient groundwater standard lower than two milligrams per
27 liter of nitrogen no further increase in nitrogen will be permitted.
28 The department shall set additional groundwater quality targets for a
29 range of water quality indicators, including, but not limited to, total
30 dissolved oxygen, pathogens, turbidity, temperature, hydrocarbons,
31 metals, synthetics and biological indicators.
32 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
