Add Art 35-B SS3560 - 3562, Pub Health L; amd S18-a, Pub Serv L
Relates to the protection of public health from exposure to radon in natural gas; requires continuous monitoring of the level of radon in the natural gas delivered; relates to compliance assurance system; requires public reporting.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6863--B
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 23, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, ABINANTI, MILLER, GOTTFRIED, ROBERTS,
QUART, MARKEY, BRENNAN, OTIS, PAULIN, CAHILL -- Multi-Sponsored by --
M. of A. COLTON, COOK, GLICK, LIFTON, RIVERA, ROBINSON, SEPULVEDA --
read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Health 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 public health law and the public service law, in
relation to the protection of public health from exposure to radon in
natural gas
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that
2 radon and its radioactive progeny are a major cause of lung cancer, and
3 that there is no safe exposure level for public health protection. New
4 York State has benefited from low levels of those elements in natural
5 gas delivered to consumers, due to the low levels of radioactivity
6 occurring in the gas from the sources upon which New York has primarily
7 relied. However, there is now concern that natural gas may be coming to
8 New York State from sources with high levels of radioactivity from those
9 elements. It is the intent of this act to prevent levels of radon and
10 its radioactive progeny from exceeding current levels in gas distributed
11 to residential and other consumers, mindful of internationally-recog-
12 nized mitigation action levels. It is the intent of this act to only
13 regulate the distribution of gas within the state.
14 § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 35-B to
15 read as follows:
16 ARTICLE 35-B
17 RADON
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09991-09-4
A. 6863--B 2
1 Section 3560. Definitions.
2 3561. Protection from radon.
3 3562. Gas corporation requirements.
4 § 3560. Definitions. As used in this article, unless the context
5 clearly requires otherwise:
6 1. "Bq/m{3}" means Becquerel per cubic meter, where 1 Bq corresponds
7 to one radioactive disintegration per second. 100 Bq/m{3} is equal to
8 2.7 pCi/l.
9 2. "Curie" is a unit of radioactivity. One Curie is equal to 3.7 x
10 10{10} radioactive decays per second. One pico Curie (pCi) is 1x10{-12}
11 Curies.
12 3. "Delivery point" means, as determined by the commissioner under
13 this article, a point in a gas corporation's distribution system.
14 4. "Gas" and "gas corporation" shall have the same meanings as they
15 are defined and used in the public service law.
16 § 3561. Protection from radon. 1. It is the responsibility of the
17 commissioner to minimize, through the application of the ALARA (as low
18 as reasonably achievable) principle, the risk to members of the public
19 posed by exposure to radon and its radioactive progeny. To achieve this
20 goal, the commissioner may call for the assistance of the department of
21 environmental conservation and the public service commission as neces-
22 sary to support permitting, monitoring, compliance auditing and enforce-
23 ment action as directed by the commissioner.
24 2. The commissioner shall establish a system for determining, and
25 (where the commissioner deems it appropriate) designating, delivery
26 points where gas from a pipeline is transferred to a gas corporation's
27 distribution system that are appropriate and practicable for monitoring
28 levels of radon and its radioactive progeny to achieve the purposes of
29 this article.
30 3. In order to achieve the goals established in this section, every
31 gas corporation selling or otherwise providing gas to customers in New
32 York shall, consistent with this article, establish and maintain a
33 program to continuously monitor the level of radon and its radioactive
34 progeny, measured as gross alpha activity, in the natural gas delivered
35 to the gas corporation at each delivery point, reporting such levels
36 through a publicly-accessible website on a real time basis. The program
37 shall include provision for generating alerts to the gas corporation
38 relating to the monitored levels and appropriate responses.
39 4. The commissioner shall establish a compliance assurance system for
40 the monitoring systems required pursuant to subdivision two of this
41 section, including a periodic physical inspection and measurement
42 program to be implemented by the department at the various delivery
43 points. This program shall be designed so that each delivery point is
44 inspected and sampled at least twice per year by the department.
45 5. (a) The commissioner shall make regulations and establish a program
46 to implement and enforce this article. The commissioner shall comply
47 with this paragraph within one year after this article shall become a
48 law.
49 (b) As part of this enforcement program, whenever the commissioner
50 determines that a gas corporation is not in compliance with the require-
51 ments of this article, he or she shall issue an order requiring such gas
52 corporation to comply, including the development and implementation of a
53 plan of correction. Where necessary, the commissioner may order the flow
54 of natural gas at any delivery point that is not in compliance with the
55 requirements of this article be shut off until a gas corporation brings
56 that delivery point into compliance with this article. The commissioner
A. 6863--B 3
1 may impose a civil fine of up to twenty-five thousand dollars per day
2 per delivery point on the gas corporation until the radon and its radio-
3 active progeny levels at each delivery point that is out of compliance
4 have been brought into compliance with this article. The commissioner
5 may commence a civil action or proceeding whenever a gas corporation
6 fails to comply with an order issued by the commissioner under this
7 article.
8 6. Any person may commence a civil action or proceeding against:
9 (a) any gas corporation that is not in compliance with the require-
10 ments of this article, and
11 (b) the commissioner if he or she fails to enforce the requirements of
12 this article, provided that the commissioner has received notice of the
13 intent to commence such civil action or proceeding and has failed within
14 thirty days of receiving such notice to take enforcement action against
15 a gas corporation that is not in compliance with this article. The court
16 in such action or proceeding may issue an injunction or other order
17 compelling compliance and shall enter an order requiring a gas corpo-
18 ration or the commissioner, as the case may be, to pay the reasonable
19 legal fees and expenses incurred by the individual or organization that
20 commenced the civil action or proceeding.
21 § 3562. Gas corporation requirements. 1. Each gas corporation shall
22 establish and implement a radon mitigation response program to ensure
23 that the level of radon and its radioactive progeny at any delivery
24 point shall not exceed: 100 Bq/m{3} (equivalent to 2.7 pCi/l) averaged
25 over any one hour period, 75 Bq/m{3} (equivalent to 2.02 pCi/l) averaged
26 over any 24 hour period, 50 Bq/m{3} (equivalent to 1.37 pCi/l) averaged
27 over any seven day period.
28 2. Gas corporations are prohibited from building new or additional
29 storage facilities to mitigate radon levels.
30 3. It is unlawful for any gas corporation to pass harmful effects of
31 mitigation to other regions in the state.
32 4. No gas corporation shall distribute gas unless it is reasonably
33 certain that the level of radon and its radioactive progeny in the gas
34 when it is received by residential or other consumers will be at or
35 below the level of 100 Bq/m{3} (equivalent to 2.7 pCi/l) averaged over
36 any one hour period.
37 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 18-a of the public service law, as
38 amended by section 2 of part NN of chapter 59 of the laws of 2009, is
39 amended to read as follows:
40 1. All costs and expenses of the department and commission shall be
41 paid pursuant to appropriation on the certification of the chairman of
42 the department and upon the audit and warrant of the comptroller. The
43 costs and expenses of the department and commission shall include an
44 amount to be suballocated to the department of health for the costs and
45 expenses of administering article thirty-five-B of the public health
46 law. The state treasury shall be reimbursed [therefore] therefor by
47 payments to be made thereto from all moneys collected pursuant to this
48 chapter. The total of such costs and expenses shall be borne by the
49 public utility companies (including for the purposes of this section
50 municipalities other than municipalities as defined in section eighty-
51 nine-l of this chapter), corporations (including the power authority of
52 the state of New York), and persons subject to the commission's regu-
53 lation, to be assessed in the manner provided in subdivisions two, three
54 and four of this section and section two hundred seventeen of this chap-
55 ter.
A. 6863--B 4
1 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 18-a of the public
2 service law, as amended by section 2 of part A of chapter 173 of the
3 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) The chairman of the department shall estimate prior to the start
5 of each state fiscal year the total costs and expenses, including the
6 compensation and expenses of the commission and the department, their
7 officers, agents and employees, and including the cost of retirement
8 contributions, social security, health and dental insurance, survivor's
9 benefits, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and other fringe
10 benefits required to be paid by the state for the personnel of the
11 commission and the department, and including all other items of mainte-
12 nance and operation expenses, and all other direct and indirect costs.
13 The estimate by the chairman of the department relating to the costs and
14 expenses of the department of health of administering article thirty-
15 five-B of the public health law shall be made in agreement with the
16 commissioner of health and the director of the budget. Based on such
17 estimates, the chairman shall determine the amount to be paid by each
18 assessed public utility company and the Long Island power authority and
19 a bill shall be rendered to each such public utility company and author-
20 ity.
21 § 5. If any provision of this act, or any application of any provision
22 of this act, is held to be invalid, or to violate or be inconsistent
23 with any federal law or regulation, that shall not affect the validity
24 or effectiveness of any other provision of this act, or of any other
25 application of any provision of this act, which can be given effect
26 without that provision or application; and to that end, the provisions
27 and applications of this act are severable.
28 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
29 section two of this act shall take effect sixty days after it shall
30 become a law. Effective immediately, the commissioner of health, the
31 chair of the public service commission, the comptroller, and the direc-
32 tor of the budget are authorized to make regulations and take any other
33 measures necessary to implement this act on its effective date.
