STATE OF NEW YORK
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175
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
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Introduced by Sens. HELMING, O'MARA, ROBACH, SEPULVEDA, YOUNG -- read
twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the
Committee on Energy and Telecommunications
AN ACT in relation to creating the "Finger Lakes community act of 2019"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative intent. It is the intent of this Legislature to
2 protect the Finger Lakes region from the adverse effects of the siting
3 of newly constructed incineration facilities, including but not limited
4 to: air and ash pollution, the additional traffic on the public roads
5 and damage to local tourism, winery and agriculture industries as well
6 as the lakes and farmland throughout the area. In an area where three of
7 the largest landfills in New York State are located, over three million
8 tons of trash per year are imported into the Finger Lakes and the cumu-
9 lative impact of adding more imported waste for incineration would have
10 an extremely negative effect on the public health and safety of the
11 community, the local businesses and the lakes. The Finger Lakes region
12 is a thriving agriculture-tourism region in the state serving as an
13 economic engine with over one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) of
14 investment in the region and has created over 25,000 jobs.
15 The Legislature hereby determines that the public interest requires a
16 prohibition on the siting of newly constructed incineration facilities
17 in the Finger Lakes region.
18 § 2. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
19 "Finger Lakes community preservation act of 2019".
20 § 3. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, the following terms
21 shall have the following meanings:
22 a. "Incineration facility" shall mean a facility which generates elec-
23 tricity from the combustion, gasification or pyrolysis of solid waste or
24 from fuel from solid waste, provided that such term shall not include
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04980-01-9
S. 175 2
1 any facility constructed or in operation prior to the effective date of
2 this act.
3 b. "Solid waste management facility" has the meaning set forth for
4 such term in subdivision 2 of section 27-0701 of the environmental
5 conservation law.
6 § 4. Permits and certificates. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or
7 regulation to the contrary, no certificate of environmental compatibili-
8 ty and public need shall be issued for the construction or operation of
9 a new incineration facility, and no application for such certificate
10 shall proceed for such a facility, and no permit or any other certif-
11 icate shall be issued or granted by the state to such a facility if all
12 of the following criteria exist or are met:
13 a. The incineration facility is within the Oswego River/Finger Lakes
14 Watershed.
15 b. There is at least one landfill or other solid waste management
16 facility permitted by the department of environmental conservation and
17 operating or located within a fifty mile radius of the incineration
18 facility.
19 c. The incineration facility is within 10 miles of a priority water-
20 body as designated by the department of environmental conservation,
21 pursuant to section 17-1407 of the environmental conservation law.
22 § 5. Severability. The provisions of this act shall be severable, and
23 if any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision or part of this act
24 shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
25 such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder ther-
26 eof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence,
27 paragraph, subdivision or part thereof directly involved in the contro-
28 versy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.
29 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
30 have been in full force and effect on and after February 1, 2019, and
31 shall not apply to any facility in operation as of such date.
