STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
575--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Local Government in accordance with Senate
Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to biodiversity
in planting projects
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 96-b of the general municipal law, as added by
2 chapter 686 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 96-b. Tree conservation. 1. The legislature hereby finds that there
4 is a direct relationship between the planting of trees, shrubs and asso-
5 ciated vegetation in sufficient number in populated areas and the
6 health, safety, and welfare of communities, and as related to the
7 natural, scenic, and aesthetic values of trees and the physical and
8 visual qualities of the environment which municipalities are authorized
9 to protect. Trees and such vegetation abate noise, provide welcome shade
10 to people, preserve the balance of oxygen in the air by removing carbon
11 dioxide and fostering air quality, and add color and verdure to human
12 construction. They also stabilize the soil and control water pollution
13 by preventing soil erosion and flooding, yield advantageous microclimat-
14 ic effects, and provide a natural habitat for wildlife. The destructive
15 and indiscriminate removal of trees and related vegetation causes
16 increased municipal costs for proper drainage control, impairs the bene-
17 fits of occupancy of existing residential properties and impairs the
18 stability and value of both improved and unimproved real property in the
19 area of destruction, and adversely affects the health, safety, and
20 general welfare of the inhabitants of the state. However, when tree
21 removal is necessary to stop the spread of invasive species it is
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02127-02-0
S. 575--A 2
1 crucial that municipalities replant lost trees and vegetation, while
2 maintaining biodiversity in planting projects to avoid future loss.
3 Biodiversity ensures resistance against mass susceptibility to invasive
4 species.
5 2. In addition to any power or authority of a municipal corporation to
6 regulate by planning or zoning laws or regulations or by local laws and
7 regulations, the local legislative body of any county, city, town or
8 village is hereby empowered to provide for the protection and conserva-
9 tion of trees and related vegetation. Such legislative body may require
10 appropriate conditions applicable to any activity involving the removal
11 or destruction of trees or the substantial alteration of grade level
12 around trees may include, where appropriate, requirements that the
13 activity be done as specified in an approved landscape plan and that the
14 removed trees be replaced by the planting of the same or alternate
15 species of trees, and may provide, in connection therewith, required
16 plantings for screening purposes. Such regulations, special conditions
17 and restrictions, adopted in the exercise of the police power, shall be
18 reasonable and appropriate to the purpose. The municipality may require
19 the posting of a performance bond to assure compliance with this
20 section. All charges and expenses incurred under this section by a town
21 shall be a charge upon the taxable property of that part of the town
22 outside any incorporated village.
23 3. When a municipality, parks department, highway department, or other
24 local entity undertakes a tree planting project in public locations,
25 they shall select and plant biologically diverse types of trees. To
26 satisfy sufficient biodiversity, the municipality shall follow the
27 10-20-30 principle when the municipality is planting new trees or
28 replanting in an area. The 10-20-30 principle states that a tree popu-
29 lation shall include no more than ten percent of any one species, twenty
30 percent of any one genus, or thirty percent of any one family. This
31 percentage shall be measured by the tree population as a whole, not by
32 any one planting project solely.
33 § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2023 or on the two hundred
34 seventieth day after it shall have become a law, whichever is later.