New York A 7440: Authorizes the county of Suffolk to establish a water quality restoration fund to be financed by a water quality restoration fee on water usage in the county

Bill Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7440
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 3, 2019
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Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT in relation to authorizing the county of Suffolk to establish a
water quality restoration fund to be financed by a water quality
restoration fee on water usage in the county; and providing for the
repeal of certain provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "Suffolk county water quality restoration act".
3 § 2. Legislative intent. Suffolk county's water resources are unique
4 in the nation and of exceptional importance to the State of New York
5 because of the economic, environmental and public health values that
6 Suffolk county's water resources provide to the people who live and
7 recreate in Suffolk county. Suffolk county, with a population larger
8 than 11 states, derives its drinking water from a sole-source aquifer,
9 as specifically designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
10 The full water cycle is impacted by increasing quantities of nutrients,
11 pathogens, pesticides, volatile organic contaminants and saltwater
12 intrusion, as well as a number of merging threats such as prescription
13 drugs and sea level rise. While all sources of water pollution are
14 concerning, pollution from sanitary systems has clearly emerged as the
15 most widespread and least well addressed category of water pollutants in
16 Suffolk county.
17 As a result of these environmental impacts, the county has already
18 experienced an increasing number of harmful algal blooms and other docu-
19 mented declines in key biological indicators which demonstrate continued
20 and increasing stress on the region's groundwater resources and the
21 resiliency of its protective coastal ecosystems. These degraded condi-
22 tions have already decimated Long Island's once robust shellfish indus-
23 try and will have increasingly negative impacts on the island's entire
EXPLANATION--Matter in (underscored) is new; matter in bracketsitalics
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08086-03-9

A. 7440 2
1 economy as well as the quality of life and public health for the
2 millions of residents of the region.
3 The purpose of this act is to sanction the creation of a water quality
4 restoration fund to finance the protection, preservation, and rehabili-
5 tation of subterranean and surface waters. This act would allow the
6 funding of projects that will mitigate wastewater pollutants utilizing
7 the best available technology. Replacing underperforming cesspools and
8 septic systems, especially in nutrient sensitive areas, will minimize
9 nutrient loading into high groundwater and groundwater-fed waters.
10 Given the funding requirements, this legislation would expand the
11 power of Suffolk county to generate dedicated, equitable funding sourc-
12 es. These funds would be expended on various wastewater treatment
13 systems to mitigate pollution which will provide aquifer and surface
14 water restoration and protection. To that end, this act would implement
15 recommendations delineated in the Suffolk County Action Plan. It is the
16 judgment of the legislature that the sustainability of the county's
17 aquifer and drinking water supply, surface and tidal waters and estuar-
18 ies is a county-wide concern and that all sewer and wastewater infras-
19 tructure projects funded through a water quality restoration fund estab-
20 lished hereunder shall be a benefit to the county as a whole and to all
21 residents therein.
22 § 3. Water quality restoration fee. (a) Notwithstanding any provision
23 of law to the contrary, the county of Suffolk is authorized to establish
24 by local law, subject to mandatory referendum pursuant to section 23 of
25 the municipal home rule law, a water quality restoration fund to be
26 financed by a water quality restoration fee at a rate not to exceed 1.5
27 cents per 1,000 gallons of water usage per property.
28 (b) Such fee shall be collected on all properties in the county of
29 Suffolk except as provided herein. Water usage on public land or land
30 used as part of a farm operation shall be excluded from such fee. For
31 the purposes of this act "public land" shall mean any land exempt from
32 real property taxation pursuant to title 1 of article 4 of the real
33 property tax law. For the purposes of this act, "farm operation" shall
34 have the same meaning as provided for in section 301 of the agriculture
35 and markets law.
36 (c) In the case of properties that are served by the Suffolk County
37 Water Authority or a water district established pursuant to state law,
38 the fee shall be based on actual water usage for such properties as
39 calculated by the water provider;