§ 3-0311*2 — State agency environmental audits

New York § 3-0311*2

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ENV: Environmental Conservation
• Title 3: General Functions, Powers, Duties and Jurisdiction
• Art. 3: Department of Environmental Conservation; General Functions, Powers, Duties and Jurisdiction

Text

* § 3-0311. State agency environmental audits.\n 1. Each state agency as defined in subdivision five of this section\nshall annually audit the environmental problems created by its\noperations or the operations of contractors it has hired and over whom\nit has exercised or is required to exercise direct oversight, acting in\nfulfillment of their contracts. Such audit shall identify the extent to\nwhich these operations are in violation of this chapter, or regulations\nadopted thereunder. Each such state agency shall submit a report to the\ndepartment on or before April first of each year. The report shall:\n a. describe:\n (1) each identified violation, including the year each violation was\nfirst reported to the department;\n (2) the progress made in remedying any identified violations, and in\nremedying the violations identified in the previous year's audit and the\npast problems previously identified in the department's report dated\n"January 1990" titled "Past Practices Assessment Report";\n (3) disbursements to remedy individual violations or past problems\nmade during the previous year and disbursements recommended to be made\nor made during the current fiscal year; and\n (4) the steps being taken to assure future compliance with state laws\nand regulations, including any new policies developed to address\npatterns of violations identified by the audit.\n b. rank each violation and past problem based on the threat each poses\nto the public health or the environment, so that each is placed into one\nof the following classifications:\n (1) presents an imminent substantial threat to the public health or\nthe environment;\n (2) presents a potential substantial threat to the public health or\nthe environment;\n (3) presents a discernible but not substantial threat to the public\nhealth or the environment; or\n (4) no evidence of discernible threat to the public health or the\nenvironment.\n c. include a remedial plan for the correction of all existing\nidentified violations and uncorrected past environmental problems\npreviously identified in the "Past Practices Assessment Report". Such\nremedial plan shall specify:\n (1) the actions the agency intends to take to remedy each violation or\nproblem;\n (2) an estimate of the costs, if any, of bringing each violation or\nproblem into compliance, and a total cost estimate for remedying all\nviolations and uncorrected past problems; and\n (3) a projected time schedule for remedying each violation or problem.\n 2. In addition to the audit prepared pursuant to subdivision one of\nthis section, each state agency shall report to the department any\nviolation of this chapter, or regulations adopted thereunder, that\npresents an imminent substantial, potential substantial, or discernible\nthreat to the public health or the environment, which has been committed\non agency property by the agency's lessees or other persons and of which\nthe agency has become aware.\n 3. The department shall, before September first of each year, submit\nan annual report to the governor, the director of the budget, the\ntemporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the\nchairman of the senate environmental conservation committee, the\nchairman of the assembly environmental conservation committee, the\nchairman of the senate finance committee, the chairman of the assembly\nways and means committee, and the chairman of the assembly committee on\noversight, analysis and investigation.\n The report shall include:\n a. a summary of the major categories of violations or uncorrected past\nproblems previously identified in the "Past Practices Assessment Report"\ndated January, nineteen hundred ninety;\n b. a description of each violation or uncorrected past environmental\nproblem, including an indication of the year each violation was first\nreported to the department and an identification of the rank as\ndetermined by each agency, pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one\nof this section, with any reordering of rankings as determined by the\ndepartment;\n c. a description of the progress made in remedying any reported\nviolations or past environmental problems, and in remedying the\nviolations identified in the previous year's audit, and a listing of\ndisbursements to remedy violations or past problems made during the\nprevious year and disbursements recommended to be made or made during\nthe current fiscal year;\n d. a description of enforcement efforts which the department has\ncompleted to remedy violations noted in the current or previous year's\naudit report, including whether the department has taken administrative,\ncivil, or criminal enforcement actions;\n e. if the department and the agency have entered into a consent decree\nregarding the violation or problem, the date the violation or problem\nwas first identified by the department; the date the consent decree was\nsigned; the date by which, according to the consent decree, the\nviolation or problem is to be remedied; and if the remedy date has been\nextended, the date such extension was granted and the revised remedy\ndate;\n f. a description of each agency's remedial plan for the correction of\nall existing identified violations and uncorrected past environmental\nproblems, specifying:\n (1) the actions the agency intends to take to remedy each violation or\npast problem;\n (2) the agency's estimate of the costs, if any, of bringing each\nviolation or problem into compliance, and a total estimate for each\nagency of the costs of remedying all violations and uncorrected past\nproblems; and\n (3) the agency's projected time schedule for remedying each violation\nor past problem;\n g. a determination by the department of the adequacy of each agency's\nproposed remedial plan:\n (1) for violations and past problems that pose an imminent substantial\nthreat to the public health or the environment;\n (2) for violations and past problems that pose a potential substantial\nthreat to the public health or the environment; or\n (3) that the department has been required to review pursuant to\nsubdivision four of this section prior to the disbursement of any\nappropriation for such purpose.\n If the department determines that the agency's plan is inadequate, the\ndepartment shall provide a statement explaining this determination. No\ndetermination of adequacy need be included in the report for remedial\nplans that are the subject of a pending enforcement action or permit\nproceeding. Remedial plans that are included as part of a completed\nenforcement action or permit proceeding shall be deemed to have been\ndetermined to be adequate; and\n h. a listing of violations committed by lessees or other persons\nreported by each state agency pursuant to subdivision two of this\nsection, and the actions the department has taken to cause each such\nviolation to be remedied.\n i. The department may, at its discretion, include any of the\ninformation listed in paragraphs (b) through (h) of this subdivision or\nany additional appropriate material within appendices to the report.\n 4. Within its requested budget, each state agency shall set forth in\nthe aggregate all proposed appropriations for the purposes of remedying\nits violations of the environmental conservation law or regulations\nadopted thereunder. The amount requested to remedy each functional\ncategory of violation as well as project specific information for each\nfunctional category of violation shall also be set forth. A priority\ncriterion to be considered in determining such proposed appropriations\nshall be the ranking of such violations as determined by the agency\npursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section, with any\nreordering of rankings as determined by the department. Amounts\nappropriated shall be disbursed for remediation of the violation or\nenvironmental problem only upon review and determination by the\ndepartment of the adequacy of the remedial plan for correction of any\nsuch violation or environmental problem.\n 5. As used in this section, the term "state agency" or "agency" shall\nmean:\n a. each state department;\n b. Division of Military and Naval Affairs, Division of State Police,\nDivision of Housing and Community Renewal, Division for Youth, Office of\nGeneral Services, Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation,\nand State University of New York;\n c. any other division, board, commission, office, or bureau of the\nstate which is required to obtain a permit or approval from the\ndepartment or which undertakes an activity for which it must register\nwith the department;\n d. Albany Port District Commission, Battery Park City Authority,\nCapital District Transportation Authority, Central New York Regional\nTransportation Authority, Dormitory Authority of the State of New York,\nFacilities Development Corporation, Metropolitan Transportation\nAuthority (including the operations of all of its operating units), New\nYork State Energy Research and Development Authority, New York State\nEnvironmental Facilities Corporation, New York State Olympic Regional\nDevelopment Authority, New York State Thruway Authority, New York State\nUrban Development Corporation, Niagara Frontier Transportation\nAuthority, Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority, Port Authority of New\nYork and New Jersey, Port of Oswego Authority, Power Authority of the\nState of New York, Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority;\nand\n e. any other major agency, public authority or public benefit\ncorporation which performs a state function and which is identified by\nthe commissioner for the purpose of complying with this section.\n 6. On or before February fifteenth, nineteen hundred ninety-two and\nthereafter as may be necessary, the department shall develop guidelines\nfor the preparation of environmental audits by state agencies and for\nthe ranking of violations and problems based on the threat each poses to\nthe public health or the environment, pursuant to paragraph (b) of\nsubdivision one of this section.\n * NB There are 2 § 3-0311's\n