§ 58-0303 — Programs, plans and projects

§ 58-0303. Programs, plans and projects.\n 1. Eligible restoration and flood risk reduction projects include, but\nare not limited to costs associated with:\n a. (1) projects identified in state and regional management and\nrestoration programs and plans including but not limited to the Great\nLakes Action Agenda, Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda, Ocean Action\nPlan, Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda, Long Island Sound\nComprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, South Shore Estuary\nReserve Comprehensive Management Plan, Peconic Estuary Comprehensive\nConservation and Management Plan, Delaware Action Plan, Susquehanna\nAction Plan, forest management framework for New York City and New\nYork/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Plan;\n (2) local waterfront revitalization plans prepared pursuant to article\nforty-two of the executive law; and\n (3) coastal rehabilitation and shoreline restoration projects,\nincluding nature-based solutions;\n b. flood risk reduction projects including but not limited to:\nacquisition of real property; moving, lifting or raising of existing\nflood-prone infrastructure or structures; relocation, repair, or raising\nof flood-prone or repeatedly flooded roadways; and projects to remove,\nalter, or right-size dams, bridges, and culverts, but shall not include\nroutine construction or maintenance undertaken by the state and\nmunicipalities which does not provide flood risk reduction benefits; and\n c. restoration projects including but not limited to: floodplain,\nwetland and stream restoration projects; forest conservation; endangered\nand threatened species projects; and habitat restoration projects,\nincluding acquisition of fee title and easements, intended to improve\nthe lands and waters of the state of ecological significance or any part\nthereof, including, but not limited to forests, ponds, bogs, wetlands,\nbays, sounds, streams, rivers, or lakes and shorelines thereof, to\nsupport a spawning, nursery, wintering, migratory, nesting, breeding,\nfeeding, or foraging environment for fish and wildlife and other biota.\n 2. The commissioner and the commissioner of the division of housing\nand community renewal are authorized pursuant to paragraph b of\nsubdivision one of this section to purchase private real property\nidentified as at-risk to flooding, from willing sellers. The\ncommissioner of the division of housing and community renewal shall be\nauthorized to transfer to any state agency or public authority any real\nproperty in order to carry out the purposes of this article. In\nconnection therewith, the housing trust fund corporation shall be\nauthorized to create a subsidiary corporation to carry out the program\nauthorized under this subdivision. Such subsidiary corporation shall\nhave all the privileges, immunities, tax exemption and other exemptions\nof the agency to the extent the same are not inconsistent with this\nsection.\n a. The commissioner and the commissioner of the division of housing\nand community renewal or any other department or state agency that has\nreceived funds suballocated pursuant to this section may enter into\nagreements with municipalities, and not-for-profit corporations for the\npurpose of implementing a program pursuant to this section.\n b. The department and the division of housing and community renewal\nshall prioritize projects in communities based on past flood risk or\nthose that participate in the federal emergency management agency's\n(FEMA) community rating system.\n c. Any state agency or authority, municipality, or not-for-profit\ncorporation purchasing private real property may expend costs associated\nwith:\n (1) the acquisition of real property, based upon the pre-flood fair\nmarket value of the subject property;\n (2) the demolition and removal of structures and/or infrastructure on\nthe property; and\n (3) the restoration of natural resources to facilitate beneficial open\nspace, flood mitigation, and/or shoreline stabilization.\n d. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any structure\nwhich is located on real property purchased pursuant to this program\nshall be demolished or removed, provided that it does not serve a use or\npurpose consistent with paragraph f of this subdivision.\n e. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, real property\npurchased with funding pursuant to this program shall be property of the\nstate, municipality, or a not-for-profit corporation.\n f. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, real property\npurchased with funding pursuant to this program shall be restored and\nmaintained in perpetuity in a manner that, aims to increase ecosystem\nfunction, provide additional flood damage mitigation for surrounding\nproperties, protect wildlife habitat, and wherever practicable and safe,\nallow for passive and/or recreational community use. Municipal flood\nmitigation plans, resilience, waterfront revitalization plans or hazard\nmitigation plans, when applicable, shall be consulted to identify the\nappropriate restoration and end-use of the property.\n g. All or a portion of the appropriation in this section may be\nprovided to the department or the division of housing and community\nrenewal or suballocated to any other department, state agency or state\nauthority.\n h. Private real property identified as at-risk to flooding should\ngenerally be limited to those: (1) identified as being within the one\nhundred-year floodplain on the most recent FEMA flood insurance maps;\n(2) flooded structures that would qualify for buyout under criteria\ngenerally applicable to FEMA post-emergency acquisitions; (3) structures\nidentified in a state, federal, local or regional technical study as\nsuitable for the location of a flood risk management or abatement\nproject in areas immediately proximate to inland or coastal waterways;\nor (4) structures located in coastal or riparian areas that have been\ndetermined by a state, federal, local or regional technical study to\nsignificantly exacerbate flooding in other locations.\n 3. The department, the office of parks, recreation, and historic\npreservation and the department of state are authorized to provide state\nassistance payments or grants to municipalities and not-for-profit\ncorporations and undertake projects pursuant to paragraph a of\nsubdivision one of this section.\n 4. The department and the office of parks, recreation, and historic\npreservation are authorized to provide state assistance payments or\ngrants to municipalities and not-for-profit corporations and undertake\nprojects pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of this section.\nCulvert and bridge projects shall be in compliance with the department's\nstream crossing guidelines and best management practices, and engineered\nfor structural integrity and appropriate hydraulic capacity including,\nwhere available, projects flows based on flood modeling that\nincorporates climate change projections and shall not include routine\nconstruction or maintenance undertaken by the state or municipalities.\n 5. The department and the office of parks, recreation, and historic\npreservation are authorized to provide state assistance payments or\ngrants to municipalities and not-for-profit corporations and undertake\nprojects pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision one of this section.\n 6. Provided that for the purposes of selecting projects for funding\nunder paragraphs b and c of subdivision one of this section, the\nrelevant agencies shall develop eligibility guidelines and post\ninformation on the department's website in the environmental notice\nbulletin providing for a thirty-day public comment period and upon\nadoption post such eligibility guidelines on the relevant agency's\nwebsite.\n