§ 22 — Management of sand and gravel resources

§ 22. Management of sand and gravel resources. 1. The commissioner of\ngeneral services is authorized to manage, license and regulate the\nremoval of sand, gravel or other material by dredging or otherwise from\nstate owned land now or formerly under water, except such lands\nspecified in subdivision two of this section, and to collect rents,\nroyalties or other fees in connection therewith. The commissioner is\nalso authorized to manage the use of such lands under water, including\nbut not limited to the filling in thereof, in any way and to collect\nrents and fees in connection therewith, subject to applicable regulatory\nstatutes.\n 2. There are excluded from the commissioner's authorization by\nsubdivision one of this section the following functions and actions:\n a. The taking of sand, gravel or other materials from lands of the\nstate under the waters of Lake Erie bordering upon Chautauqua county,\nexcept that the commissioner may license and regulate the taking of\nsand, gravel and other materials from lands of the state under the\nwaters of Lake Erie at the mouths of Walnut creek, Silver creek and\nCattaraugus creek, in the town of Hanover, Chautauqua county, and may\nprescribe the terms and conditions under which the same may be taken,\nincluding the amount of license fees.\n b. The taking of sand, gravel or other materials from the lands in, on\nor bordering upon Long Island, except that when in the opinion of the\nUnited States government, as evidenced by the recommendation of the\ncorps of engineers of the United States army and authorized by the\nsecretary of the army, removal of such sand, gravel or other materials\nbecomes necessary for the improvement of navigation, the commissioner\nmay license and regulate the removal of such materials upon such terms\nand conditions as he may deem advisable, including the amount of license\nfees therefor.\n c. The management and use of any such lands under water appropriated\nto any department or agency except upon written consent of the head of\nthat department or agency.\n 3. License fees shall not be discriminatory, but this provision shall\nnot require the fixing of a uniform license fee throughout the state.\nAfter the adoption of regulations by the commissioner, it shall be\nunlawful to take or remove from lands of the state under water any sand,\ngravel or other material without license issued pursuant to this\nsection.\n 4. The commissioner may, in his discretion and upon such terms and\nconditions, including consideration, as to him shall seem just and\nproper, authorize the taking of soil from state land under water where\nsuch soil is to be taken by an upland owner bordering on state land\nunder water for the improvement or the protection of his upland from the\naction of the water, or for the restoration, in whole or in part, of his\nupland where there has been sudden washing away and loss of soil thereof\nby violent storm and consequent avulsion, but where the title to his\nland has not been lost, the boundary line remaining the same. The\npreceding provisions of this section, respecting the management,\nregulation, licensing or taking of sand, gravel or other material from\nstate land under water, are not affected by the provisions hereof\nrespecting the taking of soil by the upland owner.\n