§ 89-B — Safe and adequate service; just and reasonable charges; unjust discrimination; unreasonable preference; protection of privacy

§ 89-b. Safe and adequate service; just and reasonable charges; unjust\ndiscrimination; unreasonable preference; protection of privacy. 1. Every\nwater-works corporation shall furnish and provide such service,\ninstrumentalities and facilities as shall be safe and adequate and in\nall respects just and reasonable. All charges made or demanded by any\nsuch water-works corporation for water, or for equipment furnished or\nfor any service rendered or to be rendered shall be just and reasonable\nand not more than allowed by law or by order of the commission. Every\nunjust or unreasonable charge made or demanded for water or for\nequipment furnished or for any such service, or in connection therewith,\nor in excess of that allowed by law or by the order of the commission is\nprohibited.\n 2. No water-works corporation shall directly or indirectly, by any\nspecial rate, rebate, drawback or other device or method, charge,\ndemand, collect or receive from any person or corporation a greater or\nless compensation for water, or for equipment or for any service\nrendered or to be rendered or in connection therewith, except as\nauthorized in this article, than it charges, demands, collects or\nreceives from any other person or corporation for doing a like and\ncontemporaneous service with respect thereto under the same or\nsubstantially similar circumstances or conditions.\n 3. No water-works corporation shall make or grant any undue or\nunreasonable preference or advantage to any person, corporation or\nlocality, or to any particular description of service in any respect\nwhatsoever, or subject any particular person, corporation or locality or\nany particular description of service to any undue or unreasonable\nprejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever.\n 3-a. No water-works corporation shall discontinue or disconnect the\nsupply of water for non-payment of water rents, rates or charges, unless\nsuch water-works corporation shall have first given fifteen days'\nwritten notice of its intention so to do to the owner of the premises\nthereby affected, or in lieu thereof, to the person, firm or corporation\nto whom or which the last preceding bill has been rendered and from whom\nor which the water-works corporation has received payment therefor, and\nto the superintendent or other person in charge of the building or\npremises thereby affected, if it can be readily ascertained that there\nis such superintendent or other person in charge. Such notice in every\ncase shall be served either personally on the person, firm or\ncorporation to which it is directed, or by mailing the same in a\npostpaid wrapper to the address of such person, firm or corporation.\n 3-b. (a) No water-works corporation can effect the discontinuance of\nresidential service for nonpayment of bills rendered for water service\non Friday after twelve noon, Saturday, Sunday, public holiday, or day on\nwhich the main business office of the corporation is not open for\nbusiness.\n (b) Discontinuance for nonpayment of bills rendered for water service\nof residential services can only take place between Monday and Thursday\nbetween the hours of eight a.m. and six p.m., and Fridays before twelve\nnoon.\n (c) The term public holiday refers to those holidays enumerated in the\ngeneral construction law.\n 3-c. It shall be unlawful for any water-works corporation to\ndiscontinue the supply of water to any person or entity receiving public\nassistance, for nonpayment of bills rendered for service, if the payment\nfor such service is to be paid directly by the office of temporary and\ndisability assistance or the social services official in such locality.\n 4. Nothing in this chapter shall be taken to prohibit a water-works\ncorporation from establishing a sliding scale for a fixed period for the\nautomatic adjustment of charges for water, or any service rendered or to\nbe rendered and the dividends to be paid to stockholders of such\ncorporation, provided the sliding scale shall first have been filed with\nand approved by the commission; but nothing in this subdivision shall\noperate to prevent the commission after the expiration of such fixed\nperiod from fixing proper, just and reasonable rates and charges to be\nmade for service as authorized in this article.\n 5. Nothing in this chapter shall be taken to prohibit a water-works\ncorporation from establishing classifications of service based upon the\nquantity of water used, times when used, purpose for which used,\nduration of use, or upon any other reasonable consideration, and\nproviding schedules of just and reasonable graduated rates applicable\nthereto. No such classification, schedule, rate or charge shall be\nlawful unless it shall be filed with and approved by the commission, and\nevery such classification, rate or charge shall be subject to change,\nalteration and modification by the commission.\n 6. No water works corporation shall sell or offer for sale any list of\nnames of its customers. However, upon request by a municipality, a water\nworks corporation shall provide water usage data by property address to\nsuch municipality where: (a) such municipality is within the service\nterritory of such water works corporation; (b) such data shall only be\nused for municipal purposes related to the financing of clean, storm or\ndrinking water infrastructure projects and service; and (c) the\nprovision of such data shall be pursuant to a written agreement between\nthe water works corporation and the municipality which adequately\nprovides for customer privacy safeguards and is approved by the\ncommission. The water works corporation may provide for reimbursement of\nany nominal administrative costs which result from this provision of\ndata in the written agreement. Property water usage data shall be used\nsolely for the calculation of assessments or bills for municipal\nservices for which water usage is a relevant indicator of the cost of\nsuch municipal services and such data information shall not be sold or\nshared with any other person or corporation. If a private vendor is used\nby the municipality in association with such municipal purposes, the\nrestrictions related to municipalities on sale or sharing of water usage\ndata shall apply to such private vendor. Upon request by a municipality,\nthe commission may commence a proceeding to: (a) establish a written\nagreement between the municipality and a water works corporation; or (b)\nreview any written agreement entered into between the municipality and a\nwater works corporation, and make any modifications to such agreement as\nwould be in the public interest. Any agency, as defined under section\neighty-six of the public officers law, shall not disclose any personally\nidentifiable information contained within such water usage data to the\npublic. For purposes of this subdivision, "municipality" shall only\ninclude the cities of New Rochelle and Rye; the towns of Eastchester,\nGreenburgh, and Mount Pleasant; and the villages of Ardsley, Bronxville,\nDobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Pelham, Pelham Manor, Port Chester, Rye\nBrook, and Tuckahoe.\n 7. Every water-works corporation providing service to the residents of\na county with a population of one million two hundred fifty thousand or\nmore which is not wholly contained within a city shall meter service to\nits customers within two years of the effective date of this\nsubdivision.\n 12. (a) Every water-works corporation shall provide customers with a\nconvenient option to request that the water-works corporation use their\npreferred name and/or preferred pronouns in all written or oral\ncommunications between the water-works corporation and the customer, as\nwell as all statements or documentation relating to a customer's water\nservice, regardless of whether such customer's preferred name differs\nfrom their current legal name.\n (b) If a customer's preferred name differs from their current legal\nname, a water-works corporation may require such customer to provide\nreasonable proof of identity using their legal name, provided that such\ninformation shall be used solely to verify the customer's identity or\nfor other purposes required by law.\n (c) No water-works corporation shall:\n (i) willfully and repeatedly fail to use a customer's preferred name\nand/or preferred pronouns after being clearly informed of the preferred\nname and/or preferred pronouns pursuant to paragraph (a) of this\nsubdivision; or\n (ii) require a customer to specify their sexual orientation or gender\nidentity or expression in order to use their preferred name and/or\npreferred pronouns.\n