§ 605-B — Accidental disability retirement for New York city uniformed sanitation members

* § 605-b. Accidental disability retirement for New York city\nuniformed sanitation members. a. Definitions. The following terms as\nused in this section shall have the following meanings unless a\ndifferent meaning is plainly required by the context:\n 1. "New York city uniformed sanitation member" shall mean a member (as\ndefined in subdivision e of section six hundred one of this article) of\nNYCERS who is a member of the uniformed force of the New York city\ndepartment of sanitation.\n 2. "NYCERS" shall mean the New York city employees' retirement system.\n 3. "Eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree" shall mean\na person who retired for disability as a NYCERS member and as a member\nof the uniformed force of the New York city department of sanitation\npursuant to section five hundred seven or six hundred five of this\nchapter, with an effective date of retirement on or after November\nfirst, nineteen hundred eighty-two, and prior to the effective date of\nthis section.\n b. 1. A New York city uniformed sanitation member who, on or after the\neffective date of this section, is determined by NYCERS to be physically\nor mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty as the natural and\nproximate result of an accident, not caused by his or her own willful\nnegligence, sustained in the performance of such uniformed sanitation\nservice while actually a member of NYCERS shall be retired for\naccidental disability. Such retirement shall be effective as of the date\napproved by the board of trustees of NYCERS.\n 2. Except as provided in paragraph one of subdivision c of this\nsection, applications for accidental disability retirement may be made\nnot later than two years after the occurrence of the accident upon which\nthe application is based. Such application may be made by:\n (a) a New York city uniformed sanitation member;\n (b) the commissioner of the New York city department of sanitation; or\n (c) any person acting on behalf of and authorized by such member.\n 3. NYCERS shall process applications for accidental disability\nretirement pursuant to this section in accordance with the applicable\nstatutory provisions and the rules and regulations of NYCERS pertaining\ngenerally to the processing of disability retirement applications.\nUnless inconsistent with the provisions of this section, the provisions\nof section 13-169 of the administrative code of the city of New York,\nrelating to medical review procedures, and section 13-171 of such code,\nrelating to safeguards on disability retirement, shall be applicable to\naccidental disability retirements pursuant to this section. The board of\ntrustees of NYCERS shall have the authority to adopt rules and\nregulations for the purposes of implementing this section.\n 4. Subject to the provisions of section 13-176 of the administrative\ncode of the city of New York, the annual retirement allowance payable to\naccidental disability retirees pursuant to this section shall be an\namount equal to three-quarters of the member's final average salary. The\nretirement allowance payable pursuant to this section shall be in lieu\nof any other disability retirement allowance which may otherwise be\npayable by NYCERS.\n c. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs one and two of\nsubdivision b of this section or any other provision of law to the\ncontrary, any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree (as\ndefined in paragraph three of subdivision a of this section) shall be\neligible to apply for accidental disability retirement pursuant to\nsubdivision b of this section either (a) if the member is vested and is\nincapacitated as the result of a qualifying World Trade Center condition\nas defined in section two of this chapter, or (b) by filing an\napplication with NYCERS within one year of the effective date of this\nsection.\n 2. Any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree who\nfiles a timely application for accidental disability retirement pursuant\nto paragraph one of this subdivision, and who retired either for\ndisability pursuant to section six hundred five of this article with\nless than ten years of credited service, or for accidental disability\npursuant to section five hundred seven of this chapter, shall be granted\naccidental disability retirement benefits pursuant to subdivision b of\nthis section, with payability of those benefits to begin on the earlier\nof (a) January first, two thousand five, or (b) a date certified as the\npayability date for all persons entitled to accidental disability\nretirement benefits pursuant to this subdivision by the commissioner of\nlabor relations for the city of New York in a letter to the executive\ndirector of NYCERS.\n 3. Any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree who\nfiles a timely application for accidental disability retirement pursuant\nto paragraph one of this subdivision, and who retired for disability\npursuant to section six hundred five of this article with ten or more\nyears of credited service, shall have that application processed in\naccordance with the applicable provisions which govern the processing of\naccidental disability retirement applications filed pursuant to\nsubdivision b of this section by or on behalf of active New York city\nuniformed sanitation members of NYCERS. NYCERS shall use its best\nefforts to make its determinations on such applications as soon as\npracticable. Where NYCERS determines that any such prior uniformed\nsanitation disability retiree is entitled to accidental disability\nretirement benefits pursuant to subdivision b of this section,\npayability of those benefits shall begin on the earlier of (a) January\nfirst, two thousand five, or (b) a date certified as the payability date\nfor all persons entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits\npursuant to this subdivision by the commissioner of labor relations for\nthe city of New York in a letter to the executive director of NYCERS.\n 4. The accidental disability retirement allowance payable pursuant to\nthis section to any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability\nretiree determined by NYCERS to be entitled to such benefit shall be in\nlieu of any other disability retirement benefit which such member may\nhave been receiving or entitled to receive from NYCERS. Any such person\nwho was receiving disability retirement benefits from NYCERS pursuant to\nany statutory provision other than this section shall continue to\nreceive payment of such benefits until accidental disability retirement\nbenefits become payable pursuant to this section on the applicable date\nspecified in paragraphs two and three of this subdivision. On and after\nsuch date he or she shall no longer be entitled to receive disability\nbenefits from NYCERS pursuant to such other statutory provisions.\n 5. Any eligible prior uniformed sanitation disability retiree who\nbecomes entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits pursuant\nto this section shall have the same method of payment applied to such\nbenefits as was applicable to the disability retirement benefits he or\nshe was receiving from NYCERS pursuant to a statutory provision other\nthan this section, and such person shall not be permitted to change such\nmethod of payment from the maximum retirement allowance to an option or\nfrom the option selected previously to another option or to the maximum\nretirement allowance.\n 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for the\npurposes of calculating the cost-of-living adjustment which may\notherwise become payable pursuant to section 13-696 of the\nadministrative code of the city of New York to an eligible prior\nuniformed sanitation disability retiree for any period of time after\nsuch person has begun receiving accidental disability retirement\nbenefits pursuant to this section, the year of retirement of such person\nshall be deemed to be the year in which he or she retired for disability\npursuant to section five hundred seven or six hundred five of this\nchapter, as the case may be.\n d. 1. (a) Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter or of any\ngeneral, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or\nregulation to the contrary, if any condition or impairment of health is\ncaused by a qualifying World Trade Center condition as defined in\nsection two of this chapter, it shall be presumptive evidence that it\nwas incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the natural\nand proximate result of an accident not caused by such member's own\nwillful negligence, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.\n (b) The head of the retirement system is hereby authorized to\npromulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this\nparagraph.\n 2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or of any\ngeneral, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or\nregulation to the contrary, if a member who participated in World Trade\nCenter rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in section two\nof this chapter, and subsequently retired on a service retirement, an\nordinary disability retirement, a performance of duty disability\nretirement, or was separated from service with a vested right to\ndeferred payability of a retirement allowance and subsequent to such\nretirement or separation which is determined by the head of the\nretirement system to have a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as\ndefined in section two of this chapter, upon such determination by the\nhead of the retirement system it shall be presumed that such disability\nwas incurred in the performance and discharge of duty as the natural and\nproximate result of an accident not caused by such member's own willful\nnegligence, and that the member would have been physically or mentally\nincapacitated for the performance and discharge of duty of the position\nfrom which he or she retired had the condition been known and fully\ndeveloped at the time of the member's retirement, unless the contrary is\nproven by competent evidence.\n (b) The head of the retirement system shall consider a\nreclassification of the member's retirement or vesting as an accidental\ndisability retirement effective as of the date of such reclassification.\n (c) Such member's retirement option shall not be changed as a result\nof such reclassification.\n (d) The member's former employer at the time of the member's\nretirement shall have an opportunity to be heard on the member's\napplication for reclassification by the head of the retirement system\naccording to procedures developed by the head of the retirement system.\n (e) The head of the retirement system is hereby authorized to\npromulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this\nparagraph.\n e. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any\ngeneral, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or\nregulation to the contrary, if a retiree or vestee who: (1) has met the\ncriteria of subdivision d of this section and retired on a service or\ndisability retirement, would have met the criteria if not already\nretired on an accidental disability, or was separated from service with\na vested right to deferred payability of a retirement allowance; and (2)\nhas not been retired for more than twenty-five years; and (3) dies from\na qualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in section two of\nthis chapter, as determined by the applicable head of the retirement\nsystem or applicable medical board, then unless the contrary be proven\nby competent evidence, such retiree or vestee shall be deemed to have\ndied as a natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the\nperformance of duty and not as a result of willful negligence on his or\nher part. Such retiree's or vestee's eligible beneficiary, as set forth\nin section six hundred one of this article, shall be entitled to an\naccidental death benefit as provided by section six hundred seven of\nthis article, however, for the purposes of determining the salary base\nupon which the accidental death benefit is calculated, the retiree or\nvestee shall be deemed to have died on the date of his or her retirement\nor separation from service with vested rights. Upon the retiree's or\nvestee's death, the eligible beneficiary shall make a written\napplication to the head of the retirement system within the time for\nfiling an application for an accidental death benefit as set forth in\nsection six hundred seven of this article requesting conversion of such\nretiree's or vestee's service or disability retirement benefit to an\naccidental death benefit. At the time of such conversion, the eligible\nbeneficiary shall relinquish all rights to the prospective benefits\npayable under the service or disability retirement benefit, or vested\nright to such benefit, including any post-retirement death benefits,\nsince the retiree's or vestee's death. If the eligible beneficiary is\nnot the only beneficiary receiving or entitled to receive a benefit\nunder the service or disability retirement benefit (including, but not\nlimited to, post-retirement death benefits or benefits paid or payable\npursuant to the retiree's option selection), or that will be eligible\nunder the vested right, the accidental death benefit payments to the\neligible beneficiary will be reduced by any amounts paid or payable to\nany other beneficiary.\n f. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any\ngeneral, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or\nregulation to the contrary, if a member who: (1) has met the criteria of\nsubdivision d of this section; (2) dies in active service or after\nseparating from service with a vested right to deferred payability of a\nretirement allowance, but prior to the payability of that retirement\nallowance; and (3) dies from a qualifying World Trade Center condition,\nas defined in section two of this chapter, as determined by the\napplicable head of the retirement system or applicable medical board to\nhave been caused by such member's participation in the World Trade\nCenter rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in section two\nof this chapter, then unless the contrary be proven by competent\nevidence, such member shall be deemed to have died as a natural and\nproximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty and\nnot as a result of willful negligence on his or her part. Such member's\neligible beneficiary, as set forth in section six hundred one of this\narticle, shall be entitled to an accidental death benefit provided he or\nshe makes written application to the head of the retirement system\nwithin the time for filing an application for an accidental death\nbenefit as set forth in section six hundred seven of this article.\n * NB There are 2 § 605-b's\n