§ 97-OO — Biodiversity stewardship and research fund

* § 97-oo. Biodiversity stewardship and research fund. 1. There is\nhereby established in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the\ncommissioner of taxation and finance a fund to be known as the\nbiodiversity stewardship and research fund which shall consist of a\nstate land biodiversity stewardship account and a biodiversity research\naccount.\n 2. The state land biodiversity stewardship account and the\nbiodiversity research account shall consist of all moneys credited or\ntransferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law for\nthe purposes of biodiversity stewardship, research or education.\n 3. Moneys in the biodiversity stewardship and research fund may be\ninvested by the comptroller pursuant to section ninety-eight-a of this\narticle, and any income received by the comptroller shall be used for\nthe purposes of such fund.\n 4. The moneys held in or credited to the fund shall be expended for\nthe purposes set forth in this section, and may not be interchanged or\ncommingled with any other account or fund but may be commingled with any\nother fund or account for investment purposes.\n 5. Moneys in the state land biodiversity stewardship account,\nfollowing appropriation by the legislature, shall be available to the\ndepartment of environmental conservation, office of parks, recreation\nand historic preservation, and the New York state museum within the\neducation department for the following purposes:\n a. To undertake reviews pursuant to section 3-0302 of the\nenvironmental conservation law and subdivision seventeen of section 3.09\nof the parks, recreation and historic preservation law.\n b. To identify lands of ecological significance that are candidates to\nrecommend to the governor and legislature for dedication to the state\nnature and historical preserve trust pursuant to section 45-0113 of the\nenvironmental conservation law or designation as park preserves or park\npreservation areas pursuant to section 20.02 of the parks, recreation\nand historic preservation law. Such moneys may be spent to conduct\nsurveys of state property boundaries.\n c. To complete natural resource inventories and scientific studies to\nidentify, study and monitor occurrences of plants, animals and\necological communities that are rare in New York state.\n d. To develop and implement stewardship activities designed to\nconserve and enhance plants, animals and ecological communities that are\nrare in New York state, on state-owned lands including, but not limited\nto, lands dedicated to the state nature and historical preserve trust\npursuant to section 45-0113 of the environmental conservation law and\nlands designated park preserves or park preservation areas pursuant to\nsection 20.02 of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law.\n e. To conduct studies and inventories of environmentally significant\nstate-owned underwater lands, including lands now or formally\nunderwater, currently under the jurisdiction of the office of general\nservices to facilitate the proper management and, where appropriate,\ntransfer of such lands to the department of environmental conservation\nor the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation pursuant to\nsection seventy-five of the public lands law.\n f. To support and administer the New York natural heritage program\ncreated pursuant to section 11-0539 of the environmental conservation\nlaw.\n 6. No more than two-thirds of the moneys deposited in the state land\nbiodiversity stewardship account may be used for personal service costs\nincurred by the department of environmental conservation, office of\nparks, recreation and historic preservation, and the New York state\nmuseum within the education department for the purposes set forth in\nsubdivision five of this section. The remaining moneys deposited in the\naccount may be utilized to support projects undertaken by contracts with\nnon-profit conservation organizations, scientific institutions, and\nother qualified entities for the purposes set forth in subdivision five\nof this section.\n 7. Moneys in the biodiversity research account, following\nappropriation by the legislature, shall be available to the New York\nbiodiversity research institute for biodiversity research, education,\nand information transfer programs as set forth in section two hundred\nthirty-five-a of the education law.\n 8. The expenses of the executive committee and scientific working\ngroup shall be charged to the respective accounts equitably.\n * NB There are 2 § 97-oo's\n