BILL NUMBER: S1348
SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to envi-
ronmental benefit projects in lieu of civil penalties
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF THE BILL:
The bill codifies requirements in the environmental conservation law in
relation to requirements for partial settlements in the form of environ-
mental benefit projects. Most of the requirements are currently
contained in a draft Departmental guidance document. A number of
provisions have been added and modified.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: the environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new
section 71-0520
Section 2: Effective date - This act shall take effect immediately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
There have been instances in the recent past where the Department has
approved projects authorized in lieu of monetary penalties which were
not appropriate and did not benefit the community where the environ-
mental damage occurred. The Department has proposed guidance which
establishes requirements for "environmental benefit projects". This The
bill establishes many of the guidance elements in law and creates addi-
tional or modified requirements. Pollution prevention projects are
limited to those which reduce or prevent the generation of pollutants,
and do not include actions which improve compliance. This provision
will ensure that the pollution prevention project is truly directed at
source reduction.
Environmental education projects are directed toward assisting the
public in understanding the nature of the industry which caused the
violations, how the community was impacted and ways for the community to
become more vigilant. This should avoid meaningless public education
programs which do little to provide the public with useful information
or understanding of the enforcement process.
The settlement must include a fully recoverable economic benefit mone-
tary penalty and a payable portion of the gravity component of the
penalty. This provision should assure that a company avoid monetary
penalties by creating an environmental benefit project which it claims
is equal to the amount of the penalties.
The project should be located in the county where the violation
occurred, within twenty-five linear miles of the site of the violation.
This should ensure that the communities which suffered the environmental
insult will recover some value from the project.
A notice of the proposed settlement must be published in the Environ-
mental Notice Bulletin and in a newspaper in general circulation where
the violation occurred at least 45 days before the settlement/order is
executed, thereby giving the public an opportunity to review the settle-
ment prior to its adoption. If the violator publicizes the project or
project results, the respondent must acknowledge that the project was
performed as part of the resolution of an enforcement action brought by
the Department.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S734: Referred to Environmental Conservation
2021-22: S4794 Referred to Environmental Conservation
2019-20: S.4508/A.2421 - Referred to Environmental Conservation
2017-18: S.3113/ A.1495- REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
2015-16: S.1541/A.5134 - Died in Environmental Conservation
2013-14: S.830 - Died in Environmental Conservation
2011-12: S.7558/A.4134 - Died in Environmental Conservation
2009-10: A.1696 - Referred to Codes
2007-08: A.877 - Referred to Ways and Means
2005-06: A.6258 - Reported Referred to Ways and Means
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.