BILL NUMBER: S1829
SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing the
office of flooding prevention and mitigation
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To create a new office within the Executive to coordinate, facilitate,
and enhance flood prevention and mitigation efforts throughout the
state.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 creates the Office of Flooding Prevention and Mitigation with-
in the Executive and expresses the legislative intent to take action to
address the significant, on-going, and increasing threats of flooding
through assistance to municipalities, developing new recommendations on
flooding resiliency and by providing for better coordination, review,
and management of various bodies in the state tasked with addressing
flooding.
The Office will be led by a director, who shall be appointed by the
Governor. The functions and duties of the Office include:
1. Appointing staff;
2. Requiring information sharing from other agencies, municipalities,
and other stakeholders;
3. Assisting the Governor in developing flooding policy;
4. To coordinate existing state programs, task forces, commissions, and
other activities;
5. To cooperate with and assist municipalities in flooding prevention
and mitigation matters;
6. To make recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature regarding
improvements to flooding-related laws and to issue reports on flooding
matters;
7. To conduct flooding-related research and analysis;
8. To serve as a clearinghouse for municipalities for flooding-related
information;
9. To provide transparency regarding government efforts on flooding-re-
lated issues; and
10. A variety of other administrative matters.
The bill further sets out the particular types of assistance for munici-
palities, including enhancing communication, information sharing, and
development of processes and forms to streamline efforts.
To enhance coordination and accountability for the wide variety of
existing state efforts regarding flooding, the Office will:
1. Convene biannual meetings of agencies, entities, and programs tasked
with addressing flooding-related issues;
2. Regularly consult and coordinate flooding-related efforts with such
existing state agencies, entities, and programs; and
3. Make publicly available a wide variety of information regarding the
efforts of such state agencies, entities, and programs.
In addition to a variety of on-going duties to report and convey infor-
mation, the Office will communicate its work and a review of its efforts
and make recommendations in a report to the Governor and the Legislature
every three years.
Finally, the Office is tasked with incorporating the likelihood of
increasing threats of flooding due to climate change into its work and
is instructed to ensure its functions and duties are carried out with
consideration of longterm resiliency against flooding.
Section 2 provides for severability.
Section 3 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The increasing frequency and severity of flooding throughout the state
has underscored the need for better coordination of efforts and a
comprehensive, state-wide approach to ensuring resiliency. The dramatic
and deadly effects of Hurricane Ida, among many other terrible flooding
events, is an unfortunate recent illustration of the dire threats posed
by flooding in our state, and unfortunately, climate change will only
exacerbate these dangers.
This is not the first state effort to address these challenges. Howev-
er, our communities still need more. There are currently a variety of
different task forces, commissions, and other state-level bodies tasked
with tackling one or more aspects of flooding. However, the overall
effectiveness of these efforts is unsatisfactory. The Upstate Flood
Mitigation Task Force, for instance, despite being provided for in stat-
ute beginning in 2017, had yet to be formed as of 2021. There is also no
effective coordination among these various bodies to ensure information
sharing and accountability. Perhaps more concerning, resolvable obsta-
cles still prevent municipalities from taking the actions they need to
take to make their communities more resilient to flooding.
This bill creates the Office of Flooding Mitigation and Resiliency to
tackle the challenges of flooding on a comprehensive basis. The director
will be our flooding "czar" who can coordinate flooding prevention and
mitigation efforts throughout the state, ensure accountability for
state-level efforts, and provide a host of supports for municipalities
working to address flooding issues.
In particular, acting as a convener and coordinator of the various
flooding task forces, commissions, councils, and agencies will enhance
communication and facilitate improvement of existing efforts. This
Office is intentionally structured to be beholden to its mission on an
everyday basis, and less likely to fall behind or by the wayside. Anoth-
er component of this approach is the Office's mandate of transparency
and facilitation of the free flow of information regarding flooding
efforts, which will further incentivize accountability.
Action on the local level is just as critical, if not more so. Accord-
ingly, the Office is tasked with proactively engaging municipalities on
flooding-related issues, and being a go-to source of help, whether it is
assistance in securing funding for projects, developing resiliency
plans, or coordinating intermunicipal agreements.
Finally, the bill contains a number of other important provisions to
ensure that the Office adheres to an iterative process of improvement,
stays up-to-date on recent developments, and is planning for the reality
of worsening flooding due to climate change.
This comprehensive coordination, dedicated focus, and good government
approach can encourage a ramp up of efforts throughout the state,
provide the support to do so, and will give us roadmaps to keep the
state from falling behind in the race against the escalating threats of
flooding.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S7581/A9190 (2021-22): Referred to Finance
S3335/A132A (2023-4): Passed Senate; Referred to Governmental Operations
in Assembly
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The provisions of the bill shall take effect immediately after the bill
becomes law.