BILL NUMBER: S5764A
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
establishing the wastewater infrastructure and drinking water program;
and making an appropriation therefor
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to legislatively expand the Environmental
Planning Grant available for wastewater projects to include drinking
water projects and to appropriate five million dollars for this purpose.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Adds new section 3-0322 to the Environmental Conservation
Law, establishing the Wastewater Infrastructure and Drinking Water
Program. This program shall apply to any drinking water system, stormwa-
ter system, or sanitary sewer system under the maintenance and/or opera-
tional jurisdiction of a county, city, town, village, or public authori-
ty, provided such system is not maintained or operated by a private
entity. The Commissioner and the Environmental Facilities corporation
shall promulgate all necessary rules and regulations to ensure the
program is distributed equitably. The program shall offer grants to
municipalities to pay for the initial planning of eligible projects.
Funding will be used to prepare an engineering report.
Section 2: Appropriates five million dollars to the Department of Envi-
ronmental Conservation out of the State's General Fund for the purposes
of providing emergency municipal drinking water, wastewater, and storm-
water infrastructure grants for infrastructure projects where there is
an imminent threat to the environment and/or the public health, specif-
ically for the wastewater infrastructure and drinking water program.
Section 3: Sets effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2022, the Construction Industry Council collaborated with Hudson
Valley Pattern for Progress on a report that examined the past 10 years
of infrastructure investments across a nine-county region directly north
of New York City. The most urgent findings of the report were related to
water and sewer infrastructure. Since 2015, the NYS Legislature has
appropriated approximately $4 billion to upgrade these systems, but only
18% of that money reached our communities. The research showed that many
small and medium-sized communities found the application process chal-
lenging, the up-front costs intimidating, or they wrongly believed the
programs were not intended for their villages, hamlets, or towns. As a
result, money is not reaching the communities so desperately in need of
these infrastructure upgrades. This legislation is one of two steps that
can be taken legislatively in the near term to minimize these challenges
facing small and medium communities.
Currently, Environmental Planning Grants are managed by New York State.
Environmental Facilities Corporation steers small and medium towns to
state funding to provide vital help with up-front engineering assist-
ance. In prior years, about 3 million dollars were awarded statewide for
wastewater projects annually. This same engineering/planning is also
necessary to improve access to drinking water funds. This legislation
will expand the current Wastewater Infrastructure Engineering Planning
Grant to include Drinking Water so that water quality projects will be
affordable for all communities.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2023: S7052, Referred to Finance
2024: S7052, Referred to Finance
2025: S5764, Referred to Environmental-Conservation
2026: S5764, Referred to Environmental Conservation
Assembly
2023: A5851, Referred to Environmental Conservation
2024: A5851, Referred to Environmental Conservation
2025: A9325, Referred to Environmental Conservation
2026: A9325, Referred to Environmental Conservation
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TED
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become a law.