STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2491 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 20, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. STEC, GRAF, FINCH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environ- mental Conservation AN ACT to amend the executive law and the environmental conservation law, in relation to development of a permit system to provide disabled veterans access to certain restricted bodies of water through the use of float planes The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 816 of the executive law is renum- 2 bered subdivision 4 and a new subdivision 3 is added to read to follows: 3 3. The master plan and the individual management plans shall be 4 reviewed periodically and shall be amended from time to time pursuant to 5 section 15-0506 of the environmental conservation law, and when so 6 amended shall as amended henceforth guide the management of state lands 7 in the Adirondack park. Amendments to the master plan shall be prepared 8 by the agency, in consultation with the department of environmental 9 conservation, and submitted after public hearing to the governor for 10 approval. 11 § 2. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new 12 section 15-0506 to read as follows: 13 § 15-0506. Permits for float plane access to bodies of water in the 14 Adirondack park. 15 1. For the purposes of this section the following definitions shall 16 apply: 17 a. "Float plane" shall mean an airplane equipped with floats for land- 18 ing on or taking off from a body of water. 19 b. "Area" means a water body under the jurisdiction of the department 20 which pursuant to section eight hundred sixteen of the executive law 21 prohibits float plane access. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00293-01-7A. 2491 2 1 c. "Certification/Certified" means a signed statement by a licensed 2 physician on a form provided by the department, certifying that a person 3 has one or more impairments, disabilities or conditions as defined in 4 paragraph f of this subdivision which document the need for the person 5 to use a motor vehicle, and the nature, degree and term of the disabili- 6 ty. The certification shall specify the length of time during which such 7 certification is effective. All certifications must be dated within one 8 year prior to the date of application. 9 d. "Companion" means a person who may accompany the qualified person 10 with a disability as necessary to attend to his or her needs. 11 e. "Permit" means a nontransferable temporary revocable permit as 12 authorized by this section to allow the use of state lands under the 13 jurisdiction of the department. 14 f. "Qualified veteran" means a veteran as defined in this section with 15 a disability who: 16 (i) cannot walk two hundred feet without stopping to rest; or 17 (ii) cannot walk without the use of, or assistance from, a brace, 18 cane, crutch, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other 19 assistive device; or 20 (iii) is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the 21 person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for one second, when 22 measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen 23 tension is less than sixty mm/Hg on room air at rest; or 24 (iv) uses portable oxygen; or 25 (v) has a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional 26 limitations are classified in severity as class III or class IV, accord- 27 ing to standards set by the American Heart Association; or 28 (vi) is severely limited in their ability to walk due to an arthritic, 29 neurological, or orthopedic condition. 30 g. "Regional land manager" means the individual charged with the 31 administrative responsibility for the department lands on which a quali- 32 fied person with a disability desires access. 33 h. "Veteran" means a person (A) who served in the active military, 34 naval, or air service during a period of war, or who was a recipient of 35 the armed forces expeditionary medal, navy expeditionary medal, marine 36 corps expeditionary medal, or global war on terrorism expeditionary 37 medal, and who was discharged or released therefrom under honorable 38 conditions, (B) who was employed by the War Shipping Administration or 39 Office of Defense Transportation or their agents as a merchant seaman 40 documented by the United States Coast Guard or Department of Commerce, 41 or as a civil servant employed by the United States Army Transport 42 Service (later redesignated as the United States Army Transportation 43 Corps, Water Division) or the Naval Transportation Service; and who 44 served satisfactorily as a crew member during the period of armed 45 conflict, December seventh, nineteen hundred forty-one, to August 46 fifteenth, nineteen hundred forty-five, aboard merchant vessels in 47 oceangoing, i.e., foreign, intercoastal, or coastwise service as such 48 terms are defined under federal law (46 USCA 10301 & 10501) and further 49 to include "near foreign" voyages between the United States and Canada, 50 Mexico, or the West Indies via ocean routes, or public vessels in ocean- 51 going service or foreign waters and who has received a Certificate of 52 Release or Discharge from Active Duty and a discharge certificate, or an 53 Honorable Service Certificate/Report of Casualty, from the department of 54 defense, (C) who served as a United States civilian employed by the 55 American Field Service and served overseas under United States Armies 56 and United States Army Groups in World War II during the period of armedA. 2491 3 1 conflict, December seventh, nineteen hundred forty-one through May 2 eighth, nineteen hundred forty-five, and who was discharged or released 3 therefrom under honorable conditions, or (D) who served as a United 4 States civilian Flight Crew and Aviation Ground Support Employee of Pan 5 American World Airways or one of its subsidiaries or its affiliates and 6 served overseas as a result of Pan American's contract with Air Trans- 7 port Command or Naval Air Transport Service during the period of armed 8 conflict, December fourteenth, nineteen hundred forty-one through August 9 fourteenth, nineteen hundred forty-five, and who was discharged or 10 released therefrom under honorable conditions. 11 2. The department shall provide a qualified veteran access by a float 12 plane to appropriate lands under its jurisdiction consistent with 13 section one of article fourteen of the state constitution. The depart- 14 ment shall determine annually on or before January first a minimum five 15 bodies of water under the jurisdiction of the department which prohibit 16 float plane access pursuant to the master plan developed in accordance 17 with section eight hundred sixteen of the executive law, that shall 18 become accessible for qualified disabled veterans pursuant to a permit 19 issued under the provisions of this section. The department, in deter- 20 mining which bodies of water to allow for float plane access under this 21 section, shall ensure that such access will not adversely impact the 22 environment in the following manner; 23 a. the natural resources of the area ability to sustain use by float 24 plane; 25 b. the compatibility with other public use of the area; 26 c. the safety of the operation of a float plane and the ability to 27 prevent dangerous conditions; 28 d. a demonstration that significant ecological areas including but not 29 limited to the following: exceptional forest or plant communities, 30 shorelines, unique areas, wetlands, habitats for rare or threatened 31 species, and biological diversity areas possessing unique, exemplary or 32 significant natural community requiring special protection, will not be 33 adversely affected by the operation of a float plane consistent with the 34 provisions of this section. 35 3. A qualified disabled veteran may obtain a permit for the use of a 36 float plane on designated bodies of water pursuant to this subdivision. 37 Such permit will authorize travel by a float plane to areas designated 38 in accordance with subdivision two of this section. 39 a. The applicant must present certification of his/her qualifying 40 disability upon application, unless the person has an obvious, visually 41 identifiable permanent qualifying disability, or the applicant presents 42 a non-ambulatory hunter permit. 43 b. The applicant must submit a completed application to any regional 44 office of the department in which a designated body of water is located. 45 c. The permit shall specify the authorization for up to three compan- 46 ions to accompany the qualified person with a disability, if he or she 47 chooses to be so accompanied. The permit shall specify that access is 48 limited to designated and specifically identified water bodies within 49 the Adirondack park. 50 d. The application package shall be processed in the region as a 51 routine permit, with a ten workday maximum processing time. 52 e. The permit may be issued for any time period, not to exceed one 53 year from date of issue, except that a permit may be issued for a period 54 of five years to a qualified veteran with a disability either certified 55 or visually obvious as permanent.A. 2491 4 1 f. The permit may be renewed without recertifying the disability, 2 provided that the request for renewal is within the term of the disabil- 3 ity as described in the original certification. 4 g. The department will assure that renewal applications are sent to 5 permittees, other than those with a permanent disability. The reminder 6 notice will include a questionnaire to survey the efficiency of this 7 permit system. Questionnaires will also be sent routinely to those 8 persons with a five-year permit. 9 4. a. The department shall deny the application for a permit if the 10 applicant does not meet the qualifying requirements. The applicant may 11 reapply at any time, once the conditions for receiving the permit are 12 met. 13 b. The applicant may appeal the denial of a permit to the regional 14 supervisor of natural resources for the region in which the permit was 15 issued within thirty workdays of the date of notification of denial. If 16 requested by the applicant, the regional supervisor of natural resources 17 will schedule a meeting between the applicant and the regional land 18 manager. The regional supervisor of natural resources shall render a 19 decision within ten workdays of receipt of the applicant's appeal or 20 from the date of the meeting. The applicant may appeal the decision of 21 the regional supervisor of natural resources to the regional director 22 within thirty workdays of the second denial. The regional director will 23 issue a final decision within fifteen workdays of receipt of the appeal. 24 5. a. A permit may be suspended or revoked at any time during the 25 duration of the permit if the conditions of the permit are not met, the 26 permittee and/or a companion is in violation of any provisions of this 27 section or of any rule or regulation promulgated by the department or 28 the Adirondack park agency or any other relevant state or federal laws. 29 For minor violations, the regional land manager will follow the proce- 30 dures for the suspension of a permit, as described in this section. 31 However, for major violations, the regional land manager may revoke the 32 permit immediately. The permittee may appeal the revocation, following 33 the procedure for appealing a revocation. 34 b. The permit holder shall be given notice of pending suspension by 35 certified mail, return receipt requested, and shall be allowed ten work- 36 days from date of receipt to conform to the conditions or provisions of 37 the permit. However, if the situation for compliance is deemed critical 38 by the regional land manager, he or she may immediately suspend the 39 permit. If the permit is suspended, notice shall also be given that, 40 unless the conditions or provisions of the permit are adhered to, the 41 permit shall be revoked at the end of the ten-workday suspension period. 42 c. The regional land manager shall initiate the procedure to suspend 43 the permit, preparing a memorandum citing the reason for suspension to 44 the regional supervisor of natural resources. The regional supervisor of 45 natural resources shall notify the permittee in writing of the impending 46 suspension, the reason or reasons justifying the suspension and the 47 requirement or requirements to rectify the situation. 48 d. If a permittee fails to comply with the conditions to lift the 49 suspension, the regional supervisor of natural resources shall proceed 50 with notification of the revocation of the permit. 51 e. A permittee may appeal the revocation of a permit to the regional 52 supervisor of natural resources for the region in which the permit was 53 issued within thirty workdays of the date of notification. If requested 54 by a permittee, the regional supervisor of natural resources will sched- 55 ule a meeting between the permittee and the regional land manager. The 56 regional supervisor of natural resources shall render a decision withinA. 2491 5 1 ten workdays of receipt of the permittee's appeal or from the date of 2 the meeting. The permittee may appeal the decision of the regional 3 supervisor of natural resources to the regional director within fifteen 4 workdays of the denial of the appeal. The regional director will issue a 5 final decision within fifteen workdays of receipt of the appeal. 6 f. A permittee shall not be authorized to use the permit during the 7 term of the suspension, revocation or appeal process. 8 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 9 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.