Bill Text: NY A07538 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Adds sewer connections to the septic system replacement fund to residential sewer connection projects.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to environmental conservation [A07538 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A07538-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7538

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 25, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. SILLITTI -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Environmental Conservation

        AN  ACT  to  amend the public authorities law, in relation to the septic
          system replacement and sewer connection fund

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Section 1285-u of the public authorities law, as added by
     2  section 9 of part T of chapter 57 of the laws of 2017, paragraph (a)  of
     3  subdivision 2 and subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 363 of the laws of
     4  2017, is amended to read as follows:
     5    §  1285-u.  Septic  system  replacement  and sewer connection fund. 1.
     6  Definitions. For purposes of this section:
     7    (a) "Cesspool" means a drywell that receives untreated sanitary  waste
     8  containing  human  excreta,  which  sometimes  has an open bottom and/or
     9  perforated sides.
    10    (b) "Fund"  means  the  state  septic  system  replacement  and  sewer
    11  connection fund created by this section.
    12    (c)  "Participating  county"  means  a county that notifies the corpo-
    13  ration that it seeks authority to administer a septic system replacement
    14  and sewer connection program within its municipal boundaries and  agrees
    15  to  abide  by  the program's goals, guidelines, eligibility requirements
    16  and reimbursement procedures and provide information to property  owners
    17  regarding program parameters including eligibility criteria.
    18    (d)  "Septic  system"  means  a system that provides for the treatment
    19  and/or disposition of the combination of human and sanitary  waste  with
    20  water  not  exceeding  one  thousand  gallons  per day, serving a single
    21  parcel of land, including residences and small businesses.
    22    (e) "Septic system project" means the replacement of a cesspool with a
    23  septic system, the installation, replacement  or  upgrade  of  a  septic
    24  system  or  septic system components, or installation of enhanced treat-
    25  ment technologies, including an advanced  nitrogen  removal  system,  to

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11396-02-3
        A. 7538                             2

     1  significantly and quantifiably reduce environmental and/or public health
     2  impacts  associated  with  effluent  from a cesspool or septic system to
     3  groundwater used as drinking water,  or  a  threatened  or  an  impaired
     4  waterbody.
     5    (f)  "Small  business"  means  any  business which is resident in this
     6  state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field,  and
     7  employing not more than one hundred individuals.
     8    (g)  "Sewer connection" means the piping connecting a residential home
     9  to a municipal sewer system and equalization fees associated therewith.
    10    2.  (a) There is hereby created the state  septic  system  replacement
    11  and  sewer  connection  fund,  which shall be administered by the corpo-
    12  ration to reimburse property owners or at the written request of a prop-
    13  erty owner, the septic  system  installer  contracted  by  the  property
    14  owner, for up to fifty percent of the eligible costs incurred for eligi-
    15  ble  septic  system  projects  or residential sewer connection projects,
    16  provided that no property owner shall be reimbursed more than ten  thou-
    17  sand  dollars and no septic system installer may be reimbursed more than
    18  ten thousand dollars per property.
    19    (b) Eligible costs include design and installation costs, and costs of
    20  the system, system components, or enhanced treatment  technologies,  but
    21  shall  not  include  costs associated with routine maintenance such as a
    22  pump out of a septic tank and sewer connection costs.
    23    (c) The department of environmental conservation, in consultation with
    24  the department of health and participating counties, shall from the list
    25  of participating counties establish priority geographic  areas  and,  in
    26  the  absence  of  county  information,  identify  eligible septic system
    27  projects or residential sewer connection projects, based  on  an  area's
    28  vulnerability  to contamination, including the presence of a sole source
    29  aquifer, or known water quality impairment, population  density,  soils,
    30  hydrogeology, climate, and reasonable ability for septic system projects
    31  to  mitigate  water  quality  impacts.  The  department of environmental
    32  conservation may delegate to a participating county  the  identification
    33  of priority geographic areas.  The department of environmental conserva-
    34  tion,  in  consultation  with  participating  counties in which priority
    35  areas have been identified, shall determine the amount of money from the
    36  fund to be provided to  each  participating  county  based  on  density,
    37  demand  for  reimbursement from the fund and the criteria used to estab-
    38  lish the priority geographic  areas.    The  corporation  shall  publish
    39  information,  application  forms,  procedures and guidelines relating to
    40  the program on its website and in a manner that  is  accessible  to  the
    41  public.
    42    (d)  The corporation shall provide state financial assistance payments
    43  from the fund, from moneys appropriated by the legislature and available
    44  for that purpose, to  participating  counties  to  administer  a  septic
    45  system  replacement  and  sewer  connection  program  to support [septic
    46  system] projects within their municipal boundaries undertaken by proper-
    47  ty owners within their  municipal  boundaries.  Where  such  project  is
    48  located  in  a  priority geographic area identified by the department of
    49  environmental  conservation  as  threatened  or  impaired  by  nitrogen,
    50  including groundwater used as drinking water, such septic system project
    51  must reduce nitrogen levels by at least thirty percent.
    52    (e)  The  corporation  shall  make payments monthly to a participating
    53  county upon the receipt by the corporation of a certification  from  the
    54  participating  county  of  the  total  costs incurred by property owners
    55  within its municipal boundaries for septic system  or  sewer  connection
        A. 7538                             3

     1  projects   within   its  municipal  boundaries  that  are  eligible  for
     2  reimbursement from the fund.
     3    3.  (a) A participating county shall notify property owners who may be
     4  eligible to participate in the program.  Determinations  of  eligibility
     5  will  be made by the participating county based on the published program
     6  criteria and consideration of a property's location  in  relation  to  a
     7  waterbody, impacts to groundwater used as drinking water, and the condi-
     8  tion of the property owner's current septic system as determined by:
     9    (i) the county health department official; or
    10    (ii)  other  designated  authority  having  jurisdiction,  pursuant to
    11  septic inspections required by a municipal separate storm  sewer  system
    12  permit; or
    13    (iii)  a  septic contractor pursuant to the applicable county sanitary
    14  code provided, however, in cases where a property owner  has  authorized
    15  in writing such contractor to receive reimbursement directly, additional
    16  verification shall be required.
    17    (b)  An  owner  of  property served by a septic system or cesspool may
    18  apply to a participating county on an application substantially  in  the
    19  form provided by the corporation.
    20    (c) Property owners in participating counties must have signed a prop-
    21  erty  owner  participation agreement with the county before the start of
    22  the design phase to be eligible for reimbursement  from  the  fund.  The
    23  agreement  must be substantially in the form provided by the corporation
    24  and include, without limitation, the program's goals, guidelines, eligi-
    25  bility requirements and reimbursement procedures.
    26    (d) A property owner may apply for reimbursement of eligible costs  by
    27  submitting  to  the  participating  county  a reimbursement application,
    28  which must include at least:
    29    (i) a signed property owner participation agreement;
    30    (ii) a completed reimbursement application form substantially  in  the
    31  form provided by the corporation;
    32    (iii)  any applicable design approval for the septic system project or
    33  sewer connection project;
    34    (iv) description of all work completed;
    35    (v) cost documentation and invoice or invoices for eligible costs; and
    36    (vi) any written  authorization  for  a  septic  system  installer  to
    37  receive reimbursement directly.
    38    (e)  Participating  counties  will  be responsible for reviewing their
    39  property owners' applications and approving, modifying  or  denying  the
    40  reimbursement requests as appropriate and issuing reimbursement payments
    41  to property owners from financial assistance payments made to the county
    42  from the fund.
    43    (f)  Participation  in  this program and the receipt of payments shall
    44  not prevent participating counties from providing additional  reimburse-
    45  ment to property owners.
    46    (g)  Subject  to the limitations of paragraph (d) of this subdivision,
    47  the county may set graduated incentive reimbursement  rates  for  septic
    48  system  projects  or  sewer  connection  projects  to maximize pollution
    49  reduction outcomes.
    50    4. On or before March first, two thousand nineteen, and annually ther-
    51  eafter, the corporation shall submit  to  the  governor,  the  temporary
    52  president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly a report regard-
    53  ing the program. Such report shall include, but shall not be limited to,
    54  the  number  and amount of grants provided, the number and amount of any
    55  grants denied, geographic distribution of such projects  and  any  other
        A. 7538                             4

     1  information the corporation determines useful in evaluating the benefits
     2  of the program.
     3    § 2.  This act shall take effect immediately.