Bill Text: NY S08282 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to cost recovery by municipalities and other recipients from responsible parties; ensures that responsible parties do not benefit from state assistance payments/grants made by the environmental facilities corporation to municipalities and recipients and unnecessarily burden taxpayers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-22 - referred to health [S08282 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S08282-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8282

                    IN SENATE

                                       May 6, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. GAUGHRAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to cost  recovery  by
          municipalities  and  other  recipients  from  responsible  parties and
          ensures that responsible parties do not benefit from state  assistance
          payments or grants made by the environmental facilities corporation to
          municipalities and recipients

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

     1    Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding  a  new  section
     2  1167-a to read as follows:
     3    § 1167-a. Reimbursement of state assistance payments or grants made to
     4  municipality or recipient; admissibility of state assistance payments or
     5  grants  as  collateral source.  1. A municipality or recipient that: (a)
     6  receives a state assistance payment/grant from the  corporation  for  an
     7  eligible  project  to  remove  contaminants from drinking water or water
     8  supplies under this title, including but not limited to state assistance
     9  payments/grants for removing  emerging  contaminants;  (b)  takes  legal
    10  action against a responsible party to recover the costs of such eligible
    11  project;  and  (c) receives payment by judgment, settlement or otherwise
    12  from such responsible party for the costs  for  such  eligible  project,
    13  shall  reimburse  the corporation the portion of such payment that is in
    14  excess of (1) the total cost of the project (including, but not  limited
    15  to,  the  capital  costs  and operating and maintenance costs associated
    16  therewith for the period during which the contamination is  expected  to
    17  persist and require treatment); and (2) the expenses (including, but not
    18  limited  to, attorneys' fees and litigation costs and expenses) incurred
    19  by the municipality or recipient pursuing recovery of  such  costs  from
    20  responsible parties, provided, however, that the municipality or recipi-
    21  ent  shall  not  reimburse more than the amount of such state assistance
    22  payment/grant for the eligible project.
    23    2. Notwithstanding any  other  provision  of  law,  including  section
    24  forty-five  hundred  forty-five  of  the  civil  practice law and rules,
    25  evidence of any state assistance payment/grant from the  corporation  to

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16252-01-0
        S. 8282                             2

     1  any  municipality  or  recipient  shall  not be admissible in any action
     2  brought by such municipality or recipient against a responsible party to
     3  recover the costs for an eligible project and/or the operating and main-
     4  tenance  costs  associated therewith, and the court shall not reduce the
     5  amount of any award against a responsible party  in  whole  or  in  part
     6  because of such state assistance payment or grant.
     7    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.