Bill Text: NY S08356 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Enacts the "harmful algal bloom monitoring and prevention act"; establishes the harmful algal bloom monitoring and prevention fund.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-08 - referred to environmental conservation [S08356 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S08356-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8356--A

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 22, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. MAY, HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and
          when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conser-
          vation  -- reported favorably from said committee and committed to the
          Committee on Finance -- committee discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law and the state finance
          law,  in  relation to enacting the "harmful algal bloom monitoring and
          prevention act"

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

     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "harmful algal bloom monitoring and prevention act".
     3    § 2. Legislative findings and declarations. The legislature finds that
     4  the state of New York has a responsibility to maintain  the  health  and
     5  safety  of  its abundant clean water resources, upon which the residents
     6  of New York state, as well as its many visitors, rely on  for  drinking,
     7  agriculture,  tourism,  recreation,  and  their livelihoods. Because the
     8  waters of the state are under threat by  harmful  algal  blooms  (HABS),
     9  which  are  known  to be toxic and even fatal to humans, pets, and wild-
    10  life, the state has a responsibility to provide  coordinated,  statewide
    11  monitoring,  evaluation,  prevention  and mitigation, going beyond water
    12  body-specific data collection and isolated mitigation efforts. While the
    13  causes of HABS are complex and varied, with a coordinated and  standard-
    14  ized approach to monitoring and evaluation, patterns can more readily be
    15  identified  to  isolate  the  combination of relevant causes specific to
    16  different bodies of water across the state and determine the most effec-
    17  tive targeted interventions. To address  this  threat,  the  state  must
    18  develop  and  maintain  a  comprehensive  state  clearinghouse  to bring
    19  together existing and new available statewide cross-sectional and longi-
    20  tudinal data and information on  harmful  algal  blooms,  potential  and
    21  known  causes,  best  practice  interventions,  expertise,  and  funding
    22  resources. This data and subsequent report  will  enable  the  state  to
    23  effectively  and efficiently administer a central grant program support-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14115-03-4

        S. 8356--A                          2

     1  ing data-driven best practices in prevention and mitigation  of  harmful
     2  algal blooms.
     3    §  3.  The  environmental  conservation law is amended by adding a new
     4  section 15-0519 to read as follows:
     5  § 15-0519. Harmful algal bloom monitoring and prevention program.
     6    1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following  terms
     7  shall have the following meanings:
     8    a.  "Harmful  algal  blooms"  shall  mean  growths  of blooms of algal
     9  species present in fresh or salt water that can produce toxins that  are
    10  harmful  to  public  health,  the economy, or recreational enjoyment, or
    11  that can impair water quality and the natural ecology therein.
    12    b. "Municipality" shall mean a county, city, town, or village.
    13    c. "Waters of the state" means  all  waterways,  or  bodies  of  water
    14  located within New York state or that part of any body of water which is
    15  adjacent  to  New York state over which the state has territorial juris-
    16  diction.
    17    2. Comprehensive statewide data collection consolidation and analysis;
    18  report. a. The commissioner shall  develop  a  program  to  further  the
    19  comprehensive  and  consistent  collection,  consolidation, analysis and
    20  meta-analysis of statewide data relating to the monitoring,  evaluation,
    21  prevention, and mitigation of harmful algal bloom outbreaks. The commis-
    22  sioner  shall  provide  guidelines  for  the  submission of existing and
    23  historical harmful algal bloom monitoring, evaluation,  mitigation,  and
    24  prevention  data  and  strategies  from relevant institutions, organiza-
    25  tions, and individuals with experience in peer-reviewed research, grant-
    26  making, or other like activities in the area of water  quality  relating
    27  to  the  monitoring,  evaluation,  prevention, and mitigation of harmful
    28  algal bloom outbreaks, including but not limited to  research  programs,
    29  clinics, labs, and project management.
    30    b.  The  data  collected,  consolidated, and analyzed shall consist of
    31  elements including but not limited to longitudinal data on the incidence
    32  of harmful algal blooms, contextual factors  thought  to  be  associated
    33  with  the  incidence  of harmful algal blooms such as water temperature,
    34  turbidity, flow rate,  salinity,  nutrient  levels  for  phosphorus  and
    35  nitrogen,  acidity  (pH), dissolved oxygen levels, monitoring and evalu-
    36  ation of waters of the state that do not contain harmful  algal  blooms,
    37  and results of harmful algal bloom interventions in New York state.
    38    c.  The data collected, consolidated, and analyzed shall meet a stand-
    39  ard that is consistent with the practices and expertise of institutions,
    40  organizations, or individuals with experience in peer-reviewed research,
    41  grantmaking, or other like activities  in  the  area  of  water  quality
    42  relating  to  the  monitoring, evaluation, prevention, and mitigation of
    43  harmful algal bloom outbreaks, including but  not  limited  to  research
    44  programs, clinics, labs, and project management.
    45    d.  The  department shall annually publish and update a list of vetted
    46  best practice strategies for harmful algal bloom monitoring, evaluation,
    47  prevention, and mitigation, which shall be differentiated by  region  or
    48  water body with unique confirmed causal pathways for the related harmful
    49  algal bloom outbreak trends. Such strategies shall be supported by find-
    50  ings of the harmful algal bloom database created pursuant to subdivision
    51  three of this section, as well as external evaluation, including but not
    52  limited  to  strategies approved by the federal environmental protection
    53  agency, certification that such strategies meet or exceed  the  American
    54  National Standards for health effects of drinking water treatment chemi-
    55  cals  (NSF/ANSI/CAN-60), or testing for efficacy by center of excellence
    56  in healthy water solutions. The department shall publish such  list  and

        S. 8356--A                          3

     1  findings  supporting  the  strategies  on  such list on the department's
     2  website.
     3    e.  No later than five years after the effective date of this section,
     4  the commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner  of  agriculture
     5  and markets, shall prepare a report providing comprehensive analysis and
     6  meta-analysis  of the data collected pursuant to this section, including
     7  findings and recommendations for establishing, maintaining, and  improv-
     8  ing upon a coordinated system of monitoring, evaluation, prevention, and
     9  mitigation  of  harmful algal bloom outbreaks across New York state. The
    10  department shall:
    11    i. update the report at least once every five years after the  initial
    12  completion of the report;
    13    ii. make the report publicly available on the department's website;
    14    iii.  hold  at least six regional public comment hearings on the draft
    15  report and subsequent updates to the report, including three meetings in
    16  the upstate region and three meetings in the downstate region, and shall
    17  allow at least one hundred twenty days  for  the  submission  of  public
    18  comment;
    19    iv.  provide  meaningful  opportunities  for  public  comment from all
    20  segments of the populations that live near,  or  are  reliant  upon  for
    21  drinking,  recreation,  or  economic  activity,  the waters of the state
    22  included in the report;
    23    v. seek out input from institutions  or  organizations  with  relevant
    24  expertise,  citizen  scientists,  and  labs  testing  water  quality  in
    25  relation to harmful algal blooms;
    26    vi. identify the magnitude of harmful algal blooms  across  the  state
    27  and make recommendations on regulatory measures and other state or local
    28  actions to monitor, evaluate, prevent, or mitigate harmful algal blooms,
    29  including  existing  opportunities  for  coordination of federal, state,
    30  municipal, and non-governmental organizations;
    31    vii. identify  best  practices,  technology,  and  available  federal,
    32  state,  municipal,  or private funding for and existing efforts in moni-
    33  toring, evaluating, preventing, and mitigating harmful algal blooms; and
    34    viii. identify the current need in specific bodies of  water  for  the
    35  establishment  of  programs  or organizations to further the monitoring,
    36  evaluation, prevention, and mitigation of harmful algal blooms, and  the
    37  costs therefor.
    38    3.  Harmful  algal bloom database. a. The commissioner shall establish
    39  and maintain a website providing public access to a harmful algal  bloom
    40  database  which shall contain all relevant data, research, and reporting
    41  required pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
    42    b. Such database, and analysis of  the  comprehensive  statewide  data
    43  therein,  shall  support the coordination of efforts across the state to
    44  monitor, evaluate, prevent, and mitigate harmful algal blooms, and shall
    45  include, but not be limited to:
    46    i. the geolocation of harmful algal bloom outbreaks,  and  efforts  to
    47  monitor, evaluate, prevent, and mitigate such outbreaks;
    48    ii.  existing  research, analysis, or reports relating to outbreaks of
    49  harmful algal blooms in the waters of the state and the causes  of  such
    50  outbreaks;
    51    iii.  known  or  developing  strategies  and  best practices of state,
    52  municipal, and non-governmental organizations  that  monitor,  evaluate,
    53  prevent,  or  mitigate  harmful  algal  bloom  outbreaks, the respective
    54  waters of the state in which such strategies  and  best  practices  have
    55  been conducted, and the geolocations of such waters;

        S. 8356--A                          4

     1    iv.  available sources of financing for algal bloom monitoring, evalu-
     2  ation, prevention, and mitigation, including federal, state,  municipal,
     3  and/or private funding, grants, or other monies; and
     4    v.  information on institutions with expertise in peer-reviewed grant-
     5  making and research in the area of water quality  and/or  harmful  algal
     6  blooms,  including  but  not  limited to the New York sea grant at Stony
     7  Brook University, the New  York  water  resource  institute  at  Cornell
     8  University,  the  center  of  excellence in healthy water solutions, the
     9  bureau of water supply protection, the New York city department of envi-
    10  ronmental protection, the department of agriculture and markets,  commu-
    11  nity-based  nonprofit  organizations  with  missions  that  specifically
    12  involve monitoring, evaluating, mitigating, or preventing harmful  algal
    13  blooms,  and  any  other  institution  or  organization  providing  data
    14  compiled pursuant to this section, and the contact information, relevant
    15  research programs, clinics, labs, staff, and published research of  such
    16  institutions.
    17    4. Rules and regulations. The commissioner shall, in a manner which is
    18  coordinated  with and supports efforts by federal, state, municipal, and
    19  non-governmental organizations, promulgate rules and regulations to:
    20    a.  limit and eliminate the causes of harmful algal  bloom  outbreaks;
    21  and
    22    b. monitor and mitigate harmful algal bloom outbreaks.
    23    5.  Program  development. The commissioner shall establish and support
    24  new and existing programs and organizations relevant to  the  health  of
    25  waters  of  the  state  that have not implemented strategies to monitor,
    26  evaluate, prevent, or mitigate harmful algal bloom outbreaks.
    27    6. Harmful algal bloom grant program.  In addition to the financing to
    28  be identified pursuant to subparagraph iv of paragraph b of  subdivision
    29  three of this section:
    30    a. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of agricul-
    31  ture  and  markets, the commissioner of health, and the president of the
    32  empire state development corporation, shall establish  a  harmful  algal
    33  bloom  grant  program  which  shall  provide  funding to municipalities,
    34  intermunicipal organizations, community-based  nonprofits,  or  academic
    35  institutions for the deployment of harmful algal bloom monitoring, eval-
    36  uation, prevention, and mitigation strategies and best practices.
    37    b.  The  program  shall  require that applicants for the harmful algal
    38  bloom grant program conduct and submit a study, as part of their  appli-
    39  cation, assessing the most appropriate mitigation and prevention strate-
    40  gies  for  relevant  waters of the state and best practices therefor, as
    41  informed by the harmful algal bloom database created pursuant to  subdi-
    42  vision three of this section.
    43    c. In determining which applicants shall be awarded grants pursuant to
    44  this  subdivision,  first  preference  shall  be given to applicants who
    45  propose strategies that incorporate principles of least harm and  great-
    46  est  safety to applicators, the public, and the environment, and utilize
    47  passive or non-chemical physical controls, including but not limited to:
    48    i. aeration;
    49    ii. hydrological manipulations;
    50    iii. mechanical mixing;
    51    iv. reservoir drawdown or desiccation;
    52    v. surface skimming;
    53    vi. ultrasound; or
    54    vii. other emerging technologies, as approved by the department.
    55    d. In determining which applicants shall be awarded grants pursuant to
    56  this subdivision, second preference shall be  given  to  applicants  who

        S. 8356--A                          5

     1  demonstrate  expertise with previous experience treating water bodies in
     2  the United States larger than one thousand acres,  with  proven  success
     3  using accepted strategies, including but not limited to strategies that:
     4    i. are aimed at reducing cyanotoxins in the water to less than harmful
     5  levels;
     6    ii. employ ready-to-use technology that is means tested, reproducible,
     7  and  generalizable,  without  limitation  of  size or shape of the water
     8  body;
     9    iii. employ technology which allows for  application  under  emergency
    10  situations and within less than ninety-six hours from approval;
    11    iv.  utilize  products that are modular and can be used as a preventa-
    12  tive measure;
    13    v. utilize products that are quick and easy to apply and are generally
    14  recognized as safe to the applicator, public, and environment;
    15    vi. utilize products that float on the surface of the water and do not
    16  sink immediately to the bottom of the water column;
    17    vii. utilize products that are  distributed  autonomously  across  the
    18  water body after a localized application;
    19    viii.  utilize  products  with  a  time-release mechanism that applies
    20  constant and prolonged oxidative stress of the  cyanobacteria  triggered
    21  by  the  programmed  cell  death  signaling  cascade, resulting in their
    22  collapse; and
    23    ix. utilize products manufactured in the United States.
    24    e. The commissioner shall make monies available from the harmful algal
    25  bloom monitoring and prevention fund, as established pursuant to section
    26  ninety-nine-ss of the state finance  law,  within  amounts  appropriated
    27  therefor, pursuant to this section.
    28    § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-ss to
    29  read as follows:
    30    §  99-ss. Harmful algal bloom monitoring and prevention fund. 1. There
    31  is hereby established in the joint custody of the state comptroller  and
    32  commissioner  of  taxation and finance a special fund to be known as the
    33  "harmful algal bloom monitoring and prevention fund".
    34    2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received by the comptroller
    35  and all other moneys appropriated, credited, or transferred thereto from
    36  the general fund or any other fund or source pursuant  to  law.  Nothing
    37  contained in this section shall prevent the state from receiving grants,
    38  gifts,  or  bequests  for  the purposes of such fund and depositing them
    39  into such fund according to law.
    40    3. Moneys shall be paid out of the fund on the audit  and  warrant  of
    41  the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by the commissioner of
    42  environmental conservation or his or her designee.
    43    4.  Moneys of the fund shall be available to the commissioner of envi-
    44  ronmental conservation  for  the  harmful  algal  bloom  monitoring  and
    45  prevention  program established pursuant to section 15-0519 of the envi-
    46  ronmental conservation law.
    47    § 5. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become  a
    48  law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
    49  rule  or  regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
    50  effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
    51  effective date.
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