A 5075: Requires the owner of sites where any action is or was taken which may have a significant impact on the environment to establish and maintain an environmental maintenance trust fund.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5075 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 12, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. K. BROWN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Environmental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to requiring the owner of certain sites to establish and maintain an environmental maintenance trust fund The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Article 9 of the environmental conservation law is amended 2 by adding a new title 23 to read as follows: 3 TITLE 23 4 ENVIRONMENTAL MAINTENANCE TRUST FUND 5 Section 9-2301. Definitions. 6 9-2303. Environmental maintenance trust fund. 7 § 9-2301. Definitions. 8 For the purposes of this title, the following terms shall have the 9 following meanings: 10 1. "covered site" means a site upon which any action is or was taken 11 which may have a significant impact on the environment. 12 2. "environmental maintenance" means the remediation and restoration 13 of the environment. 14 § 9-2303. Environmental maintenance trust fund. 15 1. (a) Each owner of a covered site shall establish and maintain an 16 environmental maintenance trust fund which shall be held in a trust 17 fund. Such trust fund shall not be used for any purpose other than 18 those described in this section and shall only be dissolved in accord- 19 ance with this section. 20 (b) Upon the completed use by the owner of a covered site, the depart- 21 ment shall conduct an inspection of such site to determine if any envi- 22 ronmental maintenance is required due to the actions of the owners. If 23 after such inspection the department determines that the covered site 24 does not require any environmental maintenance, the owner shall be EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08053-01-5 
 A. 5075 2 1 permitted to dissolve the environmental maintenance trust fund for such 2 covered site. If after such inspection the department determines envi- 3 ronmental maintenance is required at such covered site, the environ- 4 mental maintenance trust fund shall be used to finance such environ- 5 mental maintenance. If the environmental maintenance trust fund is not 6 sufficient to complete the environmental maintenance, the owner shall 7 complete the environmental maintenance using other funds. 8 (c) If the owner of a covered site does not perform environmental 9 maintenance on such covered site after the department determines envi- 10 ronmental maintenance is required, the department shall use funds from 11 the associated environmental maintenance trust fund to ensure the envi- 12 ronmental maintenance is completed. Upon completion of such environ- 13 mental maintenance, if the site is no longer considered a covered site, 14 the environmental maintenance trust fund shall be dissolved and any 15 remaining funds shall be distributed to the owner. 16 2. The principal of an environmental maintenance trust fund shall be 17 invested in securities permitted for the investment of trust funds by 18 sections 11-2.2 and 11-2.3 of the estates, powers and trusts law. The 19 income in the form of interest and ordinary dividends therefrom shall be 20 used solely for the environmental maintenance of the covered site. 21 3. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations regarding 22 environmental maintenance trust funds including the size of such trust 23 funds, the mechanism for ensuring funds in such trust funds are not able 24 to be used until permitted under this section, and when environmental 25 maintenance is required. 26 4. Nothing in this section shall prevent the department, the state, or 27 any political subdivision thereof from recovering the costs of environ- 28 mental maintenance under any other provision of law. 29 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 30 law.