A 9058: Requires biannual certification of cooling towers; increases penalties for violations of such reporting requirements.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9058 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY September 5, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee on Cities AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring biannual certification of cooling towers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 28-317.5 of the administrative code of the city of 2 New York, as amended by section 3 of part A of local law number 126 of 3 the city of New York for the year 2021, is amended to read as follows: 4 § 28-317.5 [Annual] Biannual certification. The owner or operator of a 5 cooling tower shall file [an annual] a biannual certification that such 6 cooling tower was inspected, tested, cleaned and disinfected in compli- 7 ance with section 17-194.1 of [the administrative code] this chapter and 8 the rules of the department of health and mental hygiene, and that a 9 maintenance program and plan has been developed and implemented as 10 required by such section. Such biannual certification shall be submitted 11 [by November first] in January and July of each year, or by [a date] 12 dates otherwise specified in the rules of the department. [Consecutive 13 annual certifications shall be submitted at least 90 days apart.] The 14 department of health and mental hygiene shall send an electronic remind- 15 er to each owner or operator of a cooling tower at least 30 days before 16 [such] each certification submission deadline. Such electronic reminder 17 shall include a link to the website where such [certification] certif- 18 ications may be submitted. 19 § 2. Subdivision e, paragraph 1 of subdivision h, subparagraph (i) of 20 paragraph 2 of subdivision i and the opening paragraph of subdivision l 21 of section 17-194.1 of the administrative code of the city of New York, 22 subdivision e and subparagraph (i) of paragraph 2 of subdivision i as 23 added by local law number 77 of the city of New York for the year 2015, 24 paragraph 1 of subdivision h as amended by local law number 76 of the 25 city of New York for the year 2019, and the opening paragraph of subdi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13604-01-5 
 A. 9058 2 1 vision l as added by local law number 78 of the city of New York for the 2 year 2019, are amended to read as follows: 3 e. Minimum requirements for inspections and testing. At a minimum, 4 cooling towers, other than cooling towers whose use has been permanently 5 discontinued and for which a notice of such discontinuation has been 6 sent to the department of buildings, shall be inspected and tested at 7 least as frequently as every [three months] week during periods of the 8 year such cooling towers are in use. 9 1. Each inspection shall include an evaluation of the cooling tower 10 and associated equipment for the presence of organic material, biofilm, 11 algae and other visible contaminants. 12 2. (a) Each inspection shall include a test for the presence of 13 microbes in the water of the cooling tower. The department shall by rule 14 establish (i) the targets and acceptable methods of microbial testing 15 and laboratory analysis, (ii) the levels of microbes in cooling towers 16 that are indicative of a maintenance deficiency requiring mitigation, 17 including but not limited to maintenance to prevent potential health 18 risks, and (iii) the levels of microbes in cooling towers that present a 19 serious health threat and require immediate action and reporting. 20 [(a)] (b) Where the results of any such test indicate levels of 21 microbes that are indicative of a maintenance deficiency requiring miti- 22 gation, including but not limited to maintenance to prevent potential 23 health risks, the owner of the building that has such cooling tower 24 shall, within [48] 24 hours after such owner knows or reasonably should 25 know of such results, clean and disinfect the cooling tower in accord- 26 ance with the rules of the department. 27 [(b)] (c) Where the results of any such test indicate levels of 28 microbes that present a serious health threat, the owner of the building 29 that has such cooling tower shall, within [24] 12 hours after such owner 30 knows or reasonably should know of such results, (i) notify the depart- 31 ment and (ii) clean and disinfect the cooling tower, including an addi- 32 tional application of biocide, in accordance with the rules of the 33 department. 34 1. An owner shall keep and maintain records of all inspections and 35 tests performed pursuant to this section for at least [three] ten years. 36 An owner shall maintain a copy of the maintenance program and plan 37 required by subdivision c of this section on the premises where a cool- 38 ing tower is located. Such records and plan shall be made available to 39 the department immediately upon request. 40 (i) Any owner of a building who violates any provision of this section 41 or any of the rules promulgated thereunder shall be liable for a civil 42 penalty of not more than [$2,000] $2,500 for a first violation, and not 43 more than [$5,000] $7,000 for a second or subsequent violation, except 44 that such owner shall be liable for a penalty of not more than [$10,000] 45 $12,500 for any violation that is accompanied by or results in a fatali- 46 ty or serious injury. 47 The commissioner, in consultation with the department of buildings, 48 shall submit a report to the mayor and the speaker of the city council 49 on or before May 15 each year [until May 15, 2025], reporting on the 50 following information for the prior year: 51 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.