S 1850: Establishes the safe water and infrastructure action program for the purpose of making payments toward the replacement and rehabilitation of certain existing local drinking water, storm water and sanitary sewer systems; applies to any county, city, town, village or public authority drinking water system, storm water system or sanitary sewer system within the state that is not under the maintenance and/or operational jurisdiction of a private entity.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1850 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HINCHEY, ASHBY, CANZONERI-FITZPATRICK, HELMING, KAVANAGH, MATTERA, MAY, MURRAY, RHOADS, ROLISON, STEC, TEDISCO, WEBB, WEBER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to establishing the safe water infrastructure action program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a 2 new article 78 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 78 4 SAFE WATER AND INFRASTRUCTURE ACTION PROGRAM 5 Section 78-0101. Safe water and infrastructure action program. 6 § 78-0101. Safe water and infrastructure action program. 7 1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter or any other 8 law and subject to an appropriation made therefor and in accordance with 9 the provisions of this section and with the rules and regulations 10 promulgated by the commissioner in connection therewith, on and after 11 the first day of April, two thousand twenty-six, a consolidated local 12 infrastructure program is hereby established for the purpose of making 13 payments toward the replacement and rehabilitation of existing local 14 municipally-owned and funded drinking water, storm water and sanitary 15 sewer systems. For purposes of this section, such program shall apply to 16 any drinking water system, storm water system or sanitary sewer system 17 within the state that is under the maintenance and/or operational juris- 18 diction of a county, city, town, village or public authority; provided, 19 however, that such system shall not be under the maintenance and/or 20 operational jurisdiction of a private entity; provided further, however, 21 that such program shall not apply to a system that is under the mainte- 22 nance and/or operational jurisdiction of a city with a population of one 23 million or more. The commissioner, in conjunction with the environmental EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05392-01-5 
 S. 1850 2 1 facilities corporation, shall promulgate all necessary rules and regu- 2 lations to carry out the program so that an equitable distribution of 3 aid shall be made for the general operation and/or general maintenance 4 of any such existing drinking water system, storm water system or sani- 5 tary sewer system. Existing water infrastructure includes all the man- 6 made and natural features that move and treat water in terms of drinking 7 water, waste water, and storm water. Monies from this fund may be used 8 for maintenance and repairs of existing water infrastructure as well as 9 new water infrastructure expansion, but only into already developed 10 areas so as not to support sprawl and development of natural areas. 11 Already developed areas are those that are zoned/defined by munici- 12 palities as of January first, two thousand twenty-five as commercial and 13 residential use. 14 2. On or before the twenty-fifth day of April, June, September and 15 November of each state fiscal year commencing with the state fiscal year 16 beginning on April first, two thousand twenty-seven, there shall be 17 distributed and paid to counties, cities, towns, villages and public 18 authorities an amount equal to the moneys appropriated for the purposes 19 of this section divided by the number of payment dates in that state 20 fiscal year. Such amounts shall be distributed and paid pursuant to 21 subdivision three of this section. 22 3. Amounts shall be distributed for local drinking water, storm water 23 and sanitary sewer systems based upon a funding formula that the depart- 24 ment and the department of health shall create taking into consideration 25 factors including but not limited to: the system's length and width of 26 pipes; other physical assets maintained by the system, including treat- 27 ment facilities and pumping stations; the age of the system's infras- 28 tructure; and relevant socioeconomic factors, including the presence of 29 disadvantaged communities within a system's service area, to achieve an 30 equitable distribution of aid. 31 4. Monies made available may be used to match other state and federal 32 funds made available for such projects. The remainder of the apportion- 33 ment may be used for any existing drinking water, storm water or sewer 34 system purchases, including but not limited to, the acquisition of mate- 35 rials for the replacement or rehabilitation. 36 5. For any city, town, village or public authority which proposes 37 infrastructure consolidation under this section or merges with another 38 municipality, the funds appropriated under this section may fund costs 39 associated with such consolidation. 40 6. For each fiscal year, starting in two thousand twenty-seven, funds 41 are to be made available to the local infrastructure assistance account 42 of the general fund, and distributed from that account. 43 7. At the end of each fiscal year, each county, city, town, village 44 and public authority that receives funding pursuant to this section 45 shall submit an annual report to the department detailing how such money 46 was used. The department shall compile all reports and submit them to 47 the comptroller for their review. Once a report is finalized, it shall 48 be made publicly available on the department's website. The department 49 and the comptroller shall reserve the right to conduct sight visits to 50 ensure the money is being used accurately. 51 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 52 have become a law.