Relates to local enforcement of bulk storage of petroleum and the collection of fines and penalties

Summary of provisions

Section one amends subdivision three of section 71-1939 of the environ- mental conservation law (ECL) by adding a new subdivision to authorize any county approved by the commissioner of the Department of Environ- mental Conservation (DEC) to enforce the Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS) regulations to seek to recover any penalty provided for under section 71-1929 of the ECL for a violation of such regulations that occurs in such county. Section one further provides that the fines and penalties collected by the enforcing county shall be paid to the county, except that one-quarter of such fines and penalties shall be paid to the gener- al fund of the state purposes account. Section two provides the effec- tive date.

Justification

Currently, five county health departments, Cortland, Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester, have been delegated by the DEC the authority to enforce Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS) regulations under local sanitary code regulations. Because their enforcement is conducted pursuant to the sanitary code, the counties are limited by the maximum penalty that can be assessed under the public health law (P1-IL). PHL provides for a maximum penalty of $1,000 per violation, however, the maximum penalty that can be assessed under ECL for the same violation is $37,500. Accordingly, if a party violates a PBS regulation in one of the five delegated counties, it would be subject to a maximum fine of $1,000, whereas if the party violates the same regulation outside those five counties, it would be subject to a maximum fine of $37,500. There is no rational basis for this disparate enforcement of the PBS regulations. This bill will align the maximum penalties that may be assessed by the five counties with the rest of the state. Allowing the five counties to assess a higher penalty will likely improve compliance with the PBS regulations in the counties, and thereby lead to savings in staff time and resources due to the reduction in resources devoted to enforcement. In addition, the increase in penalties may bring the five counties addi- tional revenues as well as to the State, which will receive one-quarter of the penalties collected by the counties.

The bill is not intended to provide for duplicate enforcement actions by DEC and the county in which a violation occurs and has been delegated the authority to enforce the violation and is not intended to provide for the imposition by both DEC and such county of duplicate penalties for the same violation. Rather, where a county with delegated authority pursues enforcement, the bill will allow such county to seek a penalty up to the same maximum penalty that DEC could seek if DEC had initiated enforcement action for such violation.

Legislative history

New Bill.

Fiscal implications

No costs to the State or to the five counties. The counties will have the potential to recognize savings through the reduction of staff time and resources as a result of improved compliance with the PBS regu- lations. In addition, the higher penalties may bring in additional revenues to the counties thereby potentially reducing the tax levy on their already tax-burdened residents. The State has the potential to receive additional revenues because it will share in amounts collected by delegated counties to enforce violations of the PBS regulations.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the January 1 following the date on which the act shall have become a law.