Prohibits special assessments on hazardous wastes generated at a brownfield site administered voluntarily by a city, town, village or county

BILL NUMBER:S4998

Title of bill

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to special assessments on hazardous wastes generated and hazardous waste program fees

Summary of provisions

This proposal would waive payment of State hazardous waste fees for sites participating in a municipal voluntary cleanup program that is subject to a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Reasons for support

Under both local law and a memorandum of understanding with the State Department of Environmental Conservation, the City of New York operates a voluntary brownfield cleanup program. The City voluntary cleanup program is modeled closely on the State brownfield program and it offers property owners and developers who agree to remediate sites to State cleanup standards liability protection, City grants and other incentives. To date, the City, working closely with the Department of Environmental Conservation, has approved remedies for 86 properties, bringing needed jobs, investment and revitalization to communities across the City.

Under the memorandum of understanding with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the City program enrolls properties with light to moderate levels of contamination. Nonetheless, a relative handful of sites in the City program, when excavating soil for offsite disposal, encounter hazardous waste which is then excavated and disposed of offsite at permitted facilities. Because hazardous waste is generated, site owners are assessed the state hazardous waste fee of $130 per ton, which can amount to tens of thousands of dollars in unanticipated project costs.

As a matter of policy, the State hazardous waste fee appropriately discourages the generation of hazardous waste. However, when the fee is applied to parties who volunteer to participate in a government-run cleanup program, it provides a disincentive for property owners to remediate their sites. Because of this, sites in the State brownfield program are exempt from State hazardous waste fees. This amendment would extend the waiver of hazardous waste fees to sites in the City cleanup program. Any lost revenue to the State from the waiver would likely be made up in income and sales tax generated from developments that are built on sites remediated through the City cleanup program.

Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable consideration of this proposal by the Legislature.