What's happening
This bill creates the crime of unlawful defilement of a water supply, making it a class B felony to intentionally contaminate water sources.
Why it matters
Expands criminal liability to intentional or reckless contamination of water supplies. , including both public and private sources, with harmful chemical, biological, or radioactive substances—potentially increasing penalties for acts that previously might have been prosecuted under lesser charges or different statutes.
Specifies exceptions for municipal, state, agricultural, and industrial operations. acting within the scope of lawful and ordinary activities, addressing concerns about inadvertently criminalizing routine water treatment or runoff, and drawing a clear line between criminal acts and lawful practices.
Covers a broad range of harms and motives. , including intent to cause sickness, injury, death, irreparable harm to water, or public disturbance—meaning the law could be used to prosecute not only direct threats to public health, but also actions intended to disrupt or terrorize communities.
Establishes a serious (class B felony) penalty. , which underscores the state’s recognition of water security as a critical public safety issue and could serve as a deterrent to would-be offenders, while also providing prosecutors a powerful tool in the event of attempted or actual water supply sabotage.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Water Supply Tampering
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4379
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 2, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. TITUS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. MAGNAREL- LI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to unlawful defilement of a water supply
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 490.60 to read as follows: § 490.60 Unlawful defilement of a water supply.
1. As used in this section:
(a) "Water supply" means any public or private transmission facility, treatment facility, source of supply facility, well or reservoir, which provides potable water for residential, commercial, industrial and/or fire service needs.
(b) "Defiling agent" means any chemical, biological or radioactive agent or substance, which is capable, when introduced or placed into a water supply, of causing the sickness, physical injury, severe disfigurement, or death of a human being, or causing irreparable harm to such water supply, or causing a disturbance to the public peace. A defiling agent shall not include a substance which is introduced or placed into a water supply by any municipal or state entity, or which is introduced or placed into a water supply by any agricultural or industrial entity as a result of its ordinary lawful operations.
2. A person is guilty of unlawful defilement of a water supply when he intentionally introduces, places, or causes to be introduced or placed, into a water supply, a defiling agent with the intent to cause the sickness, physical injury, severe disfigurement or death of another human being, or with the reckless disregard of causing the sickness, physical injury, severe disfigurement, or death of another human being, or with the intent to cause irreparable harm to such water supply, or to disturb the public peace.
Unlawful defilement of a water supply is a class B felony.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02635-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.