What's happening
This bill allows lawsuits for personal injury from solid waste facility violations to be filed within six years of the incident.
Why it matters
Expands legal recourse for affected individuals. By allowing personal injury lawsuits related to violations at solid waste and resource recovery facilities to be filed up to six years after the injury occurs, the bill gives victims more time to recognize harm and take legal action, which can be important for injuries or illnesses that develop slowly.
Targets environmental and public health accountability. The bill specifically references violations under title seven of article twenty-seven of the environmental conservation law, signaling an intent to hold operators of waste facilities more accountable for environmental mismanagement that leads to human harm.
Could encourage better facility compliance. With a longer statute of limitations, operators of solid waste facilities may face greater legal and financial risks if they fail to comply with environmental standards, potentially motivating improved safety and operational practices to avoid future lawsuits.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Extend Injury Lawsuit Deadline
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to judiciary
- Referred to judiciary
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5899
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. GAUGHRAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to an action to recover damages for personal injury involving solid waste management and resource recovery facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new section 214-h to read as follows:
§ 214-h. Action to recover damages for personal injury caused by violations involving solid waste management and resource recovery facilities. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, an action to recover personal damages for injury caused by a violation of title seven of article twenty-seven of the environmental conservation law, may be commenced by the plaintiff within six years from the date the cause of action accrued.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to actions arising on or after such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11774-02-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to an action to recover damages for personal injury involving solid waste management and resource recovery facilities
Purpose or general idea of bill
To extend the statute of limitations in relation to actions for damages arising out of violations of solid waste management and resource recov- ery facilities.
Summary of provisions
Section one provides for a six year statute of limitations for actions to recover damages for personal injury resulting from violations involv- ing solid waste management and resource recovery facilities.
Section two provides that this act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to actions arising on or after the effective date of the act.
Justification
Unfortunately, a number of local governments have been grappling with damages resulting from the illegal disposal of solid waste. In several recent cases, construction material containing contaminated debris has been illegally dumped in recreational parks and residential areas. This causes a major public health crisis and the clean-up efforts require dedication of substantial resources.
In order to ensure that the costs associated with remediating environ- mental damages and other personal injury resulting from the illegal disposal of solid waste fall on the responsible party, this bill would extend the statute of limitations for any action arising out of a violation of title 7 of article 27 of the environmental conservation law, which relates to solid waste management and resource recovery facilities, to six years. This will ensure that when damages resulting from the illegal disposal of solid waste are not immediately discovered, injured parties still have ample time to file suit against polluters.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to actions aris- ing on or after the effective date of this act.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.