What's happening
This bill requires municipalities to reimburse the state for grants used in water contamination projects if they recover costs from responsible parties, and prevents responsible parties from benefiting from state assistance in legal actions.
Why it matters
Ensures that municipalities do not profit from "double recovery". If a municipality both receives a state grant for water contamination projects and later wins a lawsuit (or settlement) against a polluter, it must pay back the state for the grant—up to the amount it received—preventing windfalls and ensuring public funds are replenished.
Protects the state’s financial interests. This bill helps the state recoup its investment in local water cleanup efforts when a responsible party is later identified, making sure state resources can be recycled for future contamination cases.
Strengthens legal action against polluters. The bill blocks polluters from using the fact that a municipality received state assistance as a defense in court, ensuring they remain fully liable for the total costs of cleanup, not just the portion not covered by state grants.
Supports municipalities in pursuing legal claims. By allowing municipalities to deduct their litigation costs and attorney fees from what must be reimbursed to the state, the bill encourages them to go after responsible parties without worrying about being penalized for the costs of legal action.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Stop Double Dipping Grants
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to health
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 60–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.854
- Reported and committed to rules
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Stop Double-Dipping on Grants
In Assembly Committee · Health · Sponsor Fred Thiele
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8282
IN SENATE
May 6, 2020
Introduced by Sen. GAUGHRAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to cost recovery by municipalities and other recipients from responsible parties and ensures that responsible parties do not benefit from state assistance payments or grants made by the environmental facilities corporation to municipalities and recipients
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 1167-a to read as follows:
§ 1167-a. Reimbursement of state assistance payments or grants made to municipality or recipient; admissibility of state assistance payments or grants as collateral source. 1. A municipality or recipient that: (a) receives a state assistance payment/grant from the corporation for an eligible project to remove contaminants from drinking water or water supplies under this title, including but not limited to state assistance payments/grants for removing emerging contaminants; (b) takes legal action against a responsible party to recover the costs of such eligible project; and (c) receives payment by judgment, settlement or otherwise from such responsible party for the costs for such eligible project, shall reimburse the corporation the portion of such payment that is in excess of (1) the total cost of the project (including, but not limited to, the capital costs and operating and maintenance costs associated therewith for the period during which the contamination is expected to persist and require treatment); and (2) the expenses (including, but not limited to, attorneys' fees and litigation costs and expenses) incurred by the municipality or recipient pursuing recovery of such costs from responsible parties, provided, however, that the municipality or recipient shall not reimburse more than the amount of such state assistance payment/grant for the eligible project.
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including section forty-five hundred forty-five of the civil practice law and rules, evidence of any state assistance payment/grant from the corporation to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16252-01-0
S. 8282 2
any municipality or recipient shall not be admissible in any action brought by such municipality or recipient against a responsible party to recover the costs for an eligible project and/or the operating and maintenance costs associated therewith, and the court shall not reduce the amount of any award against a responsible party in whole or in part because of such state assistance payment or grant.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to cost recovery by municipalities and other recipients from responsible parties and ensures that responsible parties do not benefit from state assistance payments or grants made by the environmental facilities corporation to munici- palities and recipients
Purpose or general idea of bill
To encourage cost recovery from responsible parties and ensure that those parties do not benefit from state assistance payments/grants made by the Environmental Facilities Corporation and unnecessarily burdening taxpayers. The New York state Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) is authorized to provide state assistance payments/grants for eligible municipal water supply projects designed to comply with federal and state drinking water goals and standards. For example, the EFC recently announced several million dollars in state assistance payments/grants to address the emerging contaminants 1,4-dioxane, PFOS and/or PFOA.
Federal and state drinking water goals and standards are often exceeded due to the acts of polluters or other responsible parties. Munici- palities that receive a state assistance payment/grant are not currently required to reimburse the EFC for the state assistance payment/grant. When a municipality seeks damages from a party legally responsible for causing contamination of public water supplies and/or damages to water supply facilities, any state assistance payment/grant made to the muni- cipality may be considered a collateral source of payment pursuant to civil practice law and rules section 4545 and other laws, and the amount of any award recoverable from a responsible party may be reduced by the amount of such state assistance payment/grant. Thus, it is the responsi- ble party that ultimately benefits from the state assistance payment/grant to the municipality at the cost of the taxpayers of the state of New York.
Read the full memo (668 words)
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends the public health law by adding a new section 1167-a that provides for the reimbursement of state assistance payments/grants made to a municipality for an eligible project to remove contaminants, such as 1,4-dioxane, PFOS and/or PFOA, when the municipality takes legal action to recover costs of removing the contaminants from its water supplies caused by responsible parties and it receives a payment from a responsible party for such contamination.
- The amount of the reimbursement to the EFC shall be the portion of the payment that is in excess of (1) the total cost of the eligible project and (2) the expenses incurred pursuing recovery of such costs from responsible parties.
- This Section also provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, evidence of any grant or state assistance payment from the EFC to any municipality or other recipient shall not be admissible in any action brought by such municipality or recipient and that the court
shall not reduce the amount of any award against a responsible party in whole or in part because of such state assistance payment/grant.
Section 2 is the effective date (immediately).
Justification
Parts m and r of chapter 57 of the laws of 2017 amended the public health law by adding sections 1112 and 1113 requiring the Commissioner of the Department of Health to promulgate regulations regarding emerging contaminants after recommendations from a new drinking water advisory council. These new drinking water regulations have resulted in new and significant costs for public water suppliers, their customers and the state. Public water suppliers can mitigate these costs through liti- gation against parties who are responsible for the contamination of sources of water supply.
The state has also provided and announced significant state assistance payments/grants through the EFC to municipalities and recipients to help pay the costs for eligible projects that provide treatment, so that such treatment can be installed before funds from litigation are available to municipalities and recipients.
This bill is intended to prevent responsible parties from benefitting from such state assistance payments/grants by prohibiting them from being considered collateral sources and reducing awards that may be granted to municipalities and recipients in such litigation.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.