NY Pub Health L § 1125 (2021)
2021 New York Laws PBH - Public Health Article 11 - Public Water Supplies; Sewerage and Sewage Control Title 2-A - Water Supply Emergency Plans 1125 - Water Supply Emergency Plans.

§  1125. Water supply emergency plans. 1. Definitions. As used in this title:  (a) "Water supply emergency plan"  shall  mean  a  plan  reviewed  and approved  by  the  commissioner  and filed with the department. The plan shall follow a form which shall be specified by the department and which shall include, but not be limited to, those  items  enumerated  in  this section, and shall address those actions to be taken by a water supplier to   anticipate   emergencies   and  respond  responsibly  to  emergency situations. The department shall maintain a list of all water  suppliers required  to  submit  a  water  supply  emergency  plan pursuant to this section.  (b) "Water supplier" shall mean any person  who  owns  or  operates  a community  water  system that supplies drinking water to more than three thousand three hundred people.   2. All water suppliers shall prepare a water  supply  emergency  plan; provided,  however,  if  more than one water supplier is responsible for the same system, such plan shall be submitted jointly  by  such  two  or more  water  suppliers.  The  plan  shall identify and outline the steps necessary to ensure that potable  water  is  available  during  a  water supply emergency. The water supply emergency plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following:  (a)  establishment  of  criteria  and procedures to determine critical water levels or safe yield of system,  (b) identification of existing  and  future  sources  of  water  under normal conditions and emergency conditions,  (c)  system  capacity  and  ability to meet peak demand and fire flows concurrently,  (d) storage capacities,  (e) current condition of present interconnections  and  identification of additional interconnections to meet a water supply emergency,  (f)  specific  action  plan  to  be  followed  during  a  water supply emergency including a phased implementation of the plan,  (g) general  water  conservation  programs  and  water  use  reduction strategies for water supply emergencies,  (h) prioritization of water users,  (i)  identification  and  availability  of  emergency equipment needed during a water supply emergency,  (j)  public  notification  program   coordinated   with   the   phased implementation schedule, and  (k)  a  vulnerability  analysis  assessment,  including an analysis of vulnerability to terrorist attack and cyber attack, which shall be  made after consultation with local and state law enforcement agencies.   3.  All  water  suppliers  shall, prior to the final submission of the water supply emergency plan, publish a notice in a newspaper of  general circulation  in  the  area  served by the community water system stating that the proposed water emergency  plan  is  available  for  review  and comment;  provided,  however,  a water supplier shall exempt from public disclosure for public review and comment any information  it  determines to  pose  a  security risk to operation of the water supply system. Such notice shall be printed at least once in each of  two  successive  weeks and the water supplier shall accept public comment for at least fourteen days  following  the  date  of the first publication. The water supplier shall submit all public comments with the water emergency  plan  to  the department.   4. Water supply emergency plans shall be submitted to the commissioner on  or  before December thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety. All water suppliers who have previously submitted  emergency  water  supply  plans which  were  approved by the commissioner prior to the effective date of  this title are exempt from  the  provisions  of  this  subdivision.  The commissioner shall retain a copy of each water supply emergency plan.   5.  Every  water  supplier  shall review, and if necessary, revise its water supply emergency plan and report its findings to the  commissioner by  December  thirty-first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-five.  Any  water supplier whose water supply emergency plan does not include an  analysis of  vulnerability  to  terrorist attack and cyber attack, shall initiate such an analysis by June first, two thousand seventeen, and shall revise its emergency plan and  report  its  findings  to  the  commissioner  by January  first,  two  thousand eighteen. Every water supplier shall keep its water supply emergency  plan  up  to  date,  shall  provide  updated communication  and  notification  information  to  the  commissioner  by December thirty-first of every year, and shall submit its  water  supply emergency  plan  to the commissioner for review at least once every five years and within thirty days after major water  facility  infrastructure changes  have  been  made.  The  commissioner  shall  make available for review,  following  established  security  protocols,  a  copy  of  each vulnerability   analysis   assessment  from  a  water  supplier  to  the superintendent of state police, commissioner of the division of homeland security and emergency services, and chief technology officer.   6. (a) The commissioner or a  county  health  department  may  provide guidance  and  assistance  to  community  water  systems  on  conducting vulnerability assessments, preparing water supply  emergency  plans  and addressing  threats  from  terrorist  attacks,  including cyber attacks, designed  to  disrupt  the  provision  of   safe   drinking   water   or significantly  affect  the  public  health,  or significantly affect the safety  or  supply  of  drinking  water  provided  to   communities   or individuals.  (b)  A community water system, that is not a water supplier, may elect to complete a water supply emergency plan. Such community  water  system may elect to submit the plan to the commissioner for approval. In such a case,  the  commissioner shall subject the plan to such approval process as described in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section.   7. The commissioner, in his discretion, may provide an opportunity for public hearing for persons served by a community water system.   8. The commissioner shall make such rules and regulations which may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this title.   9. The commissioner, superintendent of state police,  commissioner  of the  division  of  homeland  security  and emergency services, and chief technology  officer  shall  keep  confidential:  (a)  all  vulnerability analysis  assessments and all information derived therefrom; and (b) all information determined by a water supplier to pose a  security  risk  to the operation of a water supply system. Such assessments and information shall be exempt from disclosure under article six of the public officers law.  A person who, without authorization, discloses any such assessment or information to another person who has not been authorized to  receive such assessment or information is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.