NY Env Conserv L § 15-2103 (2021)
2021 New York Laws ENV - Environmental Conservation Article 15 - Water Resources Title 21 - River Regulation by Storage Reservoirs 15-2103 - Creation of River Regulating Districts.

§ 15-2103. Creation of river regulating districts.   1.  Bodies  corporate,  which  shall  consist of and be known as river regulating districts, may be  created  pursuant  to  title  21  of  this article  to  construct,  maintain  and  operate  reservoirs  within such districts, subject to the provisions of this article for the purpose  of regulating  the  flow  of  streams, when required by the public welfare, including public health and safety. Such river regulating districts  are declared  to  be  public corporations and shall have perpetual existence and the power to acquire, and hold such real estate and  other  property as  may be necessary, to sue and be sued, to incur contract liabilities, to exercise the right of eminent domain and of assessment  and  taxation and  to do all acts and exercise all powers authorized by and subject to the provisions of this article. Such powers shall be exercised by and in the name of the board of the district.   1-a. Notwithstanding any other  provision  of  law,  for  purposes  of applying for and/or receiving any federal moneys or deriving any type of benefit  or  advantage pursuant to federal law, rule or regulation river regulating districts are hereby  deemed  to  be  municipal  corporations within  the  meaning  of  subdivision  two  of  section sixty-six of the general construction law.   2. Petitions may be filed as follows:   a. Any person or public corporation may present to  the  department  a petition for the organization of a river regulating district pursuant to the provisions of title 21 of this article. Any such petitioner shall be a resident or owner of real estate within the proposed district, or if a public  corporation,  one  whose  boundaries lie wholly or partly within such district.   b. The petition shall set forth:  (1) The proposed name of the district, as  the  ...............  River Regulating District.  (2)  The necessity for the organization of such district, the purposes to be accomplished thereby and the benefits to inure from  the  exercise of its powers.  (3)  A  general  description of the territory included in the proposed district. Such description need not be given by metes and bounds, or  by political  subdivisions,  but  it  shall be sufficient to state that the territory to be  included  in  the  proposed  district  constitutes  the watershed  of the particular river in reference to which the petition is filed stating generally the extent of such watershed. In the event  that the district sought to be organized does not include the whole watershed of  the  particular  river, but only the watershed of a tributary of the river, then, the petition should generally set forth the extent of  such watershed,  the  reason  why  the  watershed  of the tributary should be organized as a separate river regulating district, and the  relation  of the regulation of the flow of such tributary to and effect upon the flow of the river to which it is tributary.  (4) The extent of the regulation possible through the construction and operation of reservoirs.  (5)  Whether state or private lands, or both, will be required, and in general the extent thereof, and all such facts as would show or tend  to show the public necessity for the regulation of the flow of the river.   3. Hearings shall be held as follows:   a. Immediately upon the receipt of such petition, the department shall cause  notice  by  publication  pursuant  to  subdivision one of section 15-1903 to be given of the pendency of the petition, and of the time and place of a hearing thereon, and may appoint times and places for further hearings if deemed by it to be desirable.    b. Hearings shall be conducted in accordance with  the  procedure  set forth  in  section  15-1903  of this article. If after such a hearing or hearings, it should appear that the purposes of title 21 of this article would be best served by the creation of the  river  regulating  district sought  in  the  petition,  the department shall thereupon so decide and declare. It shall then prepare and file a map of such  district  with  a certificate  of its determination creating such district and showing the name, extent and purpose of the district, with the  Secretary  of  State and  the  county  clerk  of  each  county  wholly  or  partly within the district, and notice of such decision shall be given in the  manner  set forth in section 15-0903.   4. Review is available according to the following provisions:   a.  The  decision of the department may be reviewed in accordance with the provisions of section 15-0905. Upon failure so to review within  the time  prescribed  or  if  the  action  of the department is sustained or modified on such review, the district shall  thereupon  become  a  river regulating  district  of  the State of New York and a public corporation with all the rights and powers granted by title 21 of this  article.  No such  review  shall  be  had  excepting  at the instance of the Attorney General of the state unless prior to the application for the review  the party making application shall file a bond or undertaking in a sum to be fixed by the Supreme Court or a justice thereof with good and sufficient sureties  to  be  approved by the court or a justice thereof agreeing to pay all costs and expenses caused by such review as  determined  by  the court  in  the proceeding in the event of failure to set aside or modify the determination and order of the department creating such district.   b. After such a river regulating district shall have been created as a public corporation hereunder, the certificate creating the same shall be final and binding upon all  the  public  corporations  and  real  estate within  the  district,  and shall finally and conclusively establish the regular creation and organization of such district.   c.  The  organization  of  the  district  shall  not  be  directly  or collaterally  questioned  in  any  suit,  action or proceeding except as herein expressly provided.   5. Copies of the certificate certified  by  the  department  shall  be recorded  in  the office of the Secretary of the State and in the office of the county clerk of each county partly or wholly within the  district and  in  the  event  of  a  review  any  order  or judgment of the court thereupon  shall  be  likewise  recorded.  The  county  clerks  and  the Secretary  of  the  State  shall  receive  for filing and recording such copies and all papers to  be  filed  and  recorded  by  them  under  the provisions  of  title  21  of this article. They shall also receive such fees as are, or hereafter may be, provided by law for like  services  in similar  cases  and  all  above  mentioned  fees  shall be a part of the preliminary expenses.