NY Env Conserv L § 58-0303 (2021)
2021 New York Laws ENV - Environmental Conservation Article 58 - Implementation of the Environmental Bond Act of 2022 "Restore Mother Nature" Title 3 - Restoration and Flood Risk Reduction 58-0303 - Programs, Plans and Projects.

* § 58-0303. Programs, plans and projects.   1. Eligible restoration and flood risk reduction projects include, but are not limited to costs associated with:   a.  (1)  projects  identified  in  state  and  regional management and restoration programs and plans including but not limited  to  the  Great Lakes  Action  Agenda,  Mohawk  River  Basin Action Agenda, Ocean Action Plan,  Hudson  River  Estuary   Action   Agenda,   Long   Island   Sound Comprehensive  Conservation  and  Management  Plan,  South Shore Estuary Reserve Comprehensive Management  Plan,  Peconic  Estuary  Comprehensive Conservation  and  Management  Plan,  Delaware  Action Plan, Susquehanna Action Plan, forest management framework  for  New  York  City  and  New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Plan;  (2) local waterfront revitalization plans prepared pursuant to article forty-two of the executive law; and  (3)   coastal   rehabilitation  and  shoreline  restoration  projects, including nature-based solutions;   b. flood  risk  reduction  projects  including  but  not  limited  to: acquisition  of  real  property;  moving, lifting or raising of existing flood-prone infrastructure or structures; relocation, repair, or raising of flood-prone or repeatedly flooded roadways; and projects  to  remove, alter,  or right-size dams, bridges, and culverts, but shall not include routine  construction  or  maintenance  undertaken  by  the  state   and municipalities which does not provide flood risk reduction benefits; and   c.  restoration  projects  including  but  not limited to: floodplain, wetland and stream restoration projects; forest conservation; endangered and threatened  species  projects;  and  habitat  restoration  projects, including  acquisition  of  fee title and easements, intended to improve the lands and waters of the state of ecological significance or any part thereof, including, but not limited to forests, ponds,  bogs,  wetlands, bays,  sounds,  streams,  rivers,  or  lakes  and shorelines thereof, to support a spawning, nursery, wintering,  migratory,  nesting,  breeding, feeding, or foraging environment for fish and wildlife and other biota.   2.  The  commissioner  and the commissioner of the division of housing and  community  renewal  are  authorized  pursuant  to  paragraph  b  of subdivision  one  of  this  section  to  purchase  private real property identified  as  at-risk  to  flooding,   from   willing   sellers.   The commissioner  of  the division of housing and community renewal shall be authorized to transfer to any state agency or public authority any  real property  in  order  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  this article. In connection therewith,  the  housing  trust  fund  corporation  shall  be authorized  to  create a subsidiary corporation to carry out the program authorized under this subdivision.  Such  subsidiary  corporation  shall have  all the privileges, immunities, tax exemption and other exemptions of the agency to the extent the same  are  not  inconsistent  with  this section.   a.  The  commissioner  and the commissioner of the division of housing and community renewal or any other department or state agency  that  has received  funds  suballocated  pursuant  to  this section may enter into agreements with municipalities, and not-for-profit corporations for  the purpose of implementing a program pursuant to this section.   b.  The  department  and the division of housing and community renewal shall prioritize projects in communities based on  past  flood  risk  or those  that  participate  in  the  federal emergency management agency's (FEMA) community rating system.   c. Any state agency  or  authority,  municipality,  or  not-for-profit corporation purchasing private real property may expend costs associated with:  (1)  the  acquisition  of real property, based upon the pre-flood fair market value of the subject property;  (2)  the demolition and removal of structures and/or infrastructure on the property; and  (3) the restoration of natural resources to facilitate beneficial open space, flood mitigation, and/or shoreline stabilization.   d. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any structure which is located on real property purchased  pursuant  to  this  program shall be demolished or removed, provided that it does not serve a use or purpose consistent with paragraph f of this subdivision.   e. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, real property purchased with funding pursuant to this program shall be property of the state, municipality, or a not-for-profit corporation.   f. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, real property purchased  with  funding  pursuant to this program shall be restored and maintained in perpetuity in a manner that, aims  to  increase  ecosystem function,  provide  additional  flood  damage mitigation for surrounding properties, protect wildlife habitat, and wherever practicable and safe, allow for passive and/or recreational  community  use.  Municipal  flood mitigation  plans, resilience, waterfront revitalization plans or hazard mitigation plans, when applicable, shall be consulted  to  identify  the appropriate restoration and end-use of the property.   g.  All  or  a  portion  of  the  appropriation in this section may be provided to the department or the  division  of  housing  and  community renewal  or  suballocated to any other department, state agency or state authority.   h. Private real property identified  as  at-risk  to  flooding  should generally  be  limited  to those: (1) identified as being within the one hundred-year floodplain on the most recent FEMA  flood  insurance  maps; (2)  flooded  structures  that  would  qualify for buyout under criteria generally applicable to FEMA post-emergency acquisitions; (3) structures identified in a state, federal, local or  regional  technical  study  as suitable  for  the  location  of  a  flood  risk management or abatement project in areas immediately proximate to inland or  coastal  waterways; or  (4)  structures  located in coastal or riparian areas that have been determined by a state, federal, local or  regional  technical  study  to significantly exacerbate flooding in other locations.   3.  The  department,  the  office  of  parks, recreation, and historic preservation and the department of state are authorized to provide state assistance payments  or  grants  to  municipalities  and  not-for-profit corporations   and   undertake  projects  pursuant  to  paragraph  a  of subdivision one of this section.   4. The department and the office of parks,  recreation,  and  historic preservation  are  authorized  to  provide  state assistance payments or grants to municipalities and not-for-profit corporations  and  undertake projects  pursuant  to  paragraph  b of subdivision one of this section. Culvert and bridge projects shall be in compliance with the department's stream crossing guidelines and best management practices, and engineered for structural integrity and appropriate hydraulic  capacity  including, where   available,   projects   flows   based  on  flood  modeling  that incorporates climate change projections and shall  not  include  routine construction or maintenance undertaken by the state or municipalities.   5.  The  department  and the office of parks, recreation, and historic preservation are authorized to  provide  state  assistance  payments  or grants  to  municipalities and not-for-profit corporations and undertake projects pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision one of this section.   6. Provided that for the purposes of selecting  projects  for  funding under  paragraphs  b  and  c  of  subdivision  one  of this section, the  relevant  agencies  shall  develop  eligibility  guidelines   and   post information  on  the  department's  website  in the environmental notice bulletin providing for a  thirty-day  public  comment  period  and  upon adoption  post  such  eligibility  guidelines  on  the relevant agency's website.   * NB Takes effect only if section 1 of part TT of chapter  59  of  the laws of 2021 enacting the environmental bond act of 2022 "restore mother nature" is submitted to the people at the general election to be held in November 2022 and is approved by the majority of votes