2023 New York Laws › ENV - Environmental Conservation › Article 17 - Water Pollution Control › Title 19 - State Aid: Collection, Treatment, and Disposal of Sewage › 17-1907 - Contracts for Construction of Sewer Systems.

§ 17-1907. Contracts for construction of sewer systems.
1. As used in this section:
a.  "Construction"  means  and includes the building, installation, or
extension of a sewer system; the inspection and supervision thereof; the
engineering,  legal,  fiscal  and  economic   investigations;   studies,
surveys,  designs, plans, contract drawings, specifications, procedures;
and other actions necessary thereto.
b. "Sewer system" means and includes pipe lines or  conduits,  pumping
stations,  force  mains,  and  all  other  constructions,  devices,  and
appliances  appurtenant  thereto,  used  for  conducting   sewage   (the
water-carried  human,  animal or other treatable wastes from residences,
buildings, industrial and commercial establishments or other places)  to
a  point  of  connection  to  the  sewage  treatment works as defined in
section 17-1903.
c. "Sewer connection" means and includes a point of connection between
a building, residence or other structure and a public sewer.
d. "Residence" means and includes a building  or  structure  which  is
occupied  principally  as  the  home  of  one or more persons; provided,
however, that such building or  structure  contain  not  more  than  two
dwelling units.
e.  "Municipality"  means  and  includes  any  county,  town, village,
district corporation, county or town improvement district, or any two or
more of the foregoing which are acting jointly  in  connection  with  an
eligible   project.  For  purposes  of  this  section  only,  an  Indian
reservation located partly or wholly within  New  York  State  shall  be
construed as a "municipality".
f.  "Local  governing  body"  means  and includes (1) in a county, the
county legislative body (2) in a town, the town board; (3) in a village,
the board of trustees; (4) in a district corporation or  an  improvement
district,  the governing board; (5) in an Indian reservation, the proper
tribal officials.
g. "Federal assistance" means and includes funds available, other than
by loan, from the federal government to a municipality, either  directly
or  through  allocation by the state, for construction of a sewer system
or which are used for such construction, pursuant to any  other  federal
law or program.
i.  "Project" means the construction of the whole or connected portion
of a sewage collection  system.  Where  the  construction  of  a  sewage
collection  system  is  phased over a period of years, each phase may be
considered as a project.
j. "Eligible project" means a project which in  the  judgment  of  the
commissioner meets all of the following requirements:
(1)  It is in accord with applicable comprehensive studies and reports
made pursuant to section 17-1901 of this article;
(2)  It  conforms  with  applicable  rules  and  regulations  of   the
commissioner  and,  in  his  opinion,  reflects  a  reasonable effort to
develop maximum economy in planning, design and  construction,  with  an
acceptable ratio between costs and benefits;
(3)  It  is  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  state water
pollution control program;
(4) It is under construction in the period between April 1,  1965  and
March 31, 1977;
(5)  No  portion  of  the  project aided herein is eligible to receive
assistance pursuant to section 17-1903;
(6) It serves inhabited residences in existence prior to the effective
date of this law;
(7) It serves the public by providing for  the  collection  of  sewage
(house   connections   and   pipes  collecting  exclusively  industrial,
commercial and other nonresidential waste are ineligible);
(8) The project or major part thereof is, at the time of construction,
located  in:  (a)  a  town  which  has  a  total population of seventeen
thousand or less persons, or (b) a town outside of  village  area  which
has  a  population  density  per  square  mile  of less than one hundred
persons.
k. "Capital cost" means the actual cost of construction of an eligible
project, not to include the cost of securing financing  or  interest  on
funds  borrowed to finance such construction, and representing that part
of the cost of the eligible project that is  not  paid  by  the  federal
government.
l. "Annual debt service" means such amounts as shall be required to be
paid  annually  to  amortize  obligations  (both principal and interest)
issued in order to finance the capital  cost  of  an  eligible  project;
provided,  however, that for the purposes of state aid, such annual debt
service shall be computed on a debt amortization schedule  of  not  less
than  thirty  years nor more than forty years, as the commissioner shall
determine, and  shall  not  include  any  other  debt  service  (whether
principal or interest) on obligations of or on behalf of a municipality,
other  capital  costs, or expenditures for the purpose as to which state
reimbursement is claimed under any provision  of  law  other  than  this
section.  Where  the  eligible  portion  of the sewage collection system
serves non-residential users as well as residences, the amount of annual
debt service to be used in computing  state  aid  shall  be  reduced  as
determined  by the commissioner, to compensate for the benefits received
by the nonresidential users from such system.
m.  "State  aid"  means  financial  support  made   available   to   a
municipality  by  way  of  state  participation  in annual debt service,
through  contracts  entered  into  between  the  commissioner  and   the
municipality,  upon  such terms and conditions as the commissioner shall
deem appropriate, which shall be  based  on  the  number  of  residences
served by the eligible project and computed as follows:
(1)  The  amount  of  annual debt service, as defined above, minus the
municipality's share of the  expense  for  construction  of  the  sewage
collection system.
(2)  The  municipality's  share  shall be the product of the number of
residential sewer connections served by the  project  multiplied  by  an
adjusted  rate.  The  adjusted  rate  shall  be determined by applying a
valuation correction from the sum of one hundred twenty-five dollars.
(3) Valuation correction shall consist of minus one  dollar  for  each
one  thousand  dollars  or part thereof that the project area per capita
full value is less than the average per capita full value for the  state
excluding  all  cities.  For projects wholly located within a village or
town the project area per capita full value shall be the per capita full
value for the  village,  or  for  the  town  outside  of  village  area,
respectively.    For  other projects, per capita full value shall be per
capita full value of the town or village within which the major  portion
of  the  project  is  located. Per capita full value shall mean the full
value of such municipality or area divided by the population thereof.
The amount of such state aid shall be recomputed  each  year,  on  the
basis  of  data  reported by the local governing body as accepted by the
commissioner.  State  aid  shall  commence  in  the  state  fiscal  year
beginning  April  1,  l971.  No  state-aid payments shall be made on the
basis of any portion of the debt service of eligible projects which  was
due and payable prior to April 1, 1971.
2.  For  the  purpose  of meeting the state responsibility as provided
herein, with respect to the protection and promotion of  the  health  of
the  inhabitants  of  the  state  by the provision of sewer systems, the
commissioner, in the name of the state, may enter  into  contracts  with
municipalities  having  power  to  construct, operate and maintain sewer
systems, and any such municipality may enter into a  contract  with  the
commissioner concerning eligible projects. Any such contract may include
such  provisions as may be agreed upon by the parties thereto, and shall
include, in substance, the following provisions:
a. The cost of the eligible project as determined by the commissioner.
b. The method by which the eligible project shall be financed.
c. An agreement between  the  commissioner  and  the  municipality  to
provide  state aid to the municipality each year, during the progress of
construction or following completion of construction as  may  be  agreed
upon by the parties.
d. An agreement by the municipality
(1)  To  proceed  expeditiously  with,  and  complete,  the project in
accordance with plans approved  pursuant  to  section  17-0701  of  this
article;
(2)  To  commence  operation  of the sewer system on completion of the
project, and not to discontinue operation of the  sewer  system  without
the approval of the commissioner,
(3)  To  operate  and  maintain  the  sewer  system in accordance with
applicable provisions of this article, the state sanitary code and rules
and regulations of the commissioner,
(4) To apply  for  and  make  reasonable  efforts  to  secure  federal
assistance for the project,
(5)  To  secure  the  approval of the commissioner before applying for
federal assistance, in order to maximize the amounts of such  assistance
received or to be received for all projects in New York state,
(6) To provide for the payment of the municipality's share of the cost
of the project,
(7)  To  execute  a contract or agreement with the owner of the sewage
treatment plant, if other than the municipality itself, to accept sewage
from the sewage collection system aided under this section, and
(8) To promulgate a municipal sewage use ordinance acceptable  to  the
commissioner.
e.  A  provision  that, in the event that federal assistance which was
not included in the calculation of the capital cost becomes available to
the municipality, the amount of the state payment shall be  recalculated
by  deducting  the  amount  of such federal assistance from the eligible
capital  cost,  and  adjustment  shall  be  made  either  (1)   by   the
municipality  paying to the state the amount by which the state payments
actually made exceed the state payments determined by the  recalculation
or, (2) by deducting the excess paid from subsequent payments to be made
by the state.
3.  The  commissioner  may  adopt  rules  and  regulations pursuant to
subdivision 3 of section 17-0303 of this article  governing  the  making
and enforcing of contracts pursuant to this section.
4.  All  contracts  entered  into  pursuant  to  this section shall be
subject to approval by  the  state  comptroller,  and  by  the  attorney
general as to form. All payments by the state pursuant to such contracts
shall  be made after audit by and upon the warrant of the comptroller on
vouchers approved by the commissioner.
5. In connection with each contract concerning an eligible project the
commissioner shall keep adequate records of the amount of the payment by
the state pursuant to subparagraph c of subdivision two of this section,
and of the amount of federal assistance received by the municipality.