2023 New York Laws › TRA - Transportation › Article 2 - Powers, Duties and Jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation › 14-F - Transportation of Hazardous Materials.

§ 14-f. Transportation  of hazardous materials. 1. The commissioner of
transportation  is  hereby  authorized  to   promote   safety   in   the
transportation  of  hazardous  materials by all modes of transportation,
and in connection therewith shall:
(a)  Have  the  power  to  make  rules   and   regulations   governing
transportation  of  hazardous materials, which shall mean a substance or
material in a quantity and form which may pose an unreasonable  risk  to
health and safety or property when transported in commerce, by all modes
as defined by the rules and regulations of the department.
Such  rules  and  regulations  shall  be  no less protective of public
safety than  the  rules  and  regulations  promulgated  by  the  federal
government  with  respect  to the transportation of hazardous materials.
The regulations  shall  set  forth  the  criteria  for  identifying  and
listing,  and  a  list of hazardous materials subject to this section as
may be amended by the commissioner of transportation from time  to  time
in  a  manner consistent with the state administrative procedure act and
consistent with those substances and materials designated by the  United
States  secretary  of  transportation as hazardous under section 5103 of
title 49 of the United  States  code  as  amended  from  time  to  time,
including those designated as hazardous in the hazardous materials table
set  forth  in  section  172.101  and  materials  that meet the defining
criteria for hazard classes and divisions in part 173 of subchapter C of
title 49 of the code of federal regulations  as  amended  from  time  to
time.  Such  regulations  shall  include  specifications for marking and
placarding of vehicles  transporting  hazardous  materials  as  will  be
applied  pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision three of this section.
The regulations  promulgated  hereunder  shall  include  notice  that  a
violation  of the rules and regulations is subject to a fine or a period
of imprisonment, and the rules  and  regulations  shall  set  forth  the
penalty  provisions  contained  in  subdivision  four  of  this section.
Provided, however, that all local laws or ordinances,  except  those  of
cities  having  a  population  of  one  million  or more, regulating the
transportation   of   flammable   liquids   in   trucks,   trailers   or
semi-trailers,  are hereby superseded and without force and hereafter no
such local law or ordinance shall be adopted to regulate or control  the
equipment or means of transporting flammable liquids in trucks, trailers
or semi-trailers.
For  the purposes of this section, a "vehicle" shall mean every device
in which property may be transported upon a highway, stationary rails or
tracks, or on the navigable waterways of the state.
(b) Have power to enforce said rules and regulations through  the  use
of department staff or others pursuant to cooperative agreement.
(c)  Have  power  and  is  hereby authorized to enter into cooperative
agreements with agencies of this and other states  and  of  the  federal
government in relation to enforcement of said rules and regulations.
(d)   Consult   with   and  receive  the  full  cooperation  from  the
commissioner of environmental conservation and other agencies  in  order
to aid the commissioner of transportation in establishing an information
system capable of identifying the amount and type of hazardous materials
transported  in  New  York,  and  the methods used for transporting such
materials. This system shall be established and maintained in  order  to
assess   the   volume   and  potential  danger  of  hazardous  materials
transported in commerce, by all modes.
(e) Establish and publicize, after consultation with the  commissioner
of  environmental  conservation,  a  public education program to provide
publications  and  technical  assistance   regarding   the   regulations
governing the transportation of hazardous materials.
(f)  Develop a training program for the state police and environmental
conservation officers in order to aid such officers in  the  enforcement
of the rules and regulations made pursuant to this section.
2.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person,  corporation,  company,
association, partnership or any officer or agent thereof to transport or
cause to be transported hazardous materials in violation  of  the  rules
and  regulations  promulgated  by  the  commissioner  pursuant  to  this
section.
3. (a) It shall be unlawful  for  any  person,  corporation,  company,
association,  partnership  or any officer or agent thereof to operate or
cause to be operated in this  state  a  vehicle  transporting  hazardous
materials  unless  the  vehicle  is conspicuously marked or placarded to
identify the material transported or its principal hazard  in  a  manner
specified  in rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner that
are consistent with related  federal  requirements;  provided  that  the
commissioner may, by rules and regulations prescribe with respect to any
specific  hazardous  materials  the  minimum  quantities  below which no
placard shall be required.
(b) It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person,  corporation,  company,
association,  partnership  or any officer or agent thereof to operate or
cause to  be  operated  in  this  state  a  vehicle  transporting  those
hazardous  wastes  identified  and listed pursuant to section 27-0903 of
the environmental conservation law or those regulated wastes listed  and
defined  pursuant  to  section 27-0303 of the environmental conservation
law unless such person complies with the requirements applicable to  the
transport  of  such  wastes  as set forth in article twenty-seven of the
environmental conservation law and any rules and regulations promulgated
thereunder.
4. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of  this  subdivision,  any
person, corporation, company, association or partnership found guilty of
violating  any  such  rule  or  regulation  shall be guilty of a traffic
infraction, and all of the provisions of the vehicle  and  traffic  law,
except  as  otherwise  specifically provided herein, shall be applicable
thereto, and shall be subject to a fine of not less than  three  hundred
fifty  dollars nor more than one thousand dollars for the first offense,
and upon being found guilty of a second or subsequent offense  committed
within  eighteen  months by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars
nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment  for
not  more than ninety days or by both such fine and imprisonment. Except
as otherwise provided by law, such a violation shall not be a crime  and
the  penalty  or punishment imposed therefor shall not be deemed for any
purpose a criminal penalty  or  punishment  and  shall  not  impose  any
disability  upon  or  affect  or impair the credibility as a witness, or
otherwise, of a person found guilty thereof; provided, however, that any
person transporting hazardous waste in violation of article twenty-seven
of the environmental conservation law shall be subject to the  penalties
provided in article seventy-one of such law.
(b) Any person, corporation, company, association or partnership found
guilty   of  violating  any  such  rules  or  regulations  involving  an
out-of-service defect relating to  brake  systems,  steering  components
and/or coupling devices shall be subject to a fine of not less than five
hundred  dollars  nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars, or by
imprisonment for not more than sixty days  or  by  both  such  fine  and
imprisonment,  and  upon  being  found  guilty of a second or subsequent
offense committed within eighteen months by a fine of not less than  one
thousand  five  hundred  dollars nor more than two thousand five hundred
dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than ninety  days  or  by  both
such fine and imprisonment.
(c)   Operation  of  an  out-of-service  vehicle  shall  constitute  a
misdemeanor and shall be punished  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  two
thousand five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or by
imprisonment  for  not  more  than  one  year  or  by both such fine and
imprisonment.  A conviction for a second or subsequent offense committed
within eighteen months shall constitute a class E felony  and  shall  be
punished  by a fine of not less than three thousand five hundred dollars
or by a period of imprisonment as provided in the penal law, or by  both
such fine and imprisonment.
(d)  If any person does not appear in response to an appearance ticket
or the court's direction, or pay any fine imposed, the  commissioner  of
motor  vehicles  shall  have  the  power  to suspend the registration or
privilege of operation of any such vehicle operated or alleged  to  have
been operated in violation of such rules and regulations.
(e)  (i) Any complaint issued for an equipment violation, except for a
violation involving an out-of-service defect or except for  a  violation
involving  the  operation  of any motor vehicle after it has been placed
out of service, shall be dismissed by the court before such  summons  is
returnable if the violation as set forth in the summons is corrected not
later  than  one-half  hour  after sunset on the first full business day
after the issuance of the summons and proof of such  correction  as  set
forth  in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph is submitted to the court.
For the purposes of this subparagraph, "business  day"  shall  mean  any
calendar  day  except  Sunday,  or  the following business holidays: New
Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor
Day, Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
(ii) Acceptable  proof  of  repair  or  adjustment  shall  consist  of
submission  to  the court on or before the return date of the summons of
(A) a statement  of  correction  from  an  officially  designated  state
inspection station duly executed by the person performing or making such
inspection  and  bearing  the  official  stamp  of  the state inspection
station, (B) a statement of correction from an automobile repair shop on
the letterhead of such repair shop duly executed by the person who  made
the  correction  or  (C)  a  signed statement of any police officer or a
department inspector that the necessary corrections have been made.  The
statement  required  by this subparagraph shall be directed to the court
having jurisdiction of the alleged violation, shall be affirmed as  true
under  penalty  of  perjury,  and shall include the name, occupation and
position of the person making the statement, the time and date that  the
repairs  or  inspection  were  made  and  a statement that the defective
equipment, cited in the violation, on the vehicle  in  question,  is  in
proper working order.
5.  With  respect  to  the  transportation  of  radioactive materials,
nothing in this section shall be construed to  abrogate  or  effect  the
provisions   of  any  federal  or  state  statute  or  local  ordinance,
regulation or resolution  which  are  more  restrictive  than  or  which
supersede the provisions of this section.
6. Any police officer having lawfully stopped any vehicle which he has
reason to believe is transporting hazardous materials or hazardous waste
may  require  that such vehicle shall be driven to a place designated by
such police officer to be inspected pursuant to the provisions  of  this
section  and  the  rules  and regulations of the commissioner concerning
transportation of hazardous materials  or  pursuant  to  title  nine  of
article  twenty-seven  of  the environmental conservation law. Provided,
however, that such place designated by such  police  officer  shall  not
exceed a distance of five miles from the place at which such vehicle was
stopped. Furthermore, that when such place designated by such officer or
any  other  place  utilized  for inspection of vehicles pursuant to this

section is a roadside rest area, such rest area shall be kept  open  for
the use of the public to the extent practicable.