2023 New York Laws › ENV - Environmental Conservation › Article 15 - Water Resources › Title 5 - Protection of Water › 15-0514 - Prohibition of Certain Incompatible Uses Over Either Primary Groundwater Recharge Areas or Federally Designated Sole Source Aquifers.

§ 15-0514. Prohibition  of certain incompatible uses over either primary
groundwater recharge areas  or  federally  designated  sole
source aquifers.
1.  Definitions:  The following terms, whenever used or referred to in
this section, shall have the following meanings:
a. "Primary groundwater recharge areas" shall mean those areas of  the
land  surface  through  which  water  of  great  volume and high quality
generally move  downward  to  the  deeper  portions  of  the  underlying
groundwater  reservoir.  In  the counties of Nassau and Suffolk, primary
groundwater recharge areas shall mean Hydrogeologic Zones I, II, III, IV
and V as defined  in  the  Long  Island  Comprehensive  Waste  Treatment
Management  Plan of 1978, or any amendments to such boundaries which are
accepted by the commissioner.
a-1. "Primary water supply aquifer areas" shall mean  those  areas  in
the  counties  of  Nassau, Suffolk, Kings and Queens and the Schenectady
aquifer (commonly known as the Great Flats Aquifer),  as  identified  in
the  nineteen  hundred  eighty-one  New  York state department of health
report on groundwater dependence in New York state, and defined  in  the
United  States Geologic Survey maps for such aquifers, or any amendments
to such boundaries which are accepted by the commissioner.
b. "Incompatible uses" shall mean any hazardous waste or substances as
determined by the department,  that  may  ultimately  be  discharged  to
groundwater, or the storage of such a substance that may contaminate the
groundwater.
c. "Long Island Comprehensive Waste Treatment Management Plan of 1978"
shall mean the study prepared by the Long Island Regional Planning Board
pursuant  to  section  two  hundred eight of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act as amended in 1972.
d. "Sole source aquifer" shall mean an aquifer system that the  United
States  environmental  protection  agency, pursuant to Public Law 93-523
which is known as the federal Safe  Drinking  Water  Act  of  1974,  has
designated  as  the  sole or principal drinking water source for an area
and which, if contaminated, would create a significant hazard to  public
health.
e.  "Hazardous wastes" shall include all materials or chemicals listed
as hazardous wastes pursuant to article twenty-seven of this chapter, or
all toxic pollutants as  defined  in  subdivision  nineteen  of  section
17-0105 of this chapter.
f. "Hazardous substance" means:
(1) petroleum; or
(2)  any  substance  or  combination  of  substances  designated  as a
hazardous substance under section 311 of  the  Federal  Water  Pollution
Control Act (33USC1321) and which is not a hazardous waste under title 9
of article 27 of this chapter; or
(3)  any  substance  listed  by  the  department  which because of its
quantity,   concentration,   or   physical,   chemical   or   infectious
characteristics may;
(i)  Cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or
an  increase  in  serious  irreversible  or  incapacitating   reversible
illness; or
(ii) Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or
the environment when improperly stored or otherwise managed.
The department shall promulgate a list of hazardous substances, within
one  year  after the effective date of this section, including petroleum
for the purposes of carrying  out  the  applicable  provisions  of  this
title.  Prior  to  the  promulgation  of  such list the department shall
solicit information on the  present  practices  of  industry  and  other
commercial users of hazardous substances.
g.  "Petroleum"  means  oil  or  petroleum of any kind and in any form
including, but not limited to, oil,  petroleum,  fuel  oil,  crude  oil,
petroleum  mixed  with one or more other substances, gasoline, kerosene,
naphtha  and  as  further  defined  by  the  department  in  rules   and
regulations.
2.  The Nassau - Suffolk Hydrogeologic Zones I, II, III, IV and V, and
their attendant boundaries as specified in the Long Island Comprehensive
Waste Treatment Management Plan of  1978,  or  any  amendments  to  such
boundaries  which are accepted by the commissioner are hereby adopted as
primary groundwater recharge  areas  for  the  counties  of  Nassau  and
Suffolk for the purposes of this section.
3.  The  department  shall  propose, for the purposes of this section,
primary groundwater recharge areas within either other  designated  sole
source aquifer systems, excluding the counties of Nassau and Suffolk, or
within  primary  water  supply  aquifer areas based upon hydrogeological
conditions  and  recommendations  within  the  department's  groundwater
management  plan,  within  twelve months subsequent to the date at which
the sole source aquifer designation becomes effective or  within  twelve
months  of  the  effective date of this amended subdivision, pursuant to
the following procedures:
a. The department shall hold public hearings in regard to the proposed
locations and boundaries of the primary groundwater recharge areas.
b. Notice of  each  public  hearing  shall  be  by  publication  in  a
newspaper  most  likely to give notice to the people residing within the
primary water supply aquifer. Notice of such hearing shall be printed at
least once in each of three successive weeks, but the hearing shall  not
be  conducted  less  than  thirty  days  following  the  date  of  first
publication of notice of such hearing.
c. The department  shall  subsequently  finalize  and  adopt  specific
locations  and  boundaries  of  such  primary groundwater recharge areas
within three months following the completion of such hearing.
d. Additional primary groundwater recharge areas or new boundaries  of
existing  primary  recharge  areas  may  be delineated by the department
based upon new hydrogeological  information  subject  to  the  procedure
outlined in paragraphs a, b and c of this subdivision.
4.  Copies  of the adopted boundaries of the delineated areas shall be
kept on file in  the  offices  of  the  commissioner  and  the  regional
director of the department.
5.  The  department  shall promulgate rules and regulations which will
restrict  or  prohibit  incompatible  uses  over  primary  water  supply
aquifers,  giving  special  attention where necessary to protect primary
groundwater recharge areas.
6.  In  undertaking  its  responsibilities  under  this  section,  the
department  shall  give  first  attention to the protection of pristine,
largely undisturbed or undeveloped areas to insure  the  non-degradation
of the water resources of such areas.