2023 New York Laws › STF - State Finance › Article 6 - Funds of the State › 92-S - Environmental Protection Fund.

§  92-s. Environmental protection fund. 1. There is hereby established
in the joint custody of the comptroller and the commissioner of taxation
and finance a special fund to be known as the "environmental  protection
fund".
2.  a.  The  comptroller  shall  establish  the following separate and
distinct accounts within the environmental protection fund:
(i) solid waste account;
(ii) parks, recreation and historic preservation account;
(iii) open space account;
(iv) climate change mitigation and adaptation account; and
(v) environmental protection transfer account.
b.  All  monies  received  by  the  comptroller  for  deposit  in  the
environmental  protection fund shall be deposited first to the credit of
the environmental  protection  transfer  account.  No  monies  shall  be
expended  from  any  such  account  for  any  project except pursuant to
appropriation by the legislature.
3. Such fund shall consist of the amount of revenue  collected  within
the  state  from the amount of revenue, interest and penalties deposited
pursuant to section fourteen hundred twenty-one  of  the  tax  law,  the
amount  of fees and penalties received from easements or leases pursuant
to subdivision fourteen of section seventy-five of the public lands  law
and  the  money  received  as annual service charges pursuant to section
four hundred four-n of the vehicle and traffic law, all moneys  required
to  be  deposited  therein from the contingency reserve fund pursuant to
section two hundred ninety-four of chapter fifty-seven of  the  laws  of
nineteen  hundred  ninety-three,  all  moneys  required  to be deposited
pursuant to section thirteen of chapter six hundred ten of the  laws  of
nineteen  hundred  ninety-three,  repayments  of  loans made pursuant to
section 54-0511 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys to  be
deposited from the Northville settlement pursuant to section one hundred
twenty-four  of  chapter  three  hundred  nine  of  the laws of nineteen
hundred ninety-six, provided however, that such  moneys  shall  only  be
used  for  the cost of the purchase of private lands in the core area of
the central Suffolk pine barrens pursuant to a consent  order  with  the
Northville  industries  signed  on  October thirteenth, nineteen hundred
ninety-four and the related resource restoration and  replacement  plan,
the  amount  of  penalties  required  to be deposited therein by section
71-2724 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys required to be
deposited  pursuant  to  article  thirty-three  of   the   environmental
conservation  law,  all  fees collected pursuant to subdivision eight of
section 70-0117  of  the  environmental  conservation  law,  all  moneys
collected  pursuant  to  title  thirty-three  of  article fifteen of the
environmental  conservation  law,  beginning  with   the   fiscal   year
commencing  on  April  first,  two  thousand  thirteen, nineteen million
dollars, and all fiscal years thereafter, twenty-three  million  dollars
plus  all  funds received by the state each fiscal year in excess of the
greater of the amount received from April  first,  two  thousand  twelve
through  March  thirty-first,  two  thousand  thirteen  or  one  hundred
twenty-two million two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  from  the  payments
collected  pursuant  to  subdivision  four  of  section  27-1012  of the
environmental conservation law  and  all  funds  collected  pursuant  to
section  27-1015  of  the  environmental  conservation  law,  all moneys
required to be deposited pursuant to sections 27-2805 and 27-2807 of the
environmental conservation law, all moneys collected pursuant to section
71-2730 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys required to be
deposited pursuant to section 27-3205 of the environmental  conservation
law, and all other moneys credited or transferred thereto from any other
fund  or  source  pursuant  to  law. All such revenue shall be initially

deposited into the environmental protection  fund,  for  application  as
provided in subdivision five of this section.
5.  Revenues  in  the  environmental  protection  fund  shall  be kept
separate and shall not be  commingled  with  any  other  moneys  in  the
custody  of  the  comptroller.  All  deposits of such revenues shall, if
required by the comptroller, be secured by  obligations  of  the  United
States  or  of the state having a market value equal at all times to the
amount of such deposits and all banks and trust companies are authorized
to give security for such deposits. Any such revenues in such fund  may,
upon  the  discretion  of the comptroller, be invested in obligations in
which the comptroller  is  authorized  to  invest  pursuant  to  section
ninety-eight-a of this article.
6.   (a)   All  moneys  heretofore  and  hereafter  deposited  in  the
environmental protection transfer account shall be  transferred  by  the
comptroller  to  the  solid  waste  account,  the  parks, recreation and
historic  preservation  account,  the  climate  change  mitigation   and
adaptation  account  or  the  open space account upon the request of the
director of the budget.
(b) Moneys from the solid waste account shall be  available,  pursuant
to appropriation and upon certificate of approval of availability by the
director of the budget, for any non-hazardous municipal landfill closure
project;  municipal  waste reduction or recycling project, as defined in
article fifty-four  of  the  environmental  conservation  law;  for  the
purposes  of  section  two  hundred  sixty-one  and  section two hundred
sixty-four  of  the  economic  development  law;  any  project  for  the
development,  updating or revision of local solid waste management plans
pursuant  to  sections  27-0107  and  27-0109   of   the   environmental
conservation  law; environmental justice projects and grants and for the
development of the pesticide sales and use data base pursuant  to  title
twelve of article thirty-three of the environmental conservation law.
(c)  Moneys  from  the  parks,  recreation  and  historic preservation
account shall be available, pursuant to appropriation, for any municipal
park  project,  historic  preservation  project,  urban  cultural   park
project,   waterfront  revitalization  program,  coastal  rehabilitation
project.
(d) Moneys from the open space account shall be available, pursuant to
appropriation,  for  any   open   space   land   conservation   project,
bio-diversity  stewardship and research pursuant to chapter five hundred
fifty-four of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  ninety-three,  for  the
purposes   of   agricultural   and  farmland  protection  activities  as
authorized by article twenty-five-AAA of  the  agriculture  and  markets
law, non-point source abatement and control projects pursuant to section
17-1409  of  the  environmental conservation law and section eleven-b of
the soil and water conservation districts law, for Long  Island  Central
Pine  Barrens  area  planning or Long Island south shore estuary reserve
planning pursuant  to  title  thirteen  of  article  fifty-four  of  the
environmental  conservation law, and for operation and management of the
Albany Pine Bush preserve commission  pursuant  to  subdivision  two  of
section 54-0303 of the environmental conservation law.
(e)  The  governor  shall include a specific line appropriation in the
capital  projects  budget  describing   individual   open   space   land
conservation  projects  proposed  to  be undertaken by the department of
environmental conservation and/or the office of  parks,  recreation  and
historic  preservation  pursuant to title three of article fifty-four of
the environmental conservation law and listed in the  state  open  space
land  acquisition  plan  prepared  pursuant  to  title  two  of  article
forty-nine of the environmental conservation law.
(f) Moneys  from  the  climate  change  account  shall  be  available,
pursuant   to   appropriation   and  upon  certificate  of  approval  of
availability  by  the  director  of  the  budget,  for   climate   smart
communities  projects pursuant to title fifteen of article fifty-four of
the environmental conservation law.
7.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of law, no state assistance
payment authorized under this  section  or  article  fifty-four  of  the
environmental  conservation  law  may  be  applied,  with respect to any
project located within the area of New York county bounded  by  (a)  the
northern boundary of Fifty-ninth street and Fifty-ninth street extended;
(b)  the  United  States pierhead line; (c) the northern boundary of the
area known as Battery Park City;  and  (d)  eight  hundred  feet  inland
easterly from the United States bulkhead line:
(i)  for,  other  than  for  recreational  use or access inland of the
existing bulkhead line, any roads, bridges, ramps or parking  facilities
or sewers or water mains;
(ii)  for  any  site  improvement, including sewers or water mains, to
support residential, industrial or commercial development;
(iii) to excavate, place fill or plantings in, or  place  any  piling,
platform  or  structure,  including  a floating structure, in the Hudson
river;
(iv) to plan, evaluate or study any project involving such  excavation
or placement as described in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph; or
(v)  for  any  purpose  or  project  except  where the commissioner of
environmental conservation, with the approval of  the  director  of  the
budget,  enters  into  a  contract  with the city of New York or a state
agency, but not with any public benefit corporation or public  authority
or  any  other  person  or entity, for the undertaking of the purpose or
project. No part of the purpose or project may be subcontracted  to  any
public    benefit    corporation,   public   authority,   not-for-profit
corporation, or municipality other than the city of New York, nor  shall
any  such state assistance payment be paid to, on behalf of, or pursuant
to any agreement with any such entity.
8. All payments of moneys from the fund shall be made on the audit and
warrant of the comptroller.
9. Notwithstanding any other law to the  contrary  and  in  accordance
with  section four of this chapter, the comptroller is hereby authorized
at the direction of the director  of  the  division  of  the  budget  to
transfer  moneys  from  the general fund to the environmental protection
fund for the purpose of maintaining the solvency  of  the  environmental
protection  fund.  If,  in  any fiscal year, moneys in the environmental
protection fund are deemed insufficient by the director of the  division
of  the budget to meet actual and anticipated disbursements from enacted
appropriations or reappropriations made pursuant to  this  section,  the
comptroller  shall  at  the direction of the director of the division of
the  budget,  transfer  from  the  general  fund  to  the  environmental
protection  fund  moneys  sufficient  to  meet  such disbursements. Such
transfers shall be made only upon certification of need by the  director
of  the  division of the budget, with copies of such certification filed
with the chairperson of the senate finance committee, the chairperson of
the assembly ways and means committee and  the  state  comptroller.  The
aggregate  amount  of  all  transfers  shall  not  exceed  four  hundred
forty-seven million one hundred seventy-one thousand dollars.