N.Y. Canal Law § 10: General powers and duties of the corporation relating to canals

§ 10. General powers and duties of the corporation relating to

canals. The corporation shall:

1. Have general supervision of the canal system and its operating

personnel and enforce the faithful administration and observance of the

canal law.

2. Appoint and remove all officers and employees in the administration

of canal matters in conformity with the provisions of title nine of

article two of the public authorities law.

3. Provide for all engineering services required in the improvement,

maintenance and repair of the canal system.

4. Cause surveys, maps, plans, specifications and estimates to be made

for the improvement, maintenance and repair of the canal system.

5. Cause plans, specifications and estimates covering canal contracts

to be prepared.

6. Cause inspections of the canal system to be made annually.

7. Determine the boundaries of the districts of the canal system and

change such boundaries when it deems it expedient.

8. Keep and maintain in good condition the canals, canal terminals and

corporation equipment used in the maintenance and repair of the canal

system.

9. Prescribe rules and regulations not inconsistent with law relating

to the navigation, protection and maintenance of the canal system and

enforce such rules and regulations by prescribing fines, penalties or

forfeitures not to exceed one hundred dollars for each offense.

9-a. Undertake lock improvements designed to attract tourists to the

locks and surrounding communities. Such improvements may include, but

not be limited to, comfort stations, information kiosks, picnic tables

and grills, docking facilities, lock beautification, campsites,

telephone service, and trash collection and removal facilities.

10. Enforce compliance with laws, rules and regulations relating to

posting of limited loads and clearances on all bridges over the canal

system under the jurisdiction of the department of transportation

pursuant to section six and article seven of this chapter.

11. Compile statistics relating to the canal system and the traffic

thereon and collect such other information in regard thereto as it shall

deem expedient.

12. Make an annual report to the legislature, covering the calendar

year, on the trade and tonnage handled, on the condition of the canals

and the work and improvements connected therewith.

13. Cause a record to be made and filed on January first, in the

corporation of all expenditures during the previous fiscal year from

moneys appropriated for the canal system.

14. Permit boat owners operating upon the canal system to use state

drydocks while making emergency repairs to their vessels.

15. Grant leases and issue revocable permits pursuant to this chapter.

16. Cause to be removed from canal lands any encroachments which in

its judgment are detrimental.

17. Cause to be acquired lands necessary for canal purposes and cause

to be abandoned such canal lands as are no longer necessary or useful

for canal purposes. The commissioner of environmental conservation shall

be given notice of any lands located within the Adirondack park which

are no longer necessary or useful for canal purposes and which are to be

abandoned, and shall be given sixty days within which to request the

transfer of such lands. Such lands for which such a request has been

made shall be transferred to the department of environmental

conservation.

18. Accept available federal aid money for the construction,

reconstruction, improvement, restoration, repair, operation, maintenance

or rehabilitation of any section, appurtenances or facility of the Barge

canal system.

19. Investigate all matters relating to the administration and

operation of the canal system and its personnel.

20. Either absolutely, or on such conditions as it prescribes, remit

fines imposed, if in its judgment such action is expedient.

21. Administer, operate and maintain the state-owned hydroelectric

power plants on the Mohawk river at Crescent and Vischer Ferry.

22. When an emergency arises endangering life or the canal system,

seize any lands, equipment or supplies necessary to avert such damage.

23. Prepare an inventory sufficient for planning purposes which

includes at least: (a) a general description of all state-owned property

which comprises the canal system, and where appropriate other

state-owned property contiguous to the canal system, specifying present

use and facilities for public use, including but not limited to parks

and recreation facilities; (b) a description of significant freshwater

wetlands and lands which possess significance for wildlife management,

recreation or natural resource protection purposes within the canal

system; and (c) significant municipal and privately-owned facilities

which serve users of the canal system. Such inventory shall be provided

to the commission no later than July thirty-first, nineteen hundred

ninety-three.

24. Prepare on an annual basis a detailed five-year capital plan for

the maintenance and improvement of canal infrastructure. Such plan shall

set system-wide goals and objectives for capital spending and,

commencing January first, nineteen hundred ninety-five, describe the

compatibility of such plan to the canal recreationway plan approved

pursuant to section one hundred thirty-eight-c of this chapter. Such

plan shall include but not be limited to such capital project categories

as locks, canal bridges, channels, shorelines, dams, guard gates, and

other structures necessary for safe and successful operation of the

canal system. The plan shall also include a detailed schedule of all

capital projects which the authority intends to undertake within the

next five years and shall provide the following information for each

such capital project: (a) a description of the project; (b) an

indication of the category into which the project has been classified in

the capital plan; (c) the estimated total cost of the project and

expenditures by year for such project; (d) the actual disbursements by

project for the prior year; and (e) the estimated dates of project

initiation and completion. The plan shall also include a statement of

the mix of financing methods to be used by the authority for financing

the capital plan. The capital plan shall be submitted to the governor,

the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on

the first day of January of each year commencing in nineteen hundred

ninety-three.

25. Prepare, in consultation with the department of environmental

conservation: (a) a survey of canal lands in the Adirondack park; and

(b) a study of canal lands in the Adirondack park subject to permits,

including the identification of any structures or activities that are

not allowed by law or by such permits. Such survey and study shall be

completed and submitted to the commission no later than January first,

nineteen hundred ninety-four.

26. Perform such other acts as in its judgment constitute a duty

required to efficiently administer the canal system.