N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 15-1107: Plans; approval; changes, modifications and rescission

§ 15-1107. Plans; approval; changes, modifications and rescission.

1. Plans submitted pursuant to section 15-1105:

a. Shall in all cases be so drawn and of such scope as is best

calculated to assure prompt or orderly development of the water

resources for the beneficial use of the people of the region involved

and of the state as a whole;

b. Shall show the available and feasible sites for the installation

and operation of protective, conservation and regulatory works, and the

benefits estimated to be derived from such installation and operation.

The plan or plans shall be accompanied by such maps, profiles and other

data and descriptions as will set forth and show the location and

character of the works and of the property required to be taken for or

to be damaged by such installation or operation or for the protection

and maintenance of the works to be installed, together with an estimate

of the cost thereof;

c. Shall estimate the minimum annual amount of water which would be

available for all purposes if the plan or plans were to be put in

operation;

d. Shall not, in the computations of water estimated to become

available as a result of the execution of the plan or plans, include any

amount of water, the use of which has theretofore been duly acquired or

authorized pursuant to approval, license, permit or other official

sanction;

e. Shall, whenever feasible and economically justified, provide for

the storage of sufficient water for distribution and use for all the

purposes and uses contemplated by this article;

f. Shall not include in any plan or plans, any proposal or project

providing for any action or steps which would impair or diminish any

right protected by section 15-1113;

g. Shall list possible sources of income, including the sale of water,

from the operation of such works, and estimate the amount thereof; and

h. Shall recommend whether the plan or plans should be carried out as

a single or multiple stage project, and shall also recommend an agency,

existing or proposed, to undertake the project.

2. Upon receipt of a plan from the board, the department shall cause

public notice to be given that on a day therein named it will hold a

public hearing at such a place as is specified in the notice and within

the region covered by the plan, for the purpose of hearing all persons,

public corporations and agencies of the state which may be affected by

the plan. Such notice shall be published pursuant to subdivision 1 of

section 15-0903. In addition to such publication, the department shall

give written notice of the public hearing, as required by subdivision 3

of section 15-1103, and may give written notice thereof to additional

persons, public corporations or agencies of the state, as authorized by

such subdivision. At any time prior to the day specified in such notice,

specified objections in writing to the plan or parts thereof may be

filed in the office of the department. The department shall, upon the

day specified in the notice, or upon such subsequent day or days to

which it may adjourn the hearing, proceed to take testimony and proof

and to hear arguments submitted in support of and in opposition to the

plan, but no objectors shall be heard unless they have filed written

objections as authorized by this section. At the close of the hearing,

the department may fix a date or dates for the filing of briefs.

3. The department within ninety days after the last date fixed for the

filing of briefs and with all convenient speed shall render its

decision. The department, upon the proofs and evidence submitted at the

public hearing:

a. Shall determine whether the plan as proposed by the board conforms

to and complies with the purposes of title 11 of this article and would

serve the public interest and benefit, or whether it should be modified

in any respect, detail or part to accomplish such purposes;

b. Shall determine whether the plan as proposed by the board

interferes or conflicts with the plans of any other regional water

resources planning board, and would be just and equitable to the

interests of other areas of the state;

c. Shall approve such plan as submitted by the board or as modified by

the department; or shall disapprove the plan; or shall remit the

proposal to the board for further investigation, study, survey and

planning; and

d. Shall recommend with public corporations, private corporations or

agencies of the state, existing or proposed, would, in its opinion, be

best qualified to carry out expeditiously and efficiently the project

proposed by the plan, as approved by the department, and to construct,

maintain and operate the works in connection therewith. If the

department recommends that a new public corporation or state agency

should be established for such purposes, it shall transmit a

recommendation to the legislature and the Governor for the enactment of

legislation to create and establish such body or agency, or to grant

authority to existing public corporations or state agencies.

4. Upon the filing of the departments decision or, in the event such

decision is reviewed in the manner provided by article seventy-eight of

the Civil Practice Law and Rules, upon the final determination of such

review proceeding, the plan as approved by the department or as approved

or modified by the court in a review proceeding, shall be the general

plan for the conservation, development and utilization of the water

resources of the region, and such general plan shall be given

consideration by the department in any future application before it and

over which it has jurisdiction by virtue of this article or other

provision of law. None of the works or projects, included in the general

plan, nor any part or parts thereof shall be undertaken, constructed or

put into operation until detailed and specific maps and plans therefor

have been submitted to the department for approval upon the petition of

an agency authorized to undertake or construct such works or projects or

parts thereof. The department shall determine, after public hearing, if

the detailed and specific plan before it for approval conforms to and is

consistent with the general plan, and whether it is in the public

interest to undertake the construction and operation of the works or

projects as proposed. The department shall have the power to approve or

disapprove the detailed and specific maps and plans, or to so modify

them as will, on the evidence presented, bring them into conformity with

the general plan.

5. Any municipality or combination of municipalities may, except as

provided in subdivision 7 of section 15-1103, file with the department a

verified petition requesting the department to modify, change or rescind

any general plan approved by it. The petition shall set forth the facts

on which the petitioner or petitioners rely to show that it is necessary

and would be in the public interest to change or modify such plan as

requested in the petition, or to rescind such plan. Upon receipt of such

a petition, the department shall give public notice of hearing, shall

give written notice of hearing to parties and persons, shall hold a

public hearing on such petition, and shall take testimony and proof, in

the same manner as if the department were holding a public hearing on

the original submission of the plan which such petition seeks to change,

modify or rescind. The department, within ninety days after the last

date fixed for the filing of briefs and with all convenient speed, shall

render its decision changing, modifying or rescinding such plan, or

denying the petition, as the public interest shall require.

6. The department may, on its own motion, initiate proceedings to

change, modify or rescind any approved plan. The proceedings and

procedure with respect to any such proposal, including notice, hearing

and judicial review, shall be the same as in the case of a petition for

change, modification or rescission of a plan.

7. Except as hereinafter in this subdivision provided, the provisions

of sections 15-1109 and 15-1111 shall apply to the sharing and

apportionment of costs and expenses incurred by the department under

this section. In any case where an application under this section is

filed with respect to any plan by any municipality or municipalities

outside of the region specified in such plan, the share of the

department costs and expenses which would otherwise be paid by the

county or counties of such region, shall be paid by such municipality or

municipalities.