N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 27-1319: State superfund management board

§ 27-1319. State superfund management board.

1. a. There is hereby created within the department the "state

superfund management board" hereinafter referred to as the board. Such

board shall consist of fourteen members, including the commissioners of

environmental conservation and health, or their designees, and twelve at

large members appointed by the governor, two of whom shall be appointed

upon recommendation of the temporary president of the senate and two of

whom shall be appointed upon recommendation of the speaker of the

assembly, one of whom shall be appointed upon recommendation of the

minority leader of the senate and one of whom shall be appointed upon

recommendation of the minority leader of the assembly, and, of the

remaining six, two shall live within a municipality within which exists

an inactive hazardous waste site, or sites, as listed pursuant to

section 27-1305 of this title, and have been involved in a citizen's

organization that has a purpose relating to the site or sites within

that municipality, two shall be representatives of organizations whose

prime function is the protection of natural resources and enhancement of

the environmental quality of the state and two shall be representatives

of industries that generate hazardous waste in the state. None of the

members appointed by the governor shall be officers or employees of any

state department or agency and each shall be, by professional training

or experience and attainment, qualified to analyze and interpret matters

pertaining to hazardous waste management and the remediation of inactive

hazardous waste disposal sites.

b. No at large member of the board may appoint a designee to

temporarily or permanently assume his place on the board.

2. a. The commissioner of environmental conservation shall serve as

chairman of the board and the board shall elect a vice chairman from

among the appointed members to preside in the absence of the chairman.

b. Of the twelve at large members appointed by the governor, each

shall be reaffirmed or reappointed on January thirty-first, nineteen

hundred ninety-one and every two years thereafter and each shall hold

office until such time as the board shall cease to exist or until he

shall resign or be removed in the manner provided by law. Any vacancy on

the board shall be filled by appointment pursuant to subdivision one of

this section for the unexpired balance of the term.

3. The members of the board shall serve without compensation for their

services as members of the board, except that each of them shall be

allowed the necessary and actual expenses which he shall incur in the

performance of his duties under this section.

4. The board shall have the power, duty and responsibility to:

a. Serve as a working forum for the exchange of views, concerns,

ideas, information and recommendations relating to hazardous waste

management and the remediation of inactive hazardous waste disposal

sites.

b. Request and receive from the department at each meeting of the

board any portions of the plan or any revisions, amendments or changes

available for review, and any supporting documents or other pertinent

data. All information requested by or provided to the board shall also

be provided to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the

assembly, and the chairman of the senate and assembly environmental

conservation committees.

c. Compel the attendance at each meeting of the board of such

personnel of the department, or of other appropriate state departments

or agencies, as may reasonably be expected to supply any pertinent data

the board may request.

d. Monitor and review the implementation of the inactive hazardous

waste site remediation program and the policies, program objectives,

methods, and strategies outlined in the plan, the annual implementation

status report, any plan update, the registry, and the quarterly site

status reports by the department, as well as information which the board

may acquire from other sources.

e. Review the hazardous waste site remediation remaining to be

completed under the state inactive hazardous waste remedial plan as

updated, the estimate of the costs which would be incurred in the

completion of this remediation, the schedule under which the costs will

be incurred, the revenues and resources expected to be available to meet

these costs.

f. Review and evaluate the municipal cost sharing program established

pursuant to paragraph g of subdivision five of section 27-1313 of this

title and review the appropriate state and industry contribution to the

inactive hazardous waste site remedial program.

g. Based upon its monitoring, reviewing and other information

available to it, the board shall report to the governor and to the

legislature on or before January first of each year its assessment of

the implementation of the remediation program, together with its

comments, suggestions, and recommendations regarding the program, its

implementation, available funding and resources, and the need for steps

to assure the future availability of funding.

5. a. The board shall:

1. Meet at least quarterly;

2. Keep a record of all its proceedings and provide such record to the

public upon request; and

3. Determine the rules of its own procedures.

b. Seven members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the

transaction of any business of the board.

6. Staff services, including recording of board proceedings, shall be

performed by personnel of the department, or such state departments or

other agencies as the chairman deems appropriate or desirable.

7. For the purposes of this section, the at large members of the board

shall be considered officers or employees of public entities and shall

be afforded such defense and indemnification provided pursuant to

section eighteen of the public officers law.

8. The board shall cease to exist on the thirty-first day of March,

nineteen hundred ninety-nine.