N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 43-0112: Stormwater management and stream corridor management

§ 43-0112. Stormwater management and stream corridor management.

1. Stormwater management plans for lands where development is

occurring or may occur in the future. The commission shall adopt, after

public hearing according to the provisions of the state administrative

procedure act, rules and regulations for the preparation of local

stormwater management plans and stormwater regulatory programs. Such

rules and regulations shall be developed in consultation with the

department, the Adirondack park agency and each municipality located in

whole or in part within the park, and shall be subject to approval by

the department and Adirondack park agency.

a. Within eighteen months of the effective date of such rules and

regulations of the commission, each municipality located in whole or in

part within the Lake George park shall prepare a stormwater management

plan and a stormwater regulatory control program which implements such

plan consistent with such rules and regulations and subject to the

approval of the commission.

b. Stormwater management plans and their implementing stormwater

control regulatory programs shall be designed:

(1) to prevent any increase in stormwater runoff from any development

in order to reduce flooding, siltation and streambank erosion; and

(2) to prevent any increase in pollution caused by stormwater runoff

from development, which would otherwise degrade the quality of water in

Lake George and its tributaries and render it unfit for human

consumption, interfere with water-based recreation or adversely affect

aquatic life.

c. In addition to pollution standards, the stormwater control

regulatory program shall incorporate a standard which requires that the

total annual volume of surface water runoff which flows from any

specific site during and following development shall not exceed that

which prevailed prior to development. The methods used to determine the

annual volumes of surface water runoff shall be developed by the

commission and incorporated in the rules and regulations for the

preparation of the local stormwater management plans and regulatory

control programs.

d. Any municipality located in whole or in part within the park may

enter into an agreement with the commission for the commission to

develop the municipality's stormwater management plan. Such an agreement

must be entered into within ninety days of the effective date of the

commission's rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision

and, if such agreement is not made in such time period and the

municipality fails to meet the requirement of paragraph a of this

subdivision, the commission shall be deemed to have the authority to

develop such plan.

2. Stormwater management study for sites and areas where development

has occurred prior to the effective date of this section. The

commission, in consultation with the department, the Adirondack park

agency and each municipality located in whole or in part within the

park, and subject to the approval by the department and Adirondack park

agency, shall prepare a study of the feasibility of reducing the impacts

of stormwater runoff in areas of the park where development has already

occurred. This study shall assess the impact of stormwater runoff on

water quality from existing development, identify cost effective

measures to control stormwater runoff, and propose funding mechanisms

for implementation of such measures. The commission shall complete the

study within two years of the effective date of this section. Upon

completion of the study of the commission, the study's recommendations

shall be incorporated by the commission into the stormwater management

plan and by each municipality into its stormwater regulatory control

program, subject to the approval of the commission.

3. Implementation. In addition to existing powers and authorities

therefor, each municipality located in whole or in part within the park

is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and implement a stormwater

regulatory control program consistent with the provisions of this

section. If the commission finds that any such municipality has failed

to adopt such program, to incorporate recommendations pursuant to

subdivision two of this section or to implement such program, the

commission is hereby authorized and empowered to assume the authority of

the municipality that has failed to act, adopt and implement a

stormwater regulatory program consistent with the provisions of this

section for the municipality subject to the commission's finding.

4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the

department's authority to regulate discharges or stormwater.

5. The commission shall, after consultation with the department, the

department of health, the Adirondack park agency and each municipality

located in whole or in part within the park, further promulgate

regulations relative to stream corridor management which shall include

standards for the location of roads, stream channelization, the

frequency of stream crossings, and timber harvesting and vegetative

cutting restrictions within designated stream corridors. The regulations

adopted pursuant to this section may be stricter than regulations

promulgated by the department.

6. In cooperation with local lake associations and educational

institutions, the commission shall continue existing water quality

monitoring programs to monitor water quality in Lake George to determine

the effectiveness of control measures, and to identify sources of ground

and surface water contamination for investigation and enforcement

purposes.