N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 71-3601: Declaration of policy and statement of purpose

§ 71-3601. Declaration of policy and statement of purpose.

The legislature hereby finds and declares that contaminated site

remedial programs are an important and necessary component of the

state's policy of restoring and revitalizing real property located

throughout New York state. The legislature further finds that when an

environmental remediation project leaves residual contamination at

levels that have been determined to be safe for a specific use, but not

all uses, or includes engineered structures that must be maintained or

protected against damage to be effective, it is necessary to provide an

effective and enforceable means of ensuring the performance of

maintenance, monitoring or operation requirements, and of ensuring the

potential restriction of future uses of the land, including restrictions

on drilling for or pumping groundwater for as long as any residual

contamination remains hazardous. The legislature declares, therefore,

that it is in the public interest to create environmental easements

because such easements are necessary for the protection of human health

and the environment and to achieve the requirements for remediation

established at contaminated sites.