N.Y. State Finance Law § 92-s: Environmental protection fund

§ 92-s. Environmental protection fund. 1. There is hereby established

in the joint custody of the comptroller and the commissioner of taxation

and finance a special fund to be known as the "environmental protection

fund".

2. a. The comptroller shall establish the following separate and

distinct accounts within the environmental protection fund:

(i) solid waste account;

(ii) parks, recreation and historic preservation account;

(iii) open space account;

(iv) climate change mitigation and adaptation account; and

(v) environmental protection transfer account.

b. All monies received by the comptroller for deposit in the

environmental protection fund shall be deposited first to the credit of

the environmental protection transfer account. No monies shall be

expended from any such account for any project except pursuant to

appropriation by the legislature.

3. Such fund shall consist of the amount of revenue collected within

the state from the amount of revenue, interest and penalties deposited

pursuant to section fourteen hundred twenty-one of the tax law, the

amount of fees and penalties received from easements or leases pursuant

to subdivision fourteen of section seventy-five of the public lands law

and the money received as annual service charges pursuant to section

four hundred four-n of the vehicle and traffic law, all moneys required

to be deposited therein from the contingency reserve fund pursuant to

section two hundred ninety-four of chapter fifty-seven of the laws of

nineteen hundred ninety-three, all moneys required to be deposited

pursuant to section thirteen of chapter six hundred ten of the laws of

nineteen hundred ninety-three, repayments of loans made pursuant to

section 54-0511 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys to be

deposited from the Northville settlement pursuant to section one hundred

twenty-four of chapter three hundred nine of the laws of nineteen

hundred ninety-six, provided however, that such moneys shall only be

used for the cost of the purchase of private lands in the core area of

the central Suffolk pine barrens pursuant to a consent order with the

Northville industries signed on October thirteenth, nineteen hundred

ninety-four and the related resource restoration and replacement plan,

the amount of penalties required to be deposited therein by section

71-2724 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys required to be

deposited pursuant to article thirty-three of the environmental

conservation law, all fees collected pursuant to subdivision eight of

section 70-0117 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys

collected pursuant to title thirty-three of article fifteen of the

environmental conservation law, beginning with the fiscal year

commencing on April first, two thousand thirteen, nineteen million

dollars, and all fiscal years thereafter, twenty-three million dollars

plus all funds received by the state each fiscal year in excess of the

greater of the amount received from April first, two thousand twelve

through March thirty-first, two thousand thirteen or one hundred

twenty-two million two hundred thousand dollars, from the payments

collected pursuant to subdivision four of section 27-1012 of the

environmental conservation law and all funds collected pursuant to

section 27-1015 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys

required to be deposited pursuant to sections 27-2805 and 27-2807 of the

environmental conservation law, all moneys collected pursuant to section

71-2730 of the environmental conservation law, all moneys required to be

deposited pursuant to section seven hundred sixty-five of the general

business law, all moneys required to be deposited pursuant to section

27-3205 of the environmental conservation law, and all other moneys

credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant

to law. All such revenue shall be initially deposited into the

environmental protection fund, for application as provided in

subdivision five of this section.

5. Revenues in the environmental protection fund shall be kept

separate and shall not be commingled with any other moneys in the

custody of the comptroller. All deposits of such revenues shall, if

required by the comptroller, be secured by obligations of the United

States or of the state having a market value equal at all times to the

amount of such deposits and all banks and trust companies are authorized

to give security for such deposits. Any such revenues in such fund may,

upon the discretion of the comptroller, be invested in obligations in

which the comptroller is authorized to invest pursuant to section

ninety-eight-a of this article.

6. (a) All moneys heretofore and hereafter deposited in the

environmental protection transfer account shall be transferred by the

comptroller to the solid waste account, the parks, recreation and

historic preservation account, the climate change mitigation and

adaptation account or the open space account upon the request of the

director of the budget.

(b) Moneys from the solid waste account shall be available, pursuant

to appropriation and upon certificate of approval of availability by the

director of the budget, for any non-hazardous municipal landfill closure

project; municipal waste reduction or recycling project, as defined in

article fifty-four of the environmental conservation law; for the

purposes of section two hundred sixty-one and section two hundred

sixty-four of the economic development law; any project for the

development, updating or revision of local solid waste management plans

pursuant to sections 27-0107 and 27-0109 of the environmental

conservation law; environmental justice projects and grants and for the

development of the pesticide sales and use data base pursuant to title

twelve of article thirty-three of the environmental conservation law.

(c) Moneys from the parks, recreation and historic preservation

account shall be available, pursuant to appropriation, for any municipal

park project, historic preservation project, urban cultural park

project, waterfront revitalization program, coastal rehabilitation

project.

(d) Moneys from the open space account shall be available, pursuant to

appropriation, for any open space land conservation project,

bio-diversity stewardship and research pursuant to chapter five hundred

fifty-four of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-three, for the

purposes of agricultural and farmland protection activities as

authorized by article twenty-five-AAA of the agriculture and markets

law, non-point source abatement and control projects pursuant to section

17-1409 of the environmental conservation law and section eleven-b of

the soil and water conservation districts law, for Long Island Central

Pine Barrens area planning or Long Island south shore estuary reserve

planning pursuant to title thirteen of article fifty-four of the

environmental conservation law, and for operation and management of the

Albany Pine Bush preserve commission pursuant to subdivision two of

section 54-0303 of the environmental conservation law.

(e) The governor shall include a specific line appropriation in the

capital projects budget describing individual open space land

conservation projects proposed to be undertaken by the department of

environmental conservation and/or the office of parks, recreation and

historic preservation pursuant to title three of article fifty-four of

the environmental conservation law and listed in the state open space

land acquisition plan prepared pursuant to title two of article

forty-nine of the environmental conservation law.

(f) Moneys from the climate change account shall be available,

pursuant to appropriation and upon certificate of approval of

availability by the director of the budget, for climate smart

communities projects pursuant to title fifteen of article fifty-four of

the environmental conservation law.

7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no state assistance

payment authorized under this section or article fifty-four of the

environmental conservation law may be applied, with respect to any

project located within the area of New York county bounded by (a) the

northern boundary of Fifty-ninth street and Fifty-ninth street extended;

(b) the United States pierhead line; (c) the northern boundary of the

area known as Battery Park City; and (d) eight hundred feet inland

easterly from the United States bulkhead line:

(i) for, other than for recreational use or access inland of the

existing bulkhead line, any roads, bridges, ramps or parking facilities

or sewers or water mains;

(ii) for any site improvement, including sewers or water mains, to

support residential, industrial or commercial development;

(iii) to excavate, place fill or plantings in, or place any piling,

platform or structure, including a floating structure, in the Hudson

river;

(iv) to plan, evaluate or study any project involving such excavation

or placement as described in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph; or

(v) for any purpose or project except where the commissioner of

environmental conservation, with the approval of the director of the

budget, enters into a contract with the city of New York or a state

agency, but not with any public benefit corporation or public authority

or any other person or entity, for the undertaking of the purpose or

project. No part of the purpose or project may be subcontracted to any

public benefit corporation, public authority, not-for-profit

corporation, or municipality other than the city of New York, nor shall

any such state assistance payment be paid to, on behalf of, or pursuant

to any agreement with any such entity.

8. All payments of moneys from the fund shall be made on the audit and

warrant of the comptroller.

9. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary and in accordance

with section four of this chapter, the comptroller is hereby authorized

at the direction of the director of the division of the budget to

transfer moneys from the general fund to the environmental protection

fund for the purpose of maintaining the solvency of the environmental

protection fund. If, in any fiscal year, moneys in the environmental

protection fund are deemed insufficient by the director of the division

of the budget to meet actual and anticipated disbursements from enacted

appropriations or reappropriations made pursuant to this section, the

comptroller shall at the direction of the director of the division of

the budget, transfer from the general fund to the environmental

protection fund moneys sufficient to meet such disbursements. Such

transfers shall be made only upon certification of need by the director

of the division of the budget, with copies of such certification filed

with the chairperson of the senate finance committee, the chairperson of

the assembly ways and means committee and the state comptroller. The

aggregate amount of all transfers shall not exceed four hundred

forty-seven million one hundred seventy-one thousand dollars.