Bill Text: NY S00575 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Relates to biodiversity in planting projects; requires municipalities to follow the 10-20-30 principle for planting projects.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-15 - PRINT NUMBER 575A [S00575 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S00575-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         575--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government -- recom-
          mitted to the Committee on Local Government in accordance with  Senate
          Rule  6,  sec.  8  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation  to  biodiversity
          in planting projects

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 96-b of the general  municipal  law,  as  added  by
     2  chapter 686 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 96-b. Tree conservation.  1. The legislature hereby finds that there
     4  is a direct relationship between the planting of trees, shrubs and asso-
     5  ciated  vegetation  in  sufficient  number  in  populated  areas and the
     6  health, safety, and welfare  of  communities,  and  as  related  to  the
     7  natural,  scenic,  and  aesthetic  values  of trees and the physical and
     8  visual qualities of the environment which municipalities are  authorized
     9  to protect. Trees and such vegetation abate noise, provide welcome shade
    10  to  people, preserve the balance of oxygen in the air by removing carbon
    11  dioxide and fostering air quality, and add color and  verdure  to  human
    12  construction.  They  also stabilize the soil and control water pollution
    13  by preventing soil erosion and flooding, yield advantageous microclimat-
    14  ic effects, and provide a natural habitat for wildlife.  The destructive
    15  and indiscriminate  removal  of  trees  and  related  vegetation  causes
    16  increased municipal costs for proper drainage control, impairs the bene-
    17  fits  of  occupancy  of  existing residential properties and impairs the
    18  stability and value of both improved and unimproved real property in the
    19  area of destruction, and  adversely  affects  the  health,  safety,  and
    20  general  welfare  of  the  inhabitants  of the state. However, when tree
    21  removal is necessary to stop  the  spread  of  invasive  species  it  is

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02127-02-0
        S. 575--A                           2

     1  crucial  that  municipalities  replant  lost trees and vegetation, while
     2  maintaining biodiversity in planting  projects  to  avoid  future  loss.
     3  Biodiversity  ensures resistance against mass susceptibility to invasive
     4  species.
     5    2. In addition to any power or authority of a municipal corporation to
     6  regulate  by planning or zoning laws or regulations or by local laws and
     7  regulations, the local legislative body of any  county,  city,  town  or
     8  village  is hereby empowered to provide for the protection and conserva-
     9  tion of trees and related vegetation.  Such legislative body may require
    10  appropriate conditions applicable to any activity involving the  removal
    11  or  destruction  of  trees  or the substantial alteration of grade level
    12  around trees may  include,  where  appropriate,  requirements  that  the
    13  activity be done as specified in an approved landscape plan and that the
    14  removed  trees  be  replaced  by  the  planting of the same or alternate
    15  species of trees, and may provide,  in  connection  therewith,  required
    16  plantings  for  screening purposes. Such regulations, special conditions
    17  and restrictions, adopted in the exercise of the police power, shall  be
    18  reasonable and appropriate to the purpose.  The municipality may require
    19  the  posting  of  a  performance  bond  to  assure  compliance with this
    20  section. All charges and expenses incurred under this section by a  town
    21  shall  be  a  charge  upon the taxable property of that part of the town
    22  outside any incorporated village.
    23    3. When a municipality, parks department, highway department, or other
    24  local entity undertakes a tree planting  project  in  public  locations,
    25  they  shall  select  and  plant  biologically diverse types of trees. To
    26  satisfy sufficient  biodiversity,  the  municipality  shall  follow  the
    27  10-20-30  principle  when  the  municipality  is  planting  new trees or
    28  replanting in an area. The 10-20-30 principle states that a  tree  popu-
    29  lation shall include no more than ten percent of any one species, twenty
    30  percent  of  any  one  genus,  or thirty percent of any one family. This
    31  percentage shall be measured by the tree population as a whole,  not  by
    32  any one planting project solely.
    33    §  2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2023 or on the two hundred
    34  seventieth day after it shall have become a law, whichever is later.