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

New York Senate Bill 575 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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-Introduced.html

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           575
                               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
        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
    22  crucial  that  municipalities  replant  lost trees and vegetation, while
    23  maintaining biodiversity in planting  projects  to  avoid  future  loss.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02127-01-9

        S. 575                              2
     1  Biodiversity  ensures resistance against mass susceptibility to invasive
     2  species.
     3    2. In addition to any power or authority of a municipal corporation to
     4  regulate  by planning or zoning laws or regulations or by local laws and
     5  regulations, the local legislative body of any  county,  city,  town  or
     6  village  is hereby empowered to provide for the protection and conserva-
     7  tion of trees and related vegetation.  Such legislative body may require
     8  appropriate conditions applicable to any activity involving the  removal
     9  or  destruction  of  trees  or the substantial alteration of grade level
    10  around trees may  include,  where  appropriate,  requirements  that  the
    11  activity be done as specified in an approved landscape plan and that the
    12  removed  trees  be  replaced  by  the  planting of the same or alternate
    13  species of trees, and may provide,  in  connection  therewith,  required
    14  plantings  for  screening purposes. Such regulations, special conditions
    15  and restrictions, adopted in the exercise of the police power, shall  be
    16  reasonable and appropriate to the purpose.  The municipality may require
    17  the  posting  of  a  performance  bond  to  assure  compliance with this
    18  section. All charges and expenses incurred under this section by a  town
    19  shall  be  a  charge  upon the taxable property of that part of the town
    20  outside any incorporated village.
    21    3. When a municipality, parks department, highway department, or other
    22  local entity undertakes a tree planting  project  in  public  locations,
    23  they  shall  select  and  plant  biologically diverse types of trees. To
    24  satisfy sufficient  biodiversity,  the  municipality  shall  follow  the
    25  10-20-30  principle  when  the  municipality  is  planting  new trees or
    26  replanting in an area. The 10-20-30 principle states that a  tree  popu-
    27  lation shall include no more than ten percent of any one species, twenty
    28  percent  of  any  one  genus,  or thirty percent of any one family. This
    29  percentage shall be measured by the tree population as a whole,  not  by
    30  any one planting project solely.
    31    §  2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022 or on the two hundred
    32  seventieth day after it shall have become a law, whichever is later.