Bill Text: NY S08703 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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

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Bill Title: Requires the owner or operator of a vessel to establish and maintain with the department evidence of financial responsibility sufficient to meet the amount of liability.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-06 - SUBSTITUTED BY A9213A [S08703 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S08703-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8703

                    IN SENATE

                                      March 1, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation

        AN ACT to amend the navigation law, in relation to  financial  responsi-
          bility for the liability of a major facility or vessel

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

     1    Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section 181 of the  navi-
     2  gation  law,  as amended by chapter 584 of the laws of 1992 and subpara-
     3  graphs (ii) and (iii) as amended by chapter 585 of the laws of 1992  and
     4  as further amended by section 104 of part A of chapter 62 of the laws of
     5  2011, is amended and a new paragraph (f) is added to read as follows:
     6    (e)  (i)  The  owner or operator of a major facility or a vessel shall
     7  establish and maintain with the department evidence of financial respon-
     8  sibility sufficient to meet the amount of liability established pursuant
     9  to paragraph (a) of this subdivision. A person may not cause  or  permit
    10  the  operation  of  a  major  facility  or vessel in the state until the
    11  person has furnished to the department, and the department has  approved
    12  such  evidence.  The  owner or operator of any vessel which demonstrates
    13  financial responsibility pursuant to the requirements of the Federal Oil
    14  Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), shall be deemed to  have
    15  demonstrated financial responsibility in accordance with this paragraph.
    16    (ii)  [The  commissioner  in  consultation  with the superintendent of
    17  financial services may promulgate regulations  requiring  the  owner  or
    18  operator  of a major facility other than a vessel to establish and main-
    19  tain evidence of financial responsibility in an  amount  not  to  exceed
    20  twenty-five  dollars,  per  incident, for each barrel of total petroleum
    21  storage capacity at the facility, subject to a maximum  of  one  million
    22  dollars  per  incident  per  facility  in an aggregate not to exceed two
    23  million dollars per facility per year; provided, however,  that  if  the
    24  owner  or  operator  establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner
    25  that a lesser amount will be sufficient to protect the  environment  and
    26  public  health,  safety  and  welfare,  the  commissioner  shall  accept
    27  evidence of financial responsibility in such lesser amount. In determin-
    28  ing the sufficiency of the amount of financial  responsibility  required

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14222-01-4
        S. 8703                             2

     1  under this section, the commissioner and the superintendent of financial
     2  services  shall take into consideration facility size, storage capacity,
     3  throughput, proximity to environmentally sensitive areas, type of petro-
     4  leum handled, and other factors relevant to the risks posed by the class
     5  or  category  of facility, as well as the availability and affordability
     6  of pollution liability insurance. Any regulations  promulgated  pursuant
     7  to  this  subparagraph  shall  not  take effect until forty-eight months
     8  after the effective date of this section.
     9    (iii)] Financial responsibility under this  paragraph  may  be  estab-
    10  lished  by  any one or a combination of the following methods acceptable
    11  to the commissioner in consultation with the superintendent of financial
    12  services: evidence of insurance,  surety  bonds,  guarantee,  letter  of
    13  credit,  qualification as a self-insurer, or other evidence of financial
    14  responsibility, including certifications which qualify under the Federal
    15  Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.).
    16    [(iv)] (iii) The liability of a third-party insurer providing proof of
    17  financial responsibility on behalf of a person required to establish and
    18  maintain evidence of financial  responsibility  under  this  section  is
    19  limited to the type of risk assumed and the amount of coverage specified
    20  in  the  proof  of financial responsibility furnished to and approved by
    21  the department. For the purposes of this section, the term  "third-party
    22  insurer" means a third-party insurer, surety, guarantor, person furnish-
    23  ing  a  letter  of  credit,  or other group or person providing proof of
    24  financial responsibility on  behalf  of  another  person;  it  does  not
    25  include  the  person required to establish and maintain evidence of such
    26  financial responsibility.
    27    (f) (i) Acceptance of proof of financial responsibility shall expire:
    28    (1) one year from its issuance for self-insurance;
    29    (2) on the effective date of a change in the surety  bond,  guarantee,
    30  insurance  agreement,  letter  of  credit,  or  other proof of financial
    31  responsibility; or
    32    (3) on the expiration or cancellation of the surety  bond,  guarantee,
    33  insurance  agreement,  letter  of  credit,  or  other proof of financial
    34  responsibility.
    35    (ii) The person whose proof of financial responsibility is accepted by
    36  the department under this section shall notify the department  at  least
    37  thirty days before the effective date of a change, expiration or cancel-
    38  lation  in  the  surety  bond, guarantee, insurance agreement, letter of
    39  credit, or other proof  of  financial  responsibility.  Application  for
    40  renewal  of  acceptance  of proof of financial responsibility under this
    41  section must be filed at least thirty days before the  date  of  expira-
    42  tion.
    43    (iii)  The department, after notice and hearing, may revoke acceptance
    44  of proof of financial responsibility if it determines that:
    45    (1) acceptance was procured by fraud or misrepresentation; or
    46    (2) a change of circumstance has occurred other than a  change  speci-
    47  fied in clauses one through three of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph,
    48  which would have warranted denial of the application.
    49    (iv) Upon acceptance and approval of proof of financial responsibility
    50  under  this  section,  the  department  shall  issue  to the applicant a
    51  certificate stating that the state's financial  responsibility  require-
    52  ments  have been satisfied. The certificate must include the name of the
    53  major facility, vessel, or pipeline for which it is issued and the expi-
    54  ration date of the certificate.
    55    § 2. The navigation law is amended by adding a new  section  181-f  to
    56  read as follows:
        S. 8703                             3

     1    §  181-f.  Railroad  financial  preparedness.  1. The department shall
     2  annually require a railroad company that transports  crude  oil  in  the
     3  state  to  submit information relating to the railroad company's ability
     4  to pay in the event of a discharge involving the transport of crude oil.
     5  The  information submitted to the department must include a statement of
     6  whether the railroad has the ability to  pay  for  discharges  resulting
     7  from  a  reasonable worst case discharge as determined by the department
     8  pursuant to rules and regulations. For the purposes of this section:
     9    a. "Crude oil" shall mean any naturally occurring hydrocarbons  coming
    10  from  the  earth  that are liquid at twenty-five degrees Celsius and one
    11  atmosphere of pressure including, but not limited to, crude oil, bitumen
    12  and diluted bitumen, synthetic crude oil, and natural gas  well  conden-
    13  sate.
    14    b.  "Railroad"  shall have the same meaning as provided in subdivision
    15  twenty-four of section two of the transportation law.
    16    c. "Railroad company" shall have  the  same  meaning  as  provided  in
    17  subdivision twenty-five of section two of the transportation law.
    18    d. "Street railroad" shall have the same meaning as provided in subdi-
    19  vision twenty-nine of section two of the transportation law.
    20    2.  The department shall make such information available on its public
    21  website not later than February first of each  year.  In  addition,  the
    22  department  shall also provide recommendations to the legislature on how
    23  to address any financial deficiencies identified by railroad companies.
    24    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    25  it shall have become a law.