Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1988/026.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "New York city community right-to-know law."
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1988/026.
For the purpose of this chapter the following terms shall mean:
(a) "chemical name": the scientific designation of a chemical in accordance with the nomenclature system developed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry or the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) rules of nomenclature.
(b) "citywide facility inventory database": a compendium of information filed by responsible parties with the department in accordance with this chapter regarding the location of hazardous substances.
(c) "commissioner": the commissioner of the department of environmental protection.
(d) "department": the department of environmental protection.
(e) "disposal": the placing of any hazardous substance into any land or water so that such hazardous substances or any constituent thereof may be released into the environment.
(f) "emergency response agencies": the departments of fire, police, environmental protection, health, transportation and sanitation, and the division of emergency medical services of the health and hospitals corporation.
(g) "emergency response personnel": any member of the departments of fire, police, environmental protection, health, transportation and sanitation, the division of emergency services of health and hospitals corporation and any other government agency participating in response measures undertaken in connection with a fire, or a spill, or release or threatened release of a hazardous substance into the environment. For purposes of this chapter, the term "response measures" shall include actions taken by a city agency within the meaning of subdivision (f) of section 24-603.
(h) "extremely hazardous substance": a substance on a list of extremely hazardous substances promulgated pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 11002(a).
(i) "facility": all buildings, equipment, structures, and other stationary items that are located on a single site or on contiguous or adjacent sites and that are owned, leased or operated by the same person, or by any person which controls, or is controlled by or under common control with, such person, including any building, structure, installation or area involved in the processing, storage, handling, treatment, placement, disposal or use of any hazardous substance.
(j) "facility inventory form": a standard written form, developed by the department for completion by a responsible party at each privately or publicly owned facility in the city of New York.
(k) "hazardous substance": any chemical which is a physical hazard or a health hazard and which is listed on the hazardous substance list or special health hazard list. For purposes of this chapter, the term "hazardous substance" shall not include the following: (1) any food, food additive, color additive, drug, or cosmetic regulated by the federal food and drug administration; (2) any substance present as a solid in any manufactured item to the extent exposure to the substance does not occur under normal conditions of use; (3) any substance to the extent it is used for personal, family, or household purposes, or is present in the same form and concentration as a product packaged for distribution and use by the general public; (4) any substance to the extent it is used in routine agricultural operations or is a fertilizer held for sale by a retailer to the ultimate consumer; (5) any hazardous waste as such term is defined by the solid waste disposal act, as amended by the resource conservation and recovery act of nineteen hundred seventy-six, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 6901, et seq.); (6) tobacco or tobacco products; (7) wood or wood products; (8) articles, which for purposes of this subdivision shall mean manufactured items which (i) are formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture; (ii) which have an end use function or functions dependent in whole or in part upon their shape or design during end use; and (iii) which do not release, or otherwise result in exposure to, a hazardous substance, under normal conditions of use; (9) food, drugs, cosmetics, or alcoholic beverages in a retail establishment which are packaged for sale to consumers; (10) foods, drugs, or cosmetics intended for personal consumption by employees while in the workplace; (11) any consumer product or hazardous substance, as those terms are defined in the consumer product safety act (15 U.S.C. § 2051, et seq.) and federal hazardous substances act (15 U.S.C. § 1261, et seq.) respectively, where the employer can demonstrate it is used in the workplace in the same manner as normal consumer use, and which use results in a duration and frequency of exposure which is not greater than exposures experienced by consumers; or (12) any drug, as that term is defined in the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act (21 U.S.C. § 301, et seq.), when it is in solid, final form for direct administration to a patient.
(l) "hazardous substance list": a list of hazardous substances which the commissioner shall by regulation establish in accordance with section 24-703 of this chapter. The commissioner shall at the minimum include on the original list, those hazardous substances contained on the following existing list of dangerous substances: the New Jersey Right to Know, Hazardous Substance List developed pursuant to the Worker and Community Right to Know Act (New Jersey Administrative Code, stat. 34:5A-1, et seq.) as in effect in December of nineteen hundred eighty-seven.
(m) "health hazard": a chemical for which there is statistically significant evidence based on at least one study conducted in accordance with established scientific principles that acute or chronic health effects may occur in exposed persons. The term "health hazard" includes chemicals which are carcinogens, toxic or highly toxic agents, reproductive toxins, irritants, corrosives, sensitizers, hepatotoxins, nephrotoxins, neurotoxins, agents which act on the hematopoietic system, and agents which damage the lungs, skin, eyes, or mucous membranes.
(n) "material safety data sheet" (MSDS): written or printed material concerning a hazardous substance which is identical in form and content to the data sheet described at 29 CFR part 1910.1200 and required under subdivision (a) of section three hundred eleven of the emergency planning and community right-to-know act of nineteen hundred eighty-six (42 U.S.C. § 11001, et seq.).
(o) "mixture": a combination of two or more substances not involving a chemical reaction.
(p) "person": any individual, trust, firm, partnership, corporation, joint stock company, association, joint venture or government entity.
(q) "physical hazard": a chemical for which there is scientifically valid evidence that it is a combustible liquid, a compressed gas, explosive, flammable, an organic peroxide, an oxidizer, pyrophoric, unstable (reactive) or water-reactive.
(r) "regulated toxic substance": a substance on a list of regulated toxic substances promulgated pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r).
(s) "responsible party": an owner, operator, manager, or corporate officer of the person who owns, leases or operates a facility, provided that if such facility is leased, the responsible party shall be the lessee of the facility or his or her representative.
(t) "risk management plan": a plan filed by a responsible party with the commissioner pursuant to section 24-718 of this chapter.
(u) "special health hazard list": a list of hazardous substances that the commissioner may develop through regulation which would consist of substances that have been proven to be carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic, as established by at least one study conducted in accordance with established scientific principles, and thereby pose a special hazard to health and safety.
(v) "treatment": any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous substance so as to neutralize such substance or so as to render such substance nonhazardous, safe to transport, amendable to recovery, amendable to storage, or reduced in volume. Such term includes any activity or processing designed to change the physical form or chemical composition of a hazardous substance so as to render it nonhazardous.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1988/026 and L.L. 1993/092.
The commissioner by regulation shall develop a list of hazardous substances, complying with the requirements of section 24-702(j) of this chapter, within six months from enactment of this section provided that if the commissioner determines that any substance on the required base list, as established by section 24-702(j) of this chapter, should not be placed on the final promulgated list, then the commissioner shall submit a written statement to the council indicating the reason why an amendment is necessary, at least sixty days before the date the list is to take effect. The council may within thirty days following receipt of the commissioner's statement requesting an amendment either: (i) approve or disapprove such amendment or (ii) determine that an additional ten days is needed to study such amendment by the adoption of an appropriate resolution. Upon approval by the council, such amendment shall take effect immediately. If the council disapproves such amendment, the commissioner shall not be precluded from resubmitting such amendment to the council at a later date. If the council does not approve or disapprove such amendment within such thirty day period, such amendment shall take effect on the thirty-first day after submission to the council unless the council had determined by resolution that an additional ten days is needed to study such amendment, in which case, the amendment shall take effect on the forty-first day after such submission to the council unless the council has approved or disapproved such amendment prior to such forty-first day. Except for the substances contained on the special health hazard list developed pursuant to the requirements of section 24-704 of this chapter, any substance contained on the hazardous substance list shall be reported to the commissioner, if such hazardous substance has been present at a facility in an amount which exceeds five hundred pounds. For the reporting period ending on March first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, any mixture present in a facility in an amount which exceeds five hundred pounds, shall be reported if it contains in a concentration of one percent or more any hazardous substance listed on the New Jersey Special Health Hazards List, a subcategory of the New Jersey Right-to-Know Hazardous Substance List (New Jersey Administrative Code, stat. 34:5A-1, et seq.) as in effect in December, nineteen hundred eighty-seven. For the reporting period ending March first, nineteen hundred ninety, any mixture present in a facility shall be reported in an amount which exceeds five hundred pounds if it contains in a concentration of one tenth of one percent or more of any such hazardous substance. For the reporting period ending on March first, nineteen hundred ninety-one, the commissioner shall by regulation establish a threshold reporting quantity for each hazardous substance and hazardous substances in mixture that are included on the New Jersey Special Health Hazards List shall be reported in the same concentration as required in the previous year. If the commissioner fails to set a specific threshold reporting quantity by March first, nineteen hundred ninety-one, then each of the hazardous substances without a specific threshold reporting quantity shall be reported to the commissioner if ten or more pounds are present at a facility.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1988/026.
(a) The commissioner may develop by regulation a special health hazard list to consist of substances otherwise included on the hazardous substances list but which, because of their proven carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or teratogenicity, pose a special hazard to health and safety. For those substances contained on this list, any amount stored or existing at a facility shall be reported to the commissioner.
(b) The commissioner shall be authorized to include within the regulations specific requirements for the special health hazards list, in addition to those established in section 24-705 of this chapter, for the reporting, handling and labeling of these substances, as he or she deems necessary.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1988/026.
(a) The commissioner by regulation shall develop a facility inventory form within six months of enactment of this chapter. This form shall, at a minimum require the following information:
(1) the name and business address of the owner and operator of the facility, and if the facility is owned or operated by a legal entity, the name and business address of an appropriate executive officer;
(2) the name and address of the facility;
(3) the telephone number of the facility and its owner or operator;
(4) the names, titles, and daytime and nighttime telephone numbers of at least two persons designated as emergency contacts for the facility;
(5) the chemical name or the common name of each hazardous substance present at the facility as provided on the material safety data sheet and the CAS identification number for each hazardous substance;
(6) an estimate, in ranges of the maximum amount and average daily amount, of the number of days located at the facility, and the specific location of each hazardous substance present at the facility at any time during the preceding calendar year, and, for each such specific location, the applicable special flood hazard area zone, as established by section G102.2 of appendix G of the New York city building code, if any, and the applicable New York city office of emergency management coastal storm and hurricane evacuation zone, if any;
(7) a brief description of the manner of storage of each hazardous substance present at the facility, a certification that such storage is in compliance with department rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter and all other applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations, and a description of how such storage takes into account potential flooding and other extreme weather events; and
(8) an indication of whether the responsible party elects to withhold location information of a specific hazardous substance from disclosure to the public pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section.
(b) A person submitting information for a facility pursuant to this chapter may request the commissioner to withhold from disclosure to the public the location of any specific hazardous substance required to be reported on a facility inventory form.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1988/026.
(a) A responsible party of a facility shall file a completed facility inventory form for such facility with the department for each substance on the hazardous substance list or the special health hazard list present within a facility that has been present in the preceding calendar year in a quantity which exceeds the threshold reporting quantity established under section 24-703 of this chapter, on or before March first of each year, beginning in nineteen hundred eighty-nine. A responsible party of a facility shall also be required to file with the department a facility inventory update, on a form approved by the department through regulation, if a previously unreported hazardous substance is added at a facility or if an already reported quantity of a hazardous substance increases by twenty-five percent or more, within thirty days of the occurrence of such event.
(b) A responsible party of a facility shall also be required to file a completed material safety data sheet for each hazardous substance at the facility with the department and with the fire department on or before March first of each year, beginning in nineteen hundred eighty-nine.
(c) A responsible party shall make copies of all information filed with the department pursuant to this section available at the facility to emergency response personnel undertaking response measures at such facility.
(d) On or before December thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-three, the commissioner shall by rule establish a schedule of fees that shall be paid upon the filing of the facility inventory form required by this chapter. Such fees shall be based on the amount of hazardous substances present, the number of different hazardous substances present and the type of hazardous substances present, including the presence or absence of substances classified as extremely hazardous in rules and regulations promulgated by The United States environmental protection agency pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 11001, et seq.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1988/026 and L.L. 1993/054.
(a) The commissioner, on or before July first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight, shall develop and publish in the City Record plans for a comprehensive notification program for all facilities as described in this chapter.
(b) The commissioner shall produce a citywide facility inventory database, on or before September first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine.
(c) The commissioner shall maintain and update, the citywide facility inventory database, and shall, on an annual basis produce the data from such database in printed form.
(d) For those substances which have been exempt from reporting pursuant to section 24-708(c), the commissioner shall acquire from the fire department, data regarding the issuance of permits or licenses for the manufacture, storage or transporting of fossil fuels, petroleum products, and combustible or flammable substances so that these locations can be included in the citywide facility inventory database.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1988/026 and L.L. 1993/092.
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