(a) The purpose of this section is to protect public health and safety and the environment by minimizing the emission of dust into the air of the city.
(b) No person shall cause or permit any material that may generate dust to be transported or stored without taking such precautions as may be ordered by the commissioner or as established by the rules of the department to prevent dust from becoming air-borne.
(c) No person shall cause or permit a building or its appurtenances or a road to be constructed, altered or repaired without taking such precautions as may be ordered by the commissioner or as established by the rules of the department to prevent dust from becoming air-borne.
(d) No person shall cause or permit any use, as defined by section 12-10 of the zoning resolution of the city of New York, to be implemented or maintained without taking reasonable precautions as established by the rules of the department, including, but not limited to, planting or covering, to prevent dust from becoming air-borne.
(e) No person shall cause or permit the spraying of any insulating material, not otherwise prohibited by this code, in or upon any building or other structure during its construction, alteration or repair, unless he or she complies with the rules of the department regarding precautions for the spraying of insulating material.
(f) No person shall cause or permit a building or other structure to be demolished, unless he or she complies with the following precautions:
(1) Demolition by toppling of walls shall not occur except when approved by the commissioner pursuant to section 24-109 of this code, or when conducted by or on behalf of a city agency pursuant to chapter one of title seventeen of the code or pursuant to an order issued by the department of buildings under article two hundred fifteen of chapter two of title twenty-eight of the code.
(2) Before the demolition of any section of wall, floor, roof, or other structure, necessary wetting procedures to lay the dust or other precautions to prevent dust from becoming air-borne, as set forth in this section and the rules of the department, shall be employed. All debris shall be thoroughly wetted before loading and while dumping into trucks, other vehicles or containers. In all cases and at all stages of demolition, wetting procedures shall be adequate to lay the dust. Trucks shall be adequately covered or enclosed to prevent dust dispersion while in transit to point of disposal.
(3) No structural members shall be dropped or thrown from any floor but shall be carefully lowered to ground level.
(4) Debris shall not be dropped or thrown outside the exterior walls of the building from any floor to any floor below. In buildings twelve stories or greater in height any debris transported outside the exterior walls of the building shall be transported from the upper floors via enclosed, dust-tight chutes or via buckets or other containers. Where chutes or shaftways are used either inside or outside the building, a water soaking spray shall be employed to saturate the debris before it reaches the point of discharge from the chute or shaftway. Where buckets or other containers are used, the debris shall be adequately wetted to preclude dust dispersion when buckets or other containers are dumped.
(5) (i) In the event particulate matter becomes airborne for a continuous period of fifteen minutes, despite the application of the procedures set forth in this section and the rules of the department, or because freezing temperatures preclude the use of water for laying the demolition dust, the work of demolition shall cease at once until other adequate measures can be taken and procedures shall be evaluated by the commissioner before initiation thereof, provided, however, that if the demolition work is being conducted by or on behalf of a city agency pursuant to chapter one of title seventeen of the code or pursuant to an order issued by the department of buildings under article two hundred fifteen of chapter two of title twenty-eight of the code and freezing temperatures preclude the use of water, then the demolition work may continue as long as necessary to complete the demolition process.
(ii) An abatement order may be issued by the commissioner, or his or her authorized representative, at any time when it is found that work is being performed in violation of the provisions of this section, or any rules promulgated thereunder, and such work poses a threat to human health and safety. Upon issuance of an abatement order, the activity giving rise to the violation shall immediately stop unless otherwise specified. Such order may be given orally or in writing to the owner, lessee or occupant of the property involved, or to the agent of any of them, or to the person or persons performing the work. Except as provided in subparagraph (iii), a verbal order shall be followed promptly by a written order and shall include the reason for the issuance of an abatement order. The order may require all such work to be done as may be necessary, in the opinion of the commissioner, to remove the danger therefrom.
(iii) An abatement order issued pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph may be appealed in accordance with the rules of the department, and the commissioner shall provide notice and an opportunity to be heard within fourteen days of the filing of such appeal. An abatement order shall be lifted if, upon appeal, the commissioner determines that the issuance of such order was not proper, or upon the submission of proof satisfactory to the commissioner that the requirements of such order have been satisfied. In the case of a verbal abatement order, if the commissioner determines that the condition that gave rise to the order has been immediately corrected, such order shall be lifted at once and shall not be followed by a written order.
(Am. L.L. 2015/038, 5/6/2015, eff. 5/6/2016)