§ 24-504.2 Combined sewer overflow and floatables, including medical debris, study.

   a.   The department shall, within eight months of the effective date of this section, complete an analysis of the combined sewer outfall system and its relationship to floatables, including medical debris, discharged through the system, which are deposited on beaches and other shorelines throughout the city. This analysis shall include, but not be limited to, identifying, evaluating and providing:

      1.   The location of each combined sewer regulator and outfall within the city of New York;

      2.   A list identifying priority combined sewer regulators, specifically indicating those which discharge within five hundred feet of designated bathing areas;

      3.   The general composition and quantity of floatables, including medical debris, that are discharged from the combined sewer system, to be compiled from available data;

      4.   Environmental impacts of floatables, including medical debris, to be compiled from available data;

      5.   The long-term solutions to be advanced to reduce the discharge of floatables, including medical debris, from combined sewer systems onto beaches and shorelines throughout the city, and the costs associated with these efforts;

      6.   A quarterly report about the status of this debris, as evidenced by the city-wide floatables study, which shall include any short-term collection and containment methods discovered, which could be implemented in order to reduce the discharge of floatables from the combined sewer system onto beaches and shorelines throughout the city, and the proposed costs associated with these efforts.

   b.   The commissioner shall, within eight months of the effective date of this section, submit to the council a report on the findings of such analysis and any recommendations as to regulations or legislation necessary to implement the recommendations of the analysis.

§ 24-505 Raising of grade for drainage.

Whenever the commissioner of environmental protection shall determine that it is necessary to raise the grade of any street or streets for the proper sewage of the sewer district in which such street or streets, or parts of streets, are situated, he or she shall prepare a plan showing such proposed change of grade, and shall present the same to the board of estimate and notify the community board for the community district in which the land is located, the office of the appropriate borough president, and the council member, senator and member of assembly representing the district in which the land is located. The board of estimate shall refer such plan to the commissioner of transportation for report. Such board may change the grade of such street or streets, or parts of streets, so far as shall be necessary for the proper drainage thereof, in accordance with such plan, in the manner provided by section one hundred ninety-nine of the charter.

(Am. 2022 N.Y. Laws Ch. 790, 12/28/2022, eff. 6/26/2023; Am. 2023 N.Y. Laws Ch. 98, 3/3/2023, eff. 3/3/2023)

§ 24-506 Temporary sewers.

Whenever it shall become necessary to construct a sewer or drain to prevent damage to property or to abate a nuisance and it is impracticable to proceed immediately to the construction of the same in accordance with any plan already adopted, the commissioner of environmental protection, on the approval of the mayor, may construct a temporary sewer or drain in such manner as to avoid such damage or abate such nuisance.

§ 24-507 Private sewers and drains.

   a.   The commissioner of environmental protection may issue permits to persons to construct sewers or drains, or to connect with any sewers or drains built in any street, at their own expense. Such permission shall be granted only upon the agreement, in writing, of the persons applying therefor:

      1.   That they will comply with the provisions of sections 24-521, 3-508 and 3-509 and of subchapter one of chapter one of title nineteen of the code;

      2.   That they will indemnify the city for any damages or costs to which it may be put by reason of injuries resulting from neglect or carelessness in the performance of the work so permitted;

      3.   That they or their successors in interest will make no claim against the city if the work so permitted shall be taken up by the city.

   b.   The commissioner of environmental protection, at any time, may revoke such permit and direct such sewers or drains to be taken up or removed.

Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1993/104.

§ 24-508 Construction of sewers by the owners of private property.

   a.   The owners of private property at their cost and expense and in accordance with the provisions of section two hundred twenty-nine of the charter may construct sewers in the streets of the city by filing with the commissioner of environmental protection:

      1.   Plans and specifications of such sewer;

      2.   A duplicate copy of the contract for such construction, showing the cost thereof; and

      3.   A satisfactory guarantee to such commissioner of payment of the expense of supervision of such construction. Upon his or her approval of such plans, specifications and contract, the commissioner shall issue his or her permit for the construction of the proposed sewer.

   b.   The commissioner of environmental protection thereupon shall file copies of the documents listed in subdivision a with the department of city planning, which shall forward a copy within five days to the community board for the community district in which the property is located, to the appropriate borough board if the plans involve land located in two or more community districts, and to the council member, senator and member of assembly representing the district in which the property is located. Such commissioner shall apportion the cost of construction, according to actual benefit, between the several parcels of property abutting on each side of that part of the street through which the sewer is to be constructed.

   c.   Until title to such sewer vests in the city of New York, as hereinafter provided, the commissioner of environmental protection shall grant permits for connection with such sewer only to those owners or occupants of the property abutting on that part of the street in which such sewer has been laid who shall prove payment to the party or parties who constructed and paid for such sewer of their proportionate part of the cost and expense shall be paid without the addition of any interest charge. At such time as title to any such sewer shall vest in the city, owners or occupants of the property abutting on that part of the street in which such sewer has been laid who have not requested permission to connect with such sewer, and who have not made payment to the party or parties who constructed and paid for such sewer, shall have the right to connect with such sewer without payment of any part of the cost and expense of such sewer.

   d.   Except for the purpose of supervision, maintenance and use by the city in connection with its public sewer system, such sewer shall be deemed the private property of the parties or party who shall have paid for its construction. When the owners of all the property abutting on that part of the street in which any such sewer has been laid shall have paid their several shares of the cost of its construction, or when a period of seven years from the time of issuance of the permit pursuant to subdivision a hereof has elapsed, whichever is earlier, it shall be the property of the city. The city in no event shall be liable for any part of the cost and expense of construction of any such sewer.

   e.   It shall be unlawful for any person to represent to any prospective purchaser of property that a sewer constructed in any street is a city sewer unless such sewer shall have been constructed by the city in accordance with the legally adopted drainage plan of the city and/or accepted as a public sewer in accordance with the provisions of the code.

(Am. 2022 N.Y. Laws Ch. 790, 12/28/2022, eff. 6/26/2023; Am. 2023 N.Y. Laws Ch. 98, 3/3/2023, eff. 3/3/2023)

§ 24-509 Construction of sewers.

   a.   The commissioner of environmental protection shall prescribe the manner of opening sewers or drains and the form, size and material of which the connections therewith shall be composed.

   b.   It shall be unlawful to make a connection with any sewer or drain without the written permit of the commissioner of environmental protection, except that, in conjunction with the issuance of a permit for the construction or alteration of a structure within the curbline, the commissioner of buildings may issue a permit for connection with a sewer or drain. Such connection shall be in the manner prescribed by the commissioner of environmental protection. The commissioner issuing the permit shall require an applicant for such permit to demonstrate to his or her satisfaction that the proposed discharges to the sewer will be in compliance with section 24-523 of this chapter and the regulations promulgated pursuant to such section. For such purpose the commissioner issuing the permit may require the submission of plans, specifications and such other information as he or she may reasonably require.

   c.   When public sewers are made available, the individual on site private sewage disposal system or any other means of sewage disposal or discharge shall be abandoned in a manner prescribed by the commissioner of buildings. The building house sewer shall be connected to the available public sewer within six months of the date of notification that the sewer has been accepted to receive flow. As used in this subdivision the term "individual on site private sewage disposal system" shall mean a system of interconnected structures, units, pipes and devices, including a septic tank and an absorption area, which does not connect to the city sewer system, and which is used to collect, convey, treat and dispose water-flushed or water-carried domestic or commercial sewage on one tax lot.

   d.   Any person who violates subdivision c of this section, or any order issued by or rule promulgated by the commissioner pursuant thereto, shall be liable for a civil penalty in an amount not greater than five thousand dollars for each violation, which may be recovered in a proceeding before the environmental control board. A proceeding to recover any civil penalty authorized pursuant to this section shall be commenced by the service of a notice of violation returnable before the environmental control board, which shall have the power to impose the civil penalties prescribed herein.

Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1996/065.

§ 24-510 Fees for connections.

The fee paid to the commissioner of environmental protection for each permit for the initial connection made with any sewer or drain, either directly or indirectly, and for each plugging or unplugging, of a building house sewer or drain, shall be ninety dollars.