N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 58-0503 – Programs, plans and projects
§ 58-0503. Programs, plans and projects.
Terms Used In N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 58-0503
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Cost: means the expense of an approved project, which shall include but not be limited to appraisal, surveying, planning, engineering and architectural services, plans and specifications, consultant and legal services, site preparation, demolition, construction and other direct expenses incident to such project. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 58-0101
- Department: shall mean the department of environmental conservation. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 58-0101
- Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
- Municipality: means a local public authority or public benefit corporation, a county, city, town, village, school district, supervisory district, district corporation, improvement district within a county, city, town or village, or Indian nation or tribe recognized by the state or the United States with a reservation wholly or partly within the boundaries of New York state, or any combination thereof. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 58-0101
- Open space land conservation project: means purchase of fee title or conservation easements for the purpose of protecting lands or waters and/or providing recreational opportunities for the public that (i) possess ecological, habitat, recreational or scenic values; (ii) protect the quality of a drinking water supply; (iii) provide flood control or flood mitigation values; (iv) constitute a floodplain; (v) provide or have the potential to provide important habitat connectivity; (vi) provide open space for the use and enjoyment of the public; or (vii) provide community gardens in urban areas. See N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law 58-0101
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
1. Eligible open space working lands conservation and recreation projects include, but are not limited to:
a. costs associated with open space land conservation projects;
b. costs associated with purchasing conservation easements to protect farmland pursuant to Article 25 of the agriculture and markets law; and
c. costs associated with recreational infrastructure projects.
2. The department or the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation are authorized to undertake open space land conservation projects, in cooperation with willing sellers pursuant to subdivision one of this section and may enter into an agreement for purchase of real property or conservation easements on real property by a municipality or a not-for-profit corporation. Any such agreement shall contain such provisions as shall be necessary to ensure that the purchase is consistent with, and in furtherance of, this title and shall be subject to the approval of the comptroller and, as to form, the attorney general. In undertaking such projects, such commissioners shall consider the state land acquisition plan prepared pursuant to section 49-0207 of this chapter. Further, the department or the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation are authorized to provide state assistance payments to municipalities for eligible projects consistent with paragraphs a and c of subdivision one of this section.
3. The cost of an open space land conservation project shall include the cost of preparing a management plan for the preservation and beneficial public enjoyment of the land acquired pursuant to this section except where such a management plan already exists for the acquired land.
4. The department and the department of agriculture and markets are authorized to provide, pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of this section, farmland preservation implementation grants to county agricultural and farmland protection boards pursuant to Article 25 of the agriculture and markets law, or to municipalities, soil and water conservation districts or not-for-profit corporations for implementation of projects.
5. The department is authorized to expend moneys to purchase equipment, devices, and other necessary materials and to acquire fee title or conservation easements in lands for monitoring, restoration, recovery, or reintroduction projects for species listed as endangered or threatened or listed as a species of special concern pursuant to section 11-0535 of this chapter.
6. The department or the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation are authorized to expend moneys for the planning, design, and construction of projects to develop and improve parks, campgrounds, nature centers, fish hatcheries, and other recreational facilities.
7. The commissioner and a not-for-profit corporation may enter into a contract for the undertaking by the not-for-profit corporation of an open space land acquisition project.
8. Real property acquired, developed, improved, restored or rehabilitated by or through a municipality pursuant to paragraph a of subdivision one of this section or undertaken by or on behalf of a municipality with funds made available pursuant to this title shall not be sold, leased, exchanged, donated or otherwise disposed of or used for other than public park purposes without the express authority of an act of the legislature, which shall provide for the substitution of other lands of equal environmental value and fair market value and reasonably equivalent usefulness and location to those to be discontinued, sold or disposed of, and such other requirements as shall be approved by the commissioner.
9. Provided that for the purposes of selecting projects for funding under paragraphs a and b of subdivision one of this section, the relevant agencies shall develop eligibility guidelines and post information on the department's website in the environmental notice bulletin providing for a thirty day public comment period and upon adoption post such eligibility guidelines on the relevant agency's website.