Periconi, LLC Environmental Law Blog

Posted By James J. Periconi, Esq. on December 3, 2006

N.Y. Navigation Law Sec. 172. Definitions Sections 1 – 6a

Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

1. “Administrator” means the chief executive, within the department of audit and control, of the New York environmental protection and spill compensation fund;

2. “Barrel” means forty-two United States gallons, or 159.9 liters, at sixty degrees fahrenheit;

2-a. “Biological additives” means microbiological cultures, enzymes, or nutrient additives that are deliberately introduced into a petroleum discharge for the specific purpose of encouraging biodegradation to mitigate the effects of the discharge.

3. “Claim” means, for purposes of part three of this article, any claim of the fund or any claim by an injured person, who is not responsible for the discharge, seeking compensation for cleanup and removal costs incurred or damages sustained as a result of a petroleum discharge;

3-a. “Burning agents” means additives that, through physical or chemical means, improve the combustibility of the materials to which they are applied.

3-b. “Chemical agents” means generally those elements, compounds or mixtures that coagulate, disperse, dissolve, emulsify, foam, eutralize, precipitate, reduce, solubilize, oxidize, concentrate, congeal, entrap, fix, make the pollutant mass more rigid or viscous, or otherwise facilitate the mitigation of deleterious effects or removal of the pollutant or petroleum from the water.

4. “Cleanup and removal” means the (a) containment or attempted containment of a discharge, (b) removal or attempted removal of a discharge or, (c) taking of reasonable measures to prevent or mitigate damages to the public health, safety, or welfare, including but not limited to, public and private property, shorelines, beaches, surface waters, water columns and bottom sediments, soils and other affected property, including wildlife and other natural resources;

5. “Cleanup and removal costs” means all costs associated with the cleanup and removal of a discharge including relocation costs pursuant to section one hundred seventy-seven-a of this article incurred by the state or its political subdivisions or their agents or any person with approval of the department;

6. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of the department of environmental conservation, unless otherwise indicated;

6-a. “Containment boom” means a floating or stationary device composed of plastic, natural or synthetic materials which can be mechanically extended over water or permanently stationed over water for the purposes of containing floating petroleum, solid objects or other pollutants within or outside a particular area;

Categories: New York Navigation Law, New York State Environmental Law, NY Environmental Statutes, Codes, Regulations, NY Oil Spill Act
Tags: biological additives, environmental protection, enzymes, microbiological cultures, ny navigation law, petroleum discharge