Section 15-1527. Permit required for certain wells in Long Island counties

1.  No person or public corporation shall hereafter install or operate
  any new or additional wells in the counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau  or
  Suffolk  to  withdraw  water from underground sources for any purpose or
  purposes whatsoever where the installed pumping capacity of any such new
  well or wells singly or in the aggregate, or the total installed pumping
  capacity of old and new wells on or for use on one property is in excess
  of forty-five gallons a minute without a permit pursuant to this title.
    2. Such persons or  public  corporations  operating  or  proposing  to
  operate  a  well  or  wells  in  excess  of such capacity in any of such
  counties shall be subject to all the provisions of this article relating
  to persons or public corporations, with the same force and effect as  if
  they were supplying or proposing to supply water to the inhabitants of a
  municipal  corporation  or  other civil division of the state. In taking
  action on such an application the department  shall  have  authority  to
  impose such conditions and make such requirements and limitations as may
  be necessary for the protection of the interests of the applicant and of
  the  people  of the state and may issue limited or revocable permits for
  such wells.
    3. All new well permits shall be valid for a period  of  time  not  to
  exceed ten years from the date of issuance. The department shall develop
  a  permit  renewal  application and a time schedule for permit renewals.
  Well  permits  may  be  renewed,  including  any  modifications   deemed
  appropriate  by  the  department,  and  such renewal shall be considered
  valid for a period specified by the department but in any case shall not
  exceed a period of ten years from the date of reissuance or renewal.
    4. All applications for new well permits, all  applications  for  well
  permit  renewals,  and  all  reopened  well  permits shall be evaluated,
  notwithstanding any other  requirements  of  this  title,  according  to
  criteria established by rule or regulation of the department which shall
  include but not be limited to:
    a.  Specific yield of the aquifer segment in which the well is or will
  be screened;
    b. Requested rated capacity of well and anticipated or  actual  amount
  of withdrawal from such well, both seasonally and annually;
    c. Whether the well site or proposed well site is in an over-stressed,
  transitional, or unstressed area;
    d.  The  proposed  use  of  the water; whether the water will be or is
  recharged or discharged to waste; and the likely quality of the water if
  it is or will be recharged;
    e. The amount of withdrawal requested and its relationship  to  volume
  of  recharge  occurring  locally  as  well  as  the  relationship of the
  requested withdrawal to the regional level of withdrawal and recharge;
    f. The degree of consistency between the requested rate of  withdrawal
  and any regional water management plans; and
    g.  If  the  well  is to be used by a water purveyor, either public or
  private, or a water authority, whether such purveyor or authority has an
  active and on-going water conservation program, leak detection  program,
  and metering program.
    In  addition, the department shall vigorously apply subdivision two of
  section 15-1503 of  this  title  in  its  decision-making  process.  The
  department  shall  determine whether the watershed, which in the case of
  Long Island shall mean the land surface  that  represents  the  recharge
  catchment  area  recharging  water  for  each  respective well, has been
  adequately protected. If the well is to be used as a public water supply
  by a water purveyor or water authority, the department shall require  as
  a  permit  condition  that  the  water purveyor or authority prepare and

  submit watershed rules and regulations as described pursuant to  section
  eleven hundred of the public health law.
    5. The department shall develop a system for categorizing the counties
  of  Kings,  Queens,  Nassau  and  Suffolk  into  areas  that  are either
  unstressed, transitional, or over-stressed with respect to  the  quality
  and/or  quantity  of  the  groundwater supply. For those areas which are
  considered to be over-stressed, as determined  by  the  department,  all
  valid  well  permits  within this category shall be reopened in order to
  evaluate and possibly modify, add or delete  any  permit  conditions  or
  requirements.  Special consideration shall be given to permit conditions
  aimed at reducing the levels of withdrawal and consumptive water use  in
  over-stressed  areas. The reopening of the well permits may be phased in
  over a five year period. All reopened well permits which are  deemed  by
  the  department  to  be  acceptable  following review and any subsequent
  changes may be renewed and shall, if renewed, be valid for a  period  of
  time  not  to  exceed  ten years from the date of reissuance or renewal.
  Nothing in this title shall be considered  to  prohibit  the  department
  from revoking a permit following the review required by this title.
    6.  The provisions of this section shall not apply to the installation
  of a fire well to which no pumping  equipment  is  permanently  attached
  when such well is installed by a municipal corporation, fire district or
  duly organized fire company or fire department.
    7.  The provisions of this section shall apply to the use of water for
  agricultural purposes. The department shall, for the purposes of section
  70-0116 of  this  chapter,  make  a  finding  of  an  emergency  when  a
  replacement  well  is  needed  during  the  growing  season  for a crop.
  Pursuant to section 70-0116 of this chapter, the department may issue an
  emergency authorization for  the  construction  and  operation  of  such
  replacement well.