Section 27-1435. New York brownfields advisory board

1.  There  is  hereby  established  within  the  department a New York
  brownfields advisory board. The board shall consist of  fifteen  members
  and  shall  include  the  commissioner,  the commissioner of health, the
  commissioner of economic development, the commissioner of  taxation  and
  finance, and the secretary of state or their designees, and ten at large
  members  appointed  by the governor, two of whom shall be appointed upon
  recommendation of the temporary president of the senate and two of  whom
  shall  be  appointed upon recommendation of the speaker of the assembly,
  one of whom shall be  appointed  upon  recommendation  of  the  minority
  leader   of  the  senate  and  one  of  whom  shall  be  appointed  upon
  recommendation of the minority leader of the assembly. Of the  remaining
  appointed  members,  one  shall  be  a representative of an organization
  associated with the  protection  of  the  environment,  one  shall  have
  experience  with public health, one shall have experience in planning or
  urban renewal, and one shall have experience in real estate development.
  No at large member of the board may appoint a designee to temporarily or
  permanently assume his or her place on the board.
    2. The appointive members shall serve for terms of three  years  each.
  Vacancies  shall be filled in the manner of the original appointment for
  the unexpired terms. Appointed members shall serve without  compensation
  for  their  services  as  members of the board, except that each of them
  shall be allowed the necessary and actual expenses which he or she shall
  incur in the performance of his or her duties under this section.
    3. The commissioner shall serve as chairperson of the board,  and  the
  board shall elect a vice chairperson from among the appointed members to
  preside  in  the  absence of the chairperson. Eight members of the board
  shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of  any  business  of  the
  board.
    4.  None of the members appointed by the governor shall be officers or
  employees of any state department or  agency,  and  each  shall  be,  by
  professional training or experience and attainment, qualified to analyze
  and  interpret  matters  pertaining  to remediation and redevelopment of
  contaminated sites.
    5. The board shall meet no less than twice annually. Special  meetings
  may  be  held  at  the  call  of the chairperson. The board shall keep a
  record of all its proceedings.
    6. The board shall have the following duties:
    a. serve as a working forum  for  the  exchange  of  views,  concerns,
  ideas,   information,   and  recommendations  relating  to  the  state's
  brownfield cleanup program as provided in this title,  and  the  state's
  brownfield  opportunity area program as provided in section nine hundred
  seventy-r of the general municipal law, herein collectively known as the
  state's brownfield programs;
    b. request and receive from  any  state  agency  such  reasonable  and
  pertinent  information  and  data  related  to  the  state's  brownfield
  programs as the board may request;
    c. monitor and review the implementation  of  the  state's  brownfield
  programs,  as  well  as  the  policies  and  objectives  of  the state's
  brownfield programs; and
    d. review and evaluate the appropriate state and industry contribution
  to the state's brownfield programs.
    7. Based on the information received and tasks performed as  described
  in paragraphs a through d of subdivision six of this section, as well as
  such other information that has become available to the board, the board
  shall,  on  or before December first, two thousand nine and on or before
  the first day of  December  of  each  year  thereafter,  report  to  the
  governor and to the legislature, on its assessment of the implementation

  of   the  state's  brownfield  programs,  together  with  its  comments,
  suggestions, and  recommendations  regarding  such  programs,  available
  funding  and  resources, and the need for any additional steps to ensure
  the future availability of funding.
    8.  Staff services, including recording of board proceedings, shall be
  performed by personnel of the department, or such other  departments  or
  agencies as the chairperson deems appropriate or desirable.