Section 43-0112. Stormwater management and stream corridor management

1.   Stormwater  management  plans  for  lands  where  development  is
  occurring or may occur in the future. The commission shall adopt,  after
  public  hearing  according to the provisions of the state administrative
  procedure act, rules  and  regulations  for  the  preparation  of  local
  stormwater  management  plans  and  stormwater regulatory programs. Such
  rules and regulations  shall  be  developed  in  consultation  with  the
  department,  the Adirondack park agency and each municipality located in
  whole or in part within the park, and shall be subject  to  approval  by
  the department and Adirondack park agency.
    a.  Within  eighteen  months  of  the effective date of such rules and
  regulations of the commission, each municipality located in whole or  in
  part  within  the Lake George park shall prepare a stormwater management
  plan and a stormwater regulatory control program which  implements  such
  plan  consistent  with  such  rules  and  regulations and subject to the
  approval of the commission.
    b. Stormwater  management  plans  and  their  implementing  stormwater
  control regulatory programs shall be designed:
    (1)  to prevent any increase in stormwater runoff from any development
  in order to reduce flooding, siltation and streambank erosion; and
    (2) to prevent any increase in pollution caused by  stormwater  runoff
  from  development, which would otherwise degrade the quality of water in
  Lake  George  and  its  tributaries  and  render  it  unfit  for   human
  consumption,  interfere  with water-based recreation or adversely affect
  aquatic life.
    c.  In  addition  to  pollution  standards,  the  stormwater   control
  regulatory  program shall incorporate a standard which requires that the
  total annual volume  of  surface  water  runoff  which  flows  from  any
  specific  site  during  and  following development shall not exceed that
  which prevailed prior to development. The methods used to determine  the
  annual  volumes  of  surface  water  runoff  shall  be  developed by the
  commission and  incorporated  in  the  rules  and  regulations  for  the
  preparation  of  the  local  stormwater  management plans and regulatory
  control programs.
    d. Any municipality located in whole or in part within  the  park  may
  enter  into  an  agreement  with  the  commission  for the commission to
  develop the municipality's stormwater management plan. Such an agreement
  must be entered into within ninety days of the  effective  date  of  the
  commission's  rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision
  and, if such  agreement  is  not  made  in  such  time  period  and  the
  municipality  fails  to  meet  the  requirement  of  paragraph a of this
  subdivision, the commission shall be deemed to  have  the  authority  to
  develop such plan.
    2.  Stormwater  management study for sites and areas where development
  has  occurred  prior  to  the  effective  date  of  this  section.   The
  commission,  in  consultation  with  the department, the Adirondack park
  agency and each municipality located in whole  or  in  part  within  the
  park,  and subject to the approval by the department and Adirondack park
  agency, shall prepare a study of the feasibility of reducing the impacts
  of stormwater runoff in areas of the park where development has  already
  occurred.  This  study  shall  assess the impact of stormwater runoff on
  water  quality  from  existing  development,  identify  cost   effective
  measures  to  control  stormwater runoff, and propose funding mechanisms
  for implementation of such measures. The commission shall  complete  the
  study  within  two  years  of  the  effective date of this section. Upon
  completion of the study of the commission, the  study's  recommendations
  shall  be  incorporated by the commission into the stormwater management

  plan and by each municipality into  its  stormwater  regulatory  control
  program, subject to the approval of the commission.
    3.  Implementation.  In  addition  to  existing powers and authorities
  therefor, each municipality located in whole or in part within the  park
  is  hereby  authorized and empowered to adopt and implement a stormwater
  regulatory control  program  consistent  with  the  provisions  of  this
  section.  If  the commission finds that any such municipality has failed
  to adopt  such  program,  to  incorporate  recommendations  pursuant  to
  subdivision  two  of  this  section  or  to  implement such program, the
  commission is hereby authorized and empowered to assume the authority of
  the  municipality  that  has  failed  to  act,  adopt  and  implement  a
  stormwater  regulatory  program  consistent  with the provisions of this
  section for the municipality subject to the commission's finding.
    4.  Nothing  in  this  section  shall  be  construed  to   limit   the
  department's authority to regulate discharges or stormwater.
    5.  The  commission shall, after consultation with the department, the
  department of health, the Adirondack park agency and  each  municipality
  located  in  whole  or  in  part  within  the  park,  further promulgate
  regulations relative to stream corridor management which  shall  include
  standards   for  the  location  of  roads,  stream  channelization,  the
  frequency of stream crossings,  and  timber  harvesting  and  vegetative
  cutting restrictions within designated stream corridors. The regulations
  adopted  pursuant  to  this  section  may  be  stricter than regulations
  promulgated by the department.
    6.  In  cooperation  with  local  lake  associations  and  educational
  institutions,  the  commission  shall  continue  existing  water quality
  monitoring programs to monitor water quality in Lake George to determine
  the effectiveness of control measures, and to identify sources of ground
  and  surface  water  contamination  for  investigation  and  enforcement
  purposes.