Section 30. Variations

1.  If  there  shall be practical difficulties or
  unnecessary hardship in carrying out  the  provisions  of  this  chapter
  relating to safety or health standards, or an order requiring compliance
  with such provisions of this chapter, or in carrying out an order of the
  commissioner  requiring  compliance with the state building construction
  code, the commissioner may make a variation from  such  requirements  or
  order if the spirit of the provision, rule or code shall be observed and
  public  safety  secured.  Applications for permanent variations shall be
  accompanied by a non-refundable  fee  of  three  hundred  fifty  dollars
  payable to the commissioner.
    2. Any person affected by such provision, rule, code, or order, or his
  agent,  may  petition the commissioner, in accordance with such rules as
  he shall prescribe, for such variation stating the grounds therefor.  If
  a  petition  relates  to  an  order  requiring compliance with the state
  building construction code, the commissioner shall give prompt notice of
  the filing of such petition to the state building code council.  If,  in
  the  opinion  of  the  council,  it  is  necessary  or desirable that it
  intervene in  any  proceeding  in  connection  therewith,  it  shall  be
  permitted  to  do  so as a matter of right. The commissioner shall fix a
  day for a hearing on such  petition  and  give  notice  thereof  to  the
  petitioner  and  to  such  other  persons  as  he  may determine. If the
  commissioner shall permit a variation he may impose such  conditions  as
  he  may  deem  necessary  or  advisable  to  assure  public  safety. The
  variation shall apply to the petitioner and shall recite the  conditions
  under which the variation shall be permitted.
    3.  Except  for variations concerning provisions, rules, codes, orders
  or any other matter affecting asbestos projects  or  safety  and  health
  standards  for  public  employees, including but not limited to projects
  covered by article thirty and section twenty-seven-a and subdivision ten
  of section two hundred forty-one of this chapter;
    a. any person who  petitions  the  commissioner  for  a  variation  as
  provided by this section shall:
    (1)  post  a  copy  of  the petition at the site to be affected by the
  variation in a location that is reasonably accessible to the public  and
  the employees at the site;
    (2)   provide   a   listing,   in  the  petition,  of  the  designated
  representatives (if any) of all  employee  organizations  recognized  or
  certified  pursuant  to  the  national  labor  relations  act (29 U.S.C.
  sections 151 et. seq.), article fourteen of the  civil  service  law  or
  article  twenty  of  this  chapter  to  represent  employees at the site
  affected by the variation; such listing  shall  provide  the  names  and
  addresses of all such representatives;
    (3)  mail  by  certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy of the
  petition  to  the  designated  representatives  listed  as  required  by
  subparagraph  two  of  this  paragraph  within three days of sending the
  petition to the commissioner; and
    (4) affirm in the petition  that  the  petition  has  been  posted  as
  required by subparagraph one of this paragraph or that it will be posted
  within one week of sending the petition to the commissioner and that the
  petitioner  has  mailed  by  certified mail, return receipt requested, a
  copy of the petition to all designated representatives, as  required  by
  subparagraph three of this paragraph.
    b.  The  commissioner shall send a copy of his or her determination on
  the petition to the petitioner and any designated representatives listed
  on the petition pursuant to subparagraph two  of  paragraph  a  of  this
  subdivision.
    4.  Whenever  a  petition  is  filed  for  a  variation,  except for a
  variation relating to an  order  requiring  compliance  with  the  state

  building  construction  code, or upon the commissioner's own motion, the
  commissioner may make a general  variation  which  shall  apply  to  all
  buildings,   installations,   or   conditions   where   the   facts  are
  substantially the same as those set forth in the resolution, by whomever
  the same may be owned, possessed or controlled and wherever the same may
  be  or  will  thereafter  be found within the state of New York with the
  same force and effect as if a variation were duly granted upon  separate
  petition  and  for  the  use and benefit of every person affected by the
  statutory provision or code rule from which the said  general  variation
  was made.
    5.  Any variation may be amended or terminated by the commissioner for
  any of the following reasons:
    a. The variation or any  of  its  conditions  was  or  is  not  wholly
  complied with;
    b. The variation does not continue to secure public safety;
    c.  The  difficulties or hardship prevailing at the time of the making
  of the variation have ceased to exist;
    d. The labor law provision or rule from which the variation  was  made
  has  been amended, or a new rule governing the subject has been adopted;
  or
    e. A finding by the commissioner that other substantial grounds  exist
  warranting the amendment or termination of the variation.
    6.  The  commissioner  may  publish  such  variations  as  he may deem
  necessary. A properly indexed record of all variations shall be kept  in
  the office of the department and open to public inspection.
    7.  Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
  as  of the effective date of sections two hundred ninety-one through two
  hundred ninety-four of  chapter  one  hundred  ninety  of  the  laws  of
  nineteen  hundred ninety, the fee requirements set forth in this section
  and article thirty of this chapter shall continue to apply to all public
  and private entities, including, but not  limited  to,  the  state,  any
  subdivision  of  the  state,  any  government  agency or instrumentality
  thereof,  including  any  entity  created  by  one  or  more  states  or
  subdivisions  thereof,  any  public  authority,  any  public  or private
  corporation, any person, company, unincorporated association,  firm,  or
  partnership and any owner or operator thereof.