NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE.pdf

NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE

Notice of Adoption of Amendments to Title 24 of the Rules of the City of New York

In compliance with § 1043(b) of the New York City Charter (the “Charter”), and pursuant to the authority granted to the Department by §§556 and 1043 of said Charter and by § 17-194 of the New York City

Administrative Code, a notice of intention to amend Chapter 31 (“Drinking Water Tank Inspections”) of

Title 24 of the Rules of the City of New York was published in the City Record on March 11, 2016 and a public hearing was held on April 14, 2016. No testimony was received at the public hearing and one written comment was received. No changes were made in response to the comment.

Statement of Basis and Purpose

Background

Administrative Code § 17-194 provides that any owner of a building that has a water tank as part of its drinking water supply system must have it inspected at least once annually and requires the inspection to comply with applicable provisions of the New York City Health Code (“Health Code”). Inspection results must be recorded in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of the Department.

Article 141 of the Health Code regulates certain aspects of the purity and sanitary condition of the City’s potable water supply, including roof top water storage tanks. Water for thousands of New York City buildings is kept in these types of tanks. Health Code §141.07 (“Building Drinking Water Storage

Tanks”) requires that these tanks be inspected annually and that the person in control of a building using water storage tanks keep copies of the inspection records and make them available to the Department upon request.

Owners of buildings with water tanks are required to report annually to the Department the fact that the tanks have been inspected. Requiring annual reporting promotes building owner compliance with the inspection mandate and facilitates the Department’s ability to monitor compliance. Data from these reports is publically available from the Department.

Administrative Code provisions. Administrative Code § 17-194, enacted as Local Law 11 for the year

2009, provides for the annual inspections of water tanks, with results to be recorded in accordance with

Department rules, maintained for five years from the date of inspection, and made available to the

Department within five business days of receiving a request. Administrative Code § 17-194(e) allows for penalties of $250 to $1,000 per violation for violations of Administrative Code § 17-194 (b), and for a maximum of $250 per violation for violations of Administrative Code § 17-194 (c). This rule sets the penalties for these violations within those ranges.

§ 17-194(b) requires that tanks be inspected annually for compliance with applicable laws; results of inspections be recorded in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner; results of inspections be maintained for five years; and results of inspections be made available to the Department within five business days of being requested.

§ 17-194 (c) requires a building owner to post a notice in a building informing tenants how to obtain the results of inspections.

Health Code provisions. Health Code Article 141 (“Drinking Water”) supports maintenance of the purity and sanitary condition of the City’s potable water supply. Health Code §141.07 regulates building drinking water storage tanks as follows:

§141.07 (b) requires that owners and other persons in control of buildings serviced by water storage tanks annually inspect the physical condition of tanks and sample tank water for bacteriological quality.

§141.07(c) requires written reports of these inspections to be maintained for at least five years, and provided to the Department within five business days of a request by the Department. As of

January 1, 2015, documentation of the inspections must be submitted to the Department, indicating whether the results of the inspection were satisfactory.

§141.07(d) requires a building owner to post a notice in a building informing tenants how to obtain the results of inspections.

§141.07(e) requires owners to immediately correct any unsanitary conditions identified in the water tank inspections; to clean the tank when indicated in accordance with Health Code §141.09;

and to report any unsatisfactory findings in bacteriological sampling to the Department within 24 hours of receipt of such findings.

§141.07(f) provides that failure to submit reports to the Department when requested, or failure to submit the required annual documentation of an inspection, is prima facie evidence that no inspection was done at that time, and that separate violations may be issued for each year for which a required inspection report was not submitted.

§141.09 (“Building Water Tank Cleaning, Painting and Coating”) requires that when water storage tanks are cleaned, painted or coated, that work be done in accordance with industry standards, incorporating appropriate disinfection processes, by a duly qualified person or entity.

Department rules. In April 2015, the Department adopted a new Chapter 31 (“Drinking Water Tank

Inspections”) of Title 24 RCNY. Section 31-02(a) of the chapter requires building owners or their agents to report the results of the annual inspections of their drinking water storage tanks to the Department no later than January 15 th of the following year.

Amendments to Chapter 31

This rule amends Chapter 31 to establish a penalty schedule for sustained violations of the Chapter and of the Health Code and the Administrative Code that have been adjudicated at the Office of Administrative

Trials and Hearings (OATH).

Notices of violations will be written, and penalties will be requested for each violation related to each drinking water tank in a building, for each year to which the violation applies. A new section 31-03 of

Chapter 31 provides that the penalties set forth in the new Appendix 31-A of this Chapter must be imposed for sustained violations. Violations related to record keeping will be $250, to be doubled to $500 if the owner or other person served with a notice of violation or a summons fails to appear at a hearing and is found in default. Penalties for failure to conduct inspections and to clean tanks, report conditions or otherwise correct violations are established at $500, and doubled if the owner or other person served with a notice of violation or a summons fails to appear at a hearing and is found in default to $1,000.

Statutory Authority

These amendments to Chapter 31 of Title 24 of the Rules of the City of New York are authorized under

§§ 556 and 1043 of the Charter; § 17-194 of the Administrative Code; and §141.07 of the Health Code.

Pursuant to § 556 of the Charter, the Department has jurisdiction to regulate all matters affecting health in the City, and specifically to supervise and regulate the purity and public health aspects of the water supplied in the City. Section 1043 of the Charter gives the Department rulemaking powers.

Administrative Code § 17-194(b) and Health Code §141.07(b) authorize the Commissioner of the

Department to adopt rules for annual water tank inspection recording and reporting.

The changes are as follows:

Underlined matter is new.

“Shall” and “must” denote mandatory requirements and may be used interchangeably in the rules of this

Department, unless otherwise specified or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Section 1. Chapter 31 of Title 24 of the Rules of the City of New York is hereby amended by adding new section 31-03 and Appendix 31-A to read as follows:

§31-03 Penalties. Owners or operators of buildings with drinking water tanks or other persons found to be in violation of any of the following provisions of law by a hearing officer at the Office of

Administrative Trials and Hearings or successor tribunal must pay the penalties set forth in Appendix 31-

A of this Chapter for each such violation sustained with respect to each building drinking water tank for each year to which such violation pertains.

APPENDIX 31-A

BUILDING DRINKING WATER TANK PENALTIES

Citation Violation Description Penalty Default

24 RCNY 31-02(a) Failure to submit report of previous year’s inspection results by January 15 $250 $500

Admin. Code 17-194(b) Failure to maintain records of inspections for one of the preceding five years $250 $500

Admin. Code 17-194(c) Failure to post notice of availability of inspection reports $250 $250

NYCHC 141.07(b) Failure to inspect drinking water tank, including testing water for bacteriological content.

$500 $1000

NYCHC 141.07(c)

Failure to provide results of drinking water tank inspection within five business days after receipt of Department’s request $250 $500

NYCHC 141.07(e) Failure to correct unsanitary condition of drinking water tank $500 $1000

NYCHC141.07(e) Failure to report to Department noncompliant bacteriology sample of water from drinking water tank within 24 hours $500 $1000

NYCHC 141.07(e) Failure to clean drinking water tank when required $500 $1000

NYCHC 141.09(b) Drinking water tank cleaned, painted and/or coated by an unqualified person or entity $500 $1000

NYCHC 141.09(c) Failure to clean, paint or coat water tank in accordance with applicable law or industry standards $500 $1000

NYCHC 141.09(d) Failure to disinfect water tank in accordance with applicable law or industry standards $500 $1000

NYCHC 141.09(e) Failure to collect water sample following painting or treating of tank interior $500 $1000

NYCHC 141.09(f) Failure to maintain or provide records of water tank work $250 $500