Photo: After a storm in April 2014 flooded properties in Lindenwood and Howard Beach, City Councilman Eric Ulrich introduced a bill that, in part, called on DEP to submit semiannual reports on the inspection and maintenance of all catch basins. Mayor de Blasio signed it into law this week. Mayor Signs Bill Requiring DEP Reports on Catch Basins
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday signed nine bills into law, including an act that requires the Department of Environmental Protection to submit semiannual reports to the mayor and City Council regarding the inspection, maintenance, and repair of all catch basins.
The bill would also require DEP to inspect every catch basin at least once per year, and to unclog/repair a catch basin within nine days from when a complaint is filed.
There are more than 144,000 catch basins in the five boroughs, so “inspection and maintenance is a formidable responsibility,” according to the 33 councilmembers who sponsored Introduction 240-A, adding that “it would be useful for the public to know how often the catch basins are inspected and cleaned, the number of complaints the department receives of clogged or malfunctioning catch basins and how long it takes for a complaint of a clogged catch basin to be resolved.”
One of the sponsors was Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park). In response to a storm last April that flooded much of Lindenwood and Howard Beach, causing thousands of dollars in damage for property owners, Ulrich introduced a bill in January that would require DEP to issue an annual report on the condition of critical water drainage infrastructure within the city. The report would also include descriptions of all outages that occurred in the prior year—detailing the length and severity of the outage, as well as the steps taken to resolve it.
“Many residents paid a huge price and are still recovering from last year’s flooding after the city’s infrastructure failed to do its job,” Ulrich said.
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
