New York Laws
Title 5 - Tri-State Compact and Interstate Environmental Commission
21-0501 - Tri-State Compact.

(a) In Connecticut, Long Island sound and estuaries and tidal waters
thereof between the easterly side of New Haven harbor at Morgan Point
and the Connecticut-New York state boundary, and the Housatonic river up
to the northerly boundary lines of the towns of Stratford and Milford.
(b) In New York, all of the tidal waters of Greater New York city;
including Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill, Long Island Sound and the
estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the New York city line and
the New York-Connecticut state boundary and between the New York city
line and the easterly side of Port Jefferson harbor; the Atlantic ocean
and the estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the New York city
line and the easterly side of Fire Island inlet; and the Hudson river
and estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the New York and New
Jersey state boundary and the northerly line of Rockland county on the
westerly side and between the northerly line of New York city and the
northerly line of Westchester county on the easterly side of the river.
(c) In New Jersey, the Hudson river and New York upper bay and
estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the New York-New Jersey
boundary and Constable Point on Constable Hook, the Kill Van Kull and
Arthur Kill to the mouths of the rivers entering into the Kills; Newark
bay and the estuaries thereof up to the mouth of the Passaic river; and
up to the mouth of the Hackensack river; Raritan bay together with the
Raritan river up to the Victory bridge on said river between Perth Amboy
and South Amboy; together with the Cheesequake creek up to the New York
and Long Branch Railroad bridge on said creek at Morgan; together with
the Matawan creek up to the New York and Long Branch Railroad bridge on
said creek at Matawan; Sandy Hook bay; together with the Shrewsbury
river up to the passenger railroad bridge between Navesink Light and
Highland Beach on said river.

ARTICLE III

1. There is hereby created the Interstate Environmental Commission
(hereinafter referred to as the commission) which shall be a body
corporate and politic, having the powers, duties and jurisdiction herein
enumerated and such other and additional powers as shall be conferred
upon it by the act or acts of a signatory state concurred in by the
others and by the act or acts of congress when necessary.

ARTICLE IV

1. The commission shall consist of five commissioners from each state,
each of whom shall be a resident voter of the state from which he is
appointed.
The commissioners shall be chosen in the manner and for the terms
provided by law of the state from which they shall be appointed, and
each commissioner may be removed or suspended from office as provided by
the law of the state from which he shall be appointed. The commissioners
shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid their actual
expenses incurred and incident to the performance of their duties.

ARTICLE V

1. The commission shall elect from its number a chairman and
vice-chairman and shall appoint and at its pleasure remove or discharge
such officers and legal, clerical, expert and other assistants as may be
required to carry the provisions of this compact into effect, and shall
fix and determine their duties, qualifications and compensations.
It shall adopt a seal and suitable by-laws and shall promulgate rules
and regulations for its management and control. It may maintain one or
more offices for the transaction of its business and may meet at any
time or place within the signatory states.

A majority of the members from each state shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business, the exercise of any powers, or the
performance of any duties, but no action of the commission shall be
binding unless at least three of the members from each state shall vote
in favor thereof.
The commission shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts and
disbursements and shall make an annual report to the governor and the
legislature of each state setting forth in detail the operations and
transactions conducted by it pursuant to this compact, and shall make
recommendations for any legislative action deemed by it advisable,
including amendments to the statutes of the signatory states which may
be necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of this compact, and
changes in the district which concentration of population or other cause
may require.
The commission shall not incur any obligations for salaries, office or
other administrative expenses prior to the making of appropriations
adequate to meet the same; nor shall the commission pledge the credit of
any of the signatory states except by and with the authority of the
legislatures thereof. Each state reserves the right to provide hereafter
by law for the examination and audit of the accounts of the commission
by its comptroller or other official.
The commissioners shall meet and organize within ten days after the
effective date of this compact.

ARTICLE VI

1. It is recognized by the signatory states that, where tidal waters
are used for such varied purposes as bathing, navigation, shellfish
culture, the development of fish life and the disposal of wastes, no
single standard of purity is practicable in all parts of the district.
In order to attain the objects of this compact, the commission, after
proper study and after conducting public hearings upon due notice, shall
group the designated waters of the district into classes. Where local
conditions shall have changed in the future to such an extent that
changes in classification become necessary, the commission may, after
conducting public hearings upon due notice, adopt such changes.
Two general classifications shall be used:
(1) Class "A", in which the designated water areas are expected to be
used primarily for recreational purposes, shellfish culture or the
development of fish life;
(2) Class "B", in which the designated water areas are not expected to
be used primarily for recreational purposes, shellfish culture or the
development of fish life.

ARTICLE VII

1. It is agreed between the signatory states that no sewage or other
polluting matters shall be discharged or permitted to flow into, or be
placed in, or permitted to fall or move into the tidal waters of the
district, except under the following conditions and restrictions:
(1) All sewage discharged or permitted to flow into Class "A" waters
of the district shall first have been so treated as
(a) to remove all floating solids and at least sixty per centum (60%)
of the suspended solids; and
(b) to effect a reduction of organisms of the B. Coli group
(intestinal bacilli) so that the probable number of such organisms shall
not exceed one per cubic centimeter in more than fifty per centum (50%)
of the samples of sewage effluent tested by the partially confirmed

test; provided, however, that in the case of discharge into waters used
primarily for bathing this bacterial standard need not be required
except during the bathing season; and
(c) to effect a reduction in the oxygen demand of the sewage effluent
sufficient to maintain an average dissolved oxygen content in the tidal
waters of the district and in the general vicinity of the point of
discharge of the sewage into those waters, at a depth of about five feet
below the surface, of not less than fifty per centum (50%) saturation
during any week of the year.
2. All sewage discharged or permitted to flow into class "B" waters of
the district shall first have been so treated as
(a) to remove all floating solids and at least ten per centum (10%) of
the suspended solids, or such additional percentage as may by reason of
local conditions be necessary to avoid the formation of sludge deposits
in the class "B" waters of the district; and
(b) to effect a reduction in the oxygen demand of the sewage effluent
sufficient to maintain an average dissolved oxygen content in the tidal
waters of the district and in the general vicinity of the point of
discharge of the sewage into those waters, at a depth of about five feet
below the surface, of not less than thirty per centum (30%) saturation
during any week of the year.

ARTICLE VIII

1. Each of the signatory states agrees, that in so far as waters
within its jurisdiction may flow into any portion of the district, all
sewage discharged or permitted to flow into any stream tributary to the
tidal waters of the district shall be treated to that extent, if any,
which may be necessary to maintain such tributary immediately above its
confluence with the tidal waters of the district in a sanitary condition
at least equal to the classification requirements determined by the
commission for the tidal waters of the district into which it
discharges. The waters of the Hudson river, immediately above the mouth
of Sparkhill creek on the westerly side and the New York-New Jersey
boundary extended on the easterly side of the river, shall be maintained
in a sanitary condition at ebb tide at least equal to the sanitary
condition prevailing in the waters of the river immediately below said
boundary at flood tide.

ARTICLE IX

1. Nothing in this compact shall be construed to repeal or prevent the
enactment of any legislation or the enforcement of any requirement by
any signatory state imposing any additional conditions and restrictions
to further lessen or prevent the pollution of waters within its
jurisdiction.

ARTICLE X

1. Subject to the provisions of this compact the commission, as soon
as may be after its organization, after an investigation and after
conducting public hearings upon due notice, shall by order prescribe the
reasonable date on or before which each municipality or other entity
discharging sewage into the designated waters within the district shall
be treating such sewage in accordance with the standards specified in
this compact. And such order may prescribe that certain specific
progress shall be made at certain definite time prior to the final date
fixed in such order.

It is the desire of all parties to accomplish the objects herein set
forth with the least possible injury to investments which have already
been made in the construction of sewage treatment plants within the
district, and where changes or additions to such plants would be
necessary to conform to the standards herein adopted, a reasonable time
to effect such changes or additions may, in the discretion of the
commission, be granted.

ARTICLE XI

1. Each of the signatory states agrees that it will prohibit the
pollution of the said waters within the district in accordance with the
several articles of this compact, and that it will enact suitable and
adequate legislation which will accomplish effectively the objects of
this compact and which will enable its officers, departments, boards and
agents to accomplish satisfactorily the obligations and duties assumed
by the state under the terms of this compact, and it is further agreed
that the courts of the several states shall have jurisdiction to enforce
as against any person, corporation, municipality or other entity or any
employee, department or subdivision of the respective signatory states
any and all provisions of this compact.
The commission shall have authority to investigate and determine if
the requirements of the compact and/or the orders of the commission
pursuant thereto are complied with and if satisfactory progress has not
been made, to bring action in its own name in the proper court or courts
to compel the enforcement of any and all the provisions of this compact,
and/or the orders of the commission pursuant thereto.

ARTICLE XII

1. In order that future pollution be controlled and existing pollution
be abated with the greatest possible economy and efficiency, the
commission shall co-operate and advise with the respective state and
district authorities having jurisdiction over stream pollution, with a
view to coordinating their activities and securing the most satisfactory
results at lower cost. For such purpose the commission may prepare a
general plan of the most practicable and economical method of securing
conformity with the standards herein set forth, having in view the
future growth and development of the district. Such plan when completed
shall be submitted to the governor and the legislature of each state and
to the state agency or agencies or district agencies in charge of sewage
problems.
The provisions of this act shall not affect the discharge from the
outfall pipes of the Passaic valley sewerage system into the water of
New York harbor; provided, however, that said discharge shall be in
accordance with the terms and provisions of the stipulation entered into
on April fourteenth, one thousand nine hundred ten, between the United
States of America and Passaic valley sewerage commissioners.

ARTICLE XIII

1. Terms used in this compact are defined as follows:
"District" means the area more particularly described in article two
of this compact.
"Commission" means the Interstate Environmental Commission.
"Municipality" means any city, incorporated village, borough, county,
town, township, district, or any municipality governed by an improvement

commission, any joint sewer commission, or any other subdivision of any
one of the signatory states, located within the district.
"Rule" or "Regulation" means any rule or regulation established by the
commission not inconsistent with the constitution of the United States
or of any signatory state, promulgated by the commission touching the
abatement or pollution of the waters of the district.
"Tidal waters" means all those waters which ebb and flow within the
designated district.
"Dissolved oxygen" is the gaseous oxygen held in solution by the water
at any given time. It is expressed as a percentage of the maximum amount
of oxygen that would be required to saturate the water under the
existing conditions of temperature and salinity.
"Pollution" is any foreign matter which renders waters unfit to
sustain fish life and unsatisfactory for bathing.
"Sewage effluent" means the treated sewage discharged from a treatment
plant.
"Suspended solids" means those solid particles carried in suspension
in the untreated sewage or sewage effluent.
"Entity" means any organization or association owning, controlling or
operating a sewerage system or treatment plant within a municipality.

ARTICLE XIV

1. The signatory states agree to appropriate annually for the
salaries, office and other administrative expenses such sum or sums as
shall be recommended by the commission and approved by the governors of
the signatory states, the state of New York and the state of New Jersey
agreeing each to appropriate forty-five per centum (45%) thereof, and
the state of Connecticut agreeing to appropriate ten per centum (10%)
thereof. The state of New York and the state of New Jersey obligate
themselves hereunder, however, only to the extent of fifteen thousand
dollars ($15,000.00) each in any one year, and the state of Connecticut
obligated itself hereunder only to the extent of three thousand, three
hundred thirty-three dollars and thirty-four cents ($3,333.34) in any
one year.

ARTICLE XV

1. Should any part of this compact be held to be contrary to the
constitution of any signatory state or of the United States, all other
severable objects of this compact shall continue to be in full force and
effect.

ARTICLE XVI

1. This compact shall become effective as to the state of New Jersey
and the state of New York immediately upon the signing thereof by the
representatives of such states, and thereafter it shall also become
effective as to the state of Connecticut immediately upon the signing
thereof by the representatives of such state; provided, however, that
prior to the signing of this compact by the representatives of the state
of Connecticut the district as set forth in article two shall not
embrace any territory within the jurisdiction of the state of
Connecticut, nor shall the commission exercise any jurisdiction or
perform any duties or acts affecting such territory; and the
appropriations for salaries, office and other administrative expenses
shall be borne equally by the state of New York and the state of New
Jersey.

2. Nothing herein contained shall affect or abate any action now
pending brought by any governmental board or body created by or existing
under any of the signatory states.

ARTICLE XVII

In addition to, or in substitution for, the classifications of waters
set forth in Articles VI and VII of this compact and the effluent
standards made applicable thereto, the Commission may develop and, after
public hearing place in force other classifications of waters and
effluent standards within the District. Such classifications shall be on
the basis of present or intended uses of the waters in question and
shall be accompanied by requirements governing the quality of effluents,
receiving waters, or both, as the public interest may make appropriate.
Classifications, standards, and requirements adopted pursuant to this
Article shall be developed and may be revised with due consideration for
uniformity of requirements relating to the quality of effluents and
receiving waters within the same classification in all parts of the
District.
Classifications made pursuant to this Article shall be governed by and
shall implement any water and related land resource plans, water use
plans or pollution control plans adopted by appropriate agencies of the
signatory states, acting singly or in concert, or through joint
intergovernmental agencies. Any exercise of authority by the Commission
pursuant to this Article shall be subject to any procedural
requirements, if applicable, that may be contained in federal law.
Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed to abridge or
limit any power otherwise existing of a signatory state to make and
enforce classifications, standards, and requirements for effluents and
receiving waters.