Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams introduced legislation today with Council Members Costa Constanides and Justin Brannan, Intro 1845, that would update and expand upon the requirements for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to maintain catch basin drainage systems around the city. Clogged or otherwise damaged catch basins have led to inland flooding in areas around the city. The DEP has reported a 39% increase in catch basin complaints over the last six months.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for monitoring, cleaning, and repairing catch basins. It accomplishes this through inspections of every system in the city and in responding to 311 calls from New Yorkers indicating a clogged or broken storm drain.
While a Council Member in 2015, Williams passed legislation, Local Law 48 of 2015, that required annual inspections of and semi-annual reporting on the condition of catch basins, and set a nine day mandatory response time to respond to any reports of clogged catch basins. The new legislation, which updates the expiring 2015 law, enhances it to require quarterly reporting, and requires a mandatory response to complaints within five days.
"For parts of this city, clogged catch basins have led to mass flooding in the streets. It's an issue that not only inconveniences neighborhoods, but can cause significant water damage to property," said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. "We made great progress four years ago by increasing inspections and reporting on the conditions of catch basins, but the problem persists. To preserve our environment and the quality of our roadways, we need to build on that success. Increased reporting and accelerated response times will provide that much needed relief." According to the most recent report issued by DEP regarding catch basins, 148,782 programatic inspections took place and 4,246 were conducted in response to 311 complaints. Under the new legislation, quarterly reports to the Public Advocate, Mayor, and Council Speaker would discuss the inspection, cleanup, maintenance and repair of catch basins, disaggregated by community district.
"A clean catch basin is vital to the health of a neighborhood, because a clogged one can spell disaster in terms of flooding and other disruption," said Council Member Costa Constantinides, Chair of the Committee on Environmental Protection. "I'm so glad to join with the Public Advocate and our partners in the City to guarantee these vital pieces of grey infrastructure are regularly inspected, so that residents don't have to worry about a minor rainfall causing a major catastrophe."