Int. No. 2366-A
By Council Members Koo, Gennaro, Yeger, Holden, Brannan, Vallone, Van Bramer, Adams, Dinowitz, Cumbo, Ayala, Louis, Riley, Brooks-Powers, Maisel, Kallos and Ulrich
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to tree health assessments and inspections
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 18 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 18-157 to read as follows:
§ 18-157 Tree inspections and health assessments. a. The department shall inspect each tree under its jurisdiction over 6 inches in caliper, to determine if any issue threatens the health of such tree or causes such tree to pose a threat to public safety, at least once between each time such tree is pruned by the department or by a person authorized by the department to perform routine scheduled maintenance of such tree. Such inspection shall not be required for trees in forests and natural areas, and shall be limited to inspections of trees located on streets and trees located in landscaped parks, which for purposes of this section are referred to as “covered trees”.
b. The department shall post on its website a description of the process used and the factors considered by the department, and by any person authorized by the department, to determine when inspections are performed on trees under the jurisdiction of the department in order to assess the health of such trees.
c. No later than November 1 of each year, the department shall, for the period covering the immediately preceding fiscal year, submit an annual report to the mayor and the speaker of the council that includes, but is not limited to, the following information:
1. The total number and location of all covered trees inspected by the department or persons authorized by the department, the result of such inspections and the actions taken by the department in response to such inspections;
2. The number and location of requests or referrals for inspection of a covered tree through the 311 citizen service center or other means and the number of such trees that were inspected by the department or a person authorized by the department;
3. The date of each referral or request for an inspection of a covered tree and the reason, if any, that was provided for such referral or request;
4. The action taken by the department in response to each request or referral for inspection and the date such action was taken; and
5. A regularly updated map on the website of the department that displays each covered tree that has been inspected, the result of such inspection and the action taken by the department in response to the result of such inspection.
§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately; provided, however, that the requirement relating to the posting of a regularly updated map on the website of the department, as set forth in paragraph 5 of subdivision c of section 18-157, as added by the local law that added such section, shall take effect 1 year after the effective date of such local law.
KS
LS 16215, 16216
12/1/21 8:20PM