10. General powers and duties of the corporation relating to canals. The corporation shall:
1. Have general supervision of the canal system and its operating personnel and enforce the faithful administration and observance of the canal law.
2. Appoint and remove all officers and employees in the administration of canal matters in conformity with the provisions of title nine of article two of the public authorities law.
3. Provide for all engineering services required in the improvement, maintenance and repair of the canal system.
4. Cause surveys, maps, plans, specifications and estimates to be made for the improvement, maintenance and repair of the canal system.
5. Cause plans, specifications and estimates covering canal contracts to be prepared.
6. Cause inspections of the canal system to be made annually.
7. Determine the boundaries of the districts of the canal system and change such boundaries when it deems it expedient.
8. Keep and maintain in good condition the canals, canal terminals and corporation equipment used in the maintenance and repair of the canal system.
9. Prescribe rules and regulations not inconsistent with law relating to the navigation, protection and maintenance of the canal system and enforce such rules and regulations by prescribing fines, penalties or forfeitures not to exceed one hundred dollars for each offense.
9-a. Undertake lock improvements designed to attract tourists to the locks and surrounding communities. Such improvements may include, but not be limited to, comfort stations, information kiosks, picnic tables and grills, docking facilities, lock beautification, campsites, telephone service, and trash collection and removal facilities.
10. Enforce compliance with laws, rules and regulations relating to posting of limited loads and clearances on all bridges over the canal system under the jurisdiction of the department of transportation pursuant to section six and article seven of this chapter.
11. Compile statistics relating to the canal system and the traffic thereon and collect such other information in regard thereto as it shall deem expedient.
12. Make an annual report to the legislature, covering the calendar year, on the trade and tonnage handled, on the condition of the canals and the work and improvements connected therewith.
13. Cause a record to be made and filed on January first, in the corporation of all expenditures during the previous fiscal year from moneys appropriated for the canal system.
14. Permit boat owners operating upon the canal system to use state drydocks while making emergency repairs to their vessels.
15. Grant leases and issue revocable permits pursuant to this chapter.
16. Cause to be removed from canal lands any encroachments which in its judgment are detrimental.
17. Cause to be acquired lands necessary for canal purposes and cause to be abandoned such canal lands as are no longer necessary or useful for canal purposes. The commissioner of environmental conservation shall be given notice of any lands located within the Adirondack park which are no longer necessary or useful for canal purposes and which are to be abandoned, and shall be given sixty days within which to request the transfer of such lands. Such lands for which such a request has been made shall be transferred to the department of environmental conservation.
18. Accept available federal aid money for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, restoration, repair, operation, maintenance or rehabilitation of any section, appurtenances or facility of the Barge canal system.
19. Investigate all matters relating to the administration and operation of the canal system and its personnel.
20. Either absolutely, or on such conditions as it prescribes, remit fines imposed, if in its judgment such action is expedient.
21. Administer, operate and maintain the state-owned hydroelectric power plants on the Mohawk river at Crescent and Vischer Ferry.
22. When an emergency arises endangering life or the canal system, seize any lands, equipment or supplies necessary to avert such damage.
23. Prepare an inventory sufficient for planning purposes which includes at least: (a) a general description of all state-owned property which comprises the canal system, and where appropriate other state-owned property contiguous to the canal system, specifying present use and facilities for public use, including but not limited to parks and recreation facilities; (b) a description of significant freshwater wetlands and lands which possess significance for wildlife management, recreation or natural resource protection purposes within the canal system; and (c) significant municipal and privately-owned facilities which serve users of the canal system. Such inventory shall be provided to the commission no later than July thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-three.
24. Prepare on an annual basis a detailed five-year capital plan for the maintenance and improvement of canal infrastructure. Such plan shall set system-wide goals and objectives for capital spending and, commencing January first, nineteen hundred ninety-five, describe the compatibility of such plan to the canal recreationway plan approved pursuant to section one hundred thirty-eight-c of this chapter. Such plan shall include but not be limited to such capital project categories as locks, canal bridges, channels, shorelines, dams, guard gates, and other structures necessary for safe and successful operation of the canal system. The plan shall also include a detailed schedule of all capital projects which the authority intends to undertake within the next five years and shall provide the following information for each such capital project: (a) a description of the project; (b) an indication of the category into which the project has been classified in the capital plan; (c) the estimated total cost of the project and expenditures by year for such project; (d) the actual disbursements by project for the prior year; and (e) the estimated dates of project initiation and completion. The plan shall also include a statement of the mix of financing methods to be used by the authority for financing the capital plan. The capital plan shall be submitted to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on the first day of January of each year commencing in nineteen hundred ninety-three.
25. Prepare, in consultation with the department of environmental conservation: (a) a survey of canal lands in the Adirondack park; and (b) a study of canal lands in the Adirondack park subject to permits, including the identification of any structures or activities that are not allowed by law or by such permits. Such survey and study shall be completed and submitted to the commission no later than January first, nineteen hundred ninety-four.
26. Perform such other acts as in its judgment constitute a duty required to efficiently administer the canal system.
Last modified: February 3, 2019