6. Transfer of canal lands and other assets. 1. The jurisdiction of the thruway authority over the New York state canal system and over all state assets, equipment and property, both tangible and intangible, owned or used in connection with the planning, development, construction, reconstruction, maintenance and operation of the New York state canal system, as set forth in articles one through and including fourteen, except article seven, of this chapter, and except properties in use on the effective date of this article in support of highway maintenance, equipment management and traffic signal operations of the department of transportation, heretofore transferred by the commissioner of transportation to the thruway authority, are hereby transferred without consideration to the authority, to be held by the authority in the name of the people of the state of New York. In addition the commissioner of transportation and the chair of the authority or his or her designee may, in their discretion, enter into an agreement or agreements transferring jurisdiction over any or all of the bridges and highways set forth in article seven of this chapter, and any or all state assets, equipment and property, both tangible and intangible, owned or used in connection with the planning, development, construction, reconstruction, maintenance and operation of such bridges and highways, which shall be transferred without consideration to the authority, to be held by the authority through the corporation in the name of the people of the state of New York. Any other rights and obligations resulting from or arising out of the planning, development, construction, reconstruction, operation or maintenance of the New York state canal system shall be deemed assigned to and shall be exercised by the authority through the corporation, except that the authority may designate the chair of the thruway authority to be its agent for the operation and maintenance of the New York state canal system, provided that such designation shall have no force or effect after January first, two thousand seventeen. Such canal system shall remain the property of the state and under its management and control as exercised by and through the authority, through the corporation which shall be deemed to be the state for the purposes of such management and control of the canals but for no other purposes.
2. The department of transportation and thruway authority shall deliver to the authority all books, policies, procedures, papers, plans, maps, records, equipment and property of such department pertaining to the functions transferred pursuant to this article.
3. All rules, regulations, acts, determinations, orders and decisions of the commissioner of transportation, department of transportation, or thruway authority pertaining to the functions transferred pursuant to this article in force at the time of such transfer shall continue in force and effect as rules, regulations, acts, determinations, orders and decisions of the authority and corporation until duly modified or abrogated by such authority or corporation.
4. Any business or other matters undertaken or commenced by the thruway authority, including executed contracts, permits and other agreements, but excluding bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness, pertaining to or connected with the powers, duties and obligations transferred pursuant to this article, and in effect on the effective date of the transfer of such matters from the thruway authority to the authority provided for in this article, shall, except as otherwise agreed by the authority and the thruway authority, be conducted and completed by the authority through the corporation in the same manner and under the same terms and conditions and with the same effect as if conducted and completed by the thruway authority, provided that nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to require the authority to take any action in a manner that would in its judgment be inconsistent with the provisions of any bond or note resolution or any other contract with the holders of the authority's bonds, notes or other obligations.
5. No existing rights or remedies of the state, authority, thruway authority, or canal corporation shall be lost, impaired or affected by reason of this article.
6. (a) No action or proceeding pending on the effective date of the transfer of powers, duties and obligations from the thruway authority to the authority brought by or against the thruway authority, the commissioner of transportation, the corporation, the department of transportation or the authority shall be affected by this article. Any liability arising out of any act or omission occurring prior to the effective date of the transfer of the powers, duties and obligations from the thruway authority to the authority, of the officers, employees or agents of the thruway authority, the department of transportation, or any other agency of the state, other than the authority, in the performance of their obligations or duties under the canal law, any other law of the state or any federal law, or pursuant to a contract entered into prior to the effective date of such transfer, shall remain a liability of the thruway authority, the department of transportation or such other agency of the state and not of the authority.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the state shall indemnify and hold harmless the thruway authority, the corporation and the authority for any and all claims, damages, or liabilities, whether or not caused by negligence, including civil and criminal fines, arising out of or relating to any generation, processing, handling, transportation, storage, treatment, or disposal of solid or hazardous wastes in the canal system by any person or entity other than the thruway authority or the authority occurring prior to August third, nineteen hundred ninety-two. Such indemnification shall extend to, without limitation, any releases into land, water or air, including but not limited to releases as defined under the federal comprehensive environmental response compensation and liability act of nineteen hundred eighty, occurring or existing prior to August third, nineteen hundred ninety-two; provided that the thruway authority, the corporation and the authority shall cooperate in the investigation and remediation of hazardous waste and other environmental problems.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the thruway authority shall indemnify and hold harmless the corporation and the authority for any and all claims, damages, or liabilities, whether or not caused by negligence, including civil and criminal fines, arising out of or relating to any generation, processing, handling, transportation, storage, treatment, or disposal of solid or hazardous wastes in the canal system by any person or entity other than the authority occurring after August third, nineteen hundred ninety-two and no later than the effective date of the transfer of powers, duties and obligations from the thruway authority to the authority. Such indemnification shall extend to, without limitation, any releases into land, water or air, including but not limited to releases as defined under the federal comprehensive environmental response compensation and liability act of nineteen hundred eighty, occurring or existing prior to the effective date of the transfer of powers, duties and obligations from the thruway authority to the authority; provided that the corporation and the authority shall cooperate in the investigation and remediation of hazardous waste and other environmental problems.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the thruway authority shall retain all liabilities, whether or not caused by negligence, arising out of any acts or omissions occurring on or after August third, nineteen hundred ninety-two, in connection with its powers, duties and obligations with respect to the corporation. The authority and the state shall not be held liable in connection with any liabilities arising out of such acts or omissions.
7. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in connection with the transfer of jurisdiction of the corporation to the authority and the assumption of management of the corporation as a subsidiary corporation of the authority pursuant to the chapter of the laws of two thousand sixteen which added this subdivision, the thruway authority shall have the power to fulfill any existing agreements or obligations, make any agreements, receive, retain or pay any funds, deemed necessary and in the public interest to effectuate the provisions and intent of this chapter, including but not limited to, the entering into any agreements with the corporation, the authority and any other federal, state, municipal or other entities, and to receive funds from the federal emergency management agency or the state, to fulfill the thruway authority's existing financial or other obligations arising from its jurisdiction over the canal system and the corporation.
Last modified: February 3, 2019