The Environmental Control Board (ECB) is proposing to amend the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT)’s penalty schedule, found in Section 3‐124 of Subchapter G of Chapter 3 of Title 48 of the Rules of the City of New York (RCNY). The proposed rule updates the section of law references associated with five DOT violations, and the descriptions of two DOT violations. These amendments will promote consistency and provide clarity by conforming violation sections and descriptions with the language in the applicable laws. They will also more accurately reflect the condition observed by an inspector issuing a violation, thus helping the respondent and the Administrative Law Judge by giving a description of the existing violation which mirrors the applicable law.
For failures to properly equip commercial bicycles, the current penalty schedule refers only to Administrative Code Section 10‐157(f). This reference does not capture all the requirements for equipping commercial bicycles and bicycle operators found in the Administrative Code at Section 10‐157.
The proposed rule amends the section of law references associated with the first and subsequent offenses for “Failure to properly equip bicycle used on behalf of a business using a bicycle for commercial purposes,” from Section 10‐157(f) to Section 10‐157. This change will allow the issuing officer to enforce all applicable provisions of the section related to bicycles used for commercial purposes.
The proposed rule amends the reference to the section of law for “Failure to replace distinctive sidewalk in kind” from Section 2‐09(f)(4)(xvi)(A) to Section 2‐09(f)(4)(xvi)(C) of the RCNY. The reference to Section 2‐09(f)(4)(xvi)(C) of the RCNY better describes DOT’s prescribed method for repairing a distinctive sidewalk. This section states that the distinctive sidewalk must be repaired in kind or replaced in its entirety with concrete.
The penalty schedule currently describes Section 2‐11(f)(4)(i) of the RCNY as “No notice to DOT before start phase of work on protected street.” DOT recently amended Section 2‐11(f) to clarify that a permittee who has obtained a street opening permit on a protected street must also obtain a confirmation number. The DOT amendment also provides guidance for obtaining the confirmation number.
The proposed rule amends the description “Failure to conform with the latest version of DOT Standard Details 1042A, 1042B, or 1042C” to add “(concrete roadways),” and amends the section of law reference from Section 2‐11(e)(13) to Section 2‐11(e)(13)(vi) of the RCNY. These changes clarify that the violation applies to concrete roadways, and indicate the exact subparagraph that will be charged when a violation is issued.