The Environmental Control Board (ECB) is a type of court called an administrative tribunal. Judges hear cases, like a court. But there are important differences. The ECB only hears cases in which New York City has charged a person or business with violating City laws that protect health, safety, and a clean environment. These violations are not crimes. If you are found guilty of an ECB charge, you need to pay a fine. You may also be ordered to fix the violation(s).

Important Announcement: Brooklyn ECB Office is Moving!

There will be a new ECB’s Brooklyn Hearing location opening soon. The current location at Schmerhorn St. will be closed.  Beginning on December 19, 2011 all ECB hearings, that are scheduled to occur in Brooklyn, will take place at:

Environmental Contol Board
9 Bond Street, 7th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201

You can now view, print and download a copy of a ticket, pay for a ticket, learn the location, date and time of the ECB hearing and see the ticket status or outcome of the hearing. You can search for tickets by name, address or the ticket number. To register visit  www.nyc.gov/bizexpress and for help with searching for ECB hearing information once registered, please click here.

NEW!  Defend yourself by having your ECB Hearing-by-Phone

Respondents who have been issued certain kinds of tickets and wish to provide a defense, can now have their ECB hearings over the telephone. Various types of tickets issued by the Departments of Sanitation, Health, Parks and other City Agencies do not require an in-person hearing at ECB.  ECB’ s goal is to provide easy access to fair and timely hearings and some people are best able to defend themselves by speaking to a judge directly, rather than writing a letter or submitting a defense on-line.  If you are interested in learning whether you can schedule an ECB Hearing-by-Phone, please call (212) 487-3434.

If you believe the judge made an error in deciding your case, you have the option to file an appeal within 30 days of the date the decision was mailed to you. Anyone with an email address can now use a new online application to submit an appeal. Please follow the link for information about appealing an ECB decision http://nyc.gov/html/ecb/html/respond/appeals.shtml.

Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings/Environmental Control Board
The next meeting will take place on Thursday, February 16, 2011 at 40 Rector Street, OATH Lecture Room, 14th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10006 at 9:15 a.m., at the call of the Chair.

Proposed Rules

• This rule conforms the Penalty Schedule’s description of violations of New York City Health Code (“Health Code”) Section 3.05 to the actual language of Health Code Section 3.05 and changes the statutory citation for Health Code Section 89.29(e) to 89.29(g).
  
  

• Section 28-105.1 of the New York City Administrative Code prohibits certain construction work without a permit. Currently, DOB also issues a violation under this section of law whenever temporary construction equipment is found on a work site and the permit has expired.  However, the Administrative Code contains a more appropriate section of law, 105.8.2. Therefore, ECB is proposing to amend its penalty schedule to reference a more specific section of the Administrative Code 105.8.2.  This will direct the public to a more appropriate section of the law for this violation. The amount of the penalty is not being changed.
  
  
• The Environmental Control Board proposes to increase the fines related to emergency work by utility companies on critical roadways during restricted hours.    ECB expects these increases to encourage better compliance with existing rules, as detailed below.  Specifically, this proposed rule will increase the fines from $1,000 to $2,000 for:  
  • Opening a utility access cover without an authorization number, and,
  • Doing non-emergency work on a critical roadway during restricted hours.  

These fines are found in the Environmental Control Board Department of Transportation (DOT) Penalty Schedule.  This schedule is found in Section 3-124 of Subchapter G of Chapter 3 of Title 48 of the Rules of the City of New York (RCNY).

• On June 23, 2011, the Board approved a change to the penalty for Section 20-04(e) of Title 15 of the Rules of the City of New York,  "Failed to submit an annual test report for a backflow preventer.” The approved change was to increase the mitigated penalty from $0 to $50. A penalty may be mitigated if a person charged with violating 20-04(e) hands in the required test report before the first hearing date. The change was made to meet the $50 minimum penalty required by Section 24-346(b) of the New York City Administrative Code.
  

Final Rules

• The Environmental Control Board has amended its Department of Transportation 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. We have added two charges to the penalty schedule. The first charge is for a failure to remove unauthorized projections and encroachments for the city streets.
   Read more
  
  
• In the fall of 2009, the Environmental Control Board undertook a major revision of its Air Asbestos Penalty Schedule found in Section 3-101 of Subchapter G of Chapter 3 of Title 48 of the Rules of the City of New York.
  
  
• The changes to the Air Asbestos Penalty Schedule are the result of a new City law. This law states asbestos abatement may not be done while a building is being demolished. The law also states asbestos abatement may not be done while one or more stories are being removed from a building.