On August 12, 2008, Mayor Bloomberg signed legislation into law consolidating the Environmental Control Board (ECB) under the jurisdiction of OATH.

The City Council had previously passed the legislation by a vote of 45 to 0 on July 23, 2008. The law designates the OATH Chief Judge to chair ECB.

This legislation makes OATH among the largest central tribunals serving a municipality. ECB is the City's second largest tribunal and hears cases involving pubic health and safety violations issued by 12 different City agencies.

Each year, some 700,000 violations are filed with ECB and result in more than 160,000 hearings and decisions. ECB was previously part of the Department of Environmental Protection, one of the enforcement agencies that appear before the tribunal.

By moving ECB under OATH's management, ECB will no longer be part of an agency that issues violations and will benefit from OATH's experience in tribunal administration.

DOS trade waste violation and failure to report bribe offer warrants termination of sanitation worker.

ALJ Ingrid Addison found that a sanitation worker and his partner had collected at least 27 bags of construction debris from a residence in violation of the Department's trade waste directive.

The worker also failed to report that he had been offered a gratuity by the home owner. Termination recommended. Dep't of Sanitation v. Iannello (in PDF), OATH Index No. 1978/08 (July 30, 2008).

Assault and verbal abuse charges against taxi driver dismissed.

ALJ Tynia Richard dismissed charges against a taxi driver accused of assaulting and verbally harassing a motorist, finding major discrepancies between the motorist's testimony and information contained in a police report.

Taxi & Limousine Comm'n v. Kurpaski (in PDF), OATH Index No. 2566/08 (July 23, 2008).

Police Department may retain ice cream truck seized for drug sales near public school as a public safety risk.

ALJ Salzman ruled that the Police Department was entitled to retain a van pending a forfeiture proceeding. The van was seized when its owner was arrested for selling illegal drugs from an ice cream truck near a public school.

ALJ Salzman found that a heightened risk to public safety was shown by the circumstances of the owner's transactions. Police Dep't v. Pedalino (in PDF), OATH Index No. 2693/08, mem. dec. (July 2, 2008).

Late fees and a civil penalty totaling $7,250 recommended for lobbyist's client.

The City's Lobbying Law requires any client who spends more than $2,000 per year to retain a lobbyist to file an annual report with the City Clerk's Office.

In July 2008, the City Clerk brought several proceedings against clients of lobbyists who filed their reports after the filing deadline. Late fees are assessed at the rate of $10 per day for first-time filers and $25 per day for repeat filers, in addition to a civil penalty of up to $20,000.

ALJ Addison recommended $3,775 in late fees and a $3,500 civil penalty be imposed against a lobbyist's client who had filed its annual report 151 days after the extended deadline for filing.

Office of the City Clerk v. New York Software Industry Assoc.(in PDF) , OATH Index No. 162/09 (July 21, 2008).