§ 5-08 Impoundment of Trucks or Vehicles.
RCNY § 5-08
(a)Definitions. Commissioner. "Commissioner" shall mean the Commissioner of Sanitation or his authorized representative, the Chief Clerk of the Department. Department. "Department" shall mean the Department of Sanitation. ECB. "ECB" shall mean the Environmental Control Board of the City of New York. Operator. "Operator" shall mean the person operating the vehicle at the time of the dumping in violation of § 16-119 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York. Owner. "Owner" shall mean "owner" as defined in Section one hundred twenty-eight and in Subdivision three of Section three hundred eighty-eight of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Person. "Person" shall mean any natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation.
(b)Redemption Procedure: (1) Upon impoundment of any vehicle by the Department, the Commissioner shall notify the owner of such vehicle by certified mail that such vehicle is being held by the Commissioner. Such notification shall contain a brief description of the vehicle, the office at which an application to redeem the vehicle may be made, and a statement as to the applicable charges, fees, and penalties due.
(2)Except as specifically provided otherwise by law, whenever the Department impounds any vehicle, such vehicle shall not be released until the vehicle owner has complied with the following: (i) submitted proof to the Commissioner, including but not limited to the registration for such vehicle issued by the appropriate agency, establishing to the Commissioner's satisfaction his or her identity as owner of the vehicle; (ii) paid the prevailing removal charge and storage charge as specified in the notification set forth in paragraph (1) of this subdivision for each day or fraction thereof of the impoundment of such vehicle. The storage charge shall be fifteen dollars ($15.00) for each of the first two days, and ten dollars ($10.00) for each additional day thereafter; (iii) where the vehicle is impounded pursuant to § 16-119(e) of the Administrative Code, paid a fee of two hundred dollars, or posted a bond or letter of credit in such amount, as payment or partial payment of cleaning costs for the illegally dumped material. If the Department estimates that its cleaning costs will be more than two hundred dollars, the Department may require as a condition of releasing the vehicle that such estimated costs be paid, or that a bond or letter of credit in the amount of such estimated costs be posted, as a condition of releasing the vehicle, provided the owner of the vehicle is notified of the estimated cleaning costs and the basis for such costs in the notification set forth in paragraph (1) of this subdivision. If the Department incurs no cleaning costs, or its actual costs are less than the amount collected by the Department pursuant to this subparagraph, the Department shall reimburse the owner and/or operator any amount collected in excess of the Department's actual costs. If the Department's actual cleaning costs are more than the amount paid pursuant to this subparagraph, the owner and/or operator shall be liable for such additional costs as provided for in § 16-119(e) of the Administrative Code. Such cleaning costs shall be determined by the total of the following charges: (A) hourly wages paid to those employees of the Department, including supervisory personnel, for the time actually expended in cleaning, and removing and disposing of the illegally dumped material from the property; (B) costs for the disposal of the illegally dumped material actually removed from the property by Department employees and that is delivered to and received at a Department disposal facility, or another facility that accepts solid waste for the purpose of subsequent transfer to another location for disposal, including the cost incurred by the Department to export the illegally dumped material for disposal out of the City at the time such material was removed from the property, as such cost is fixed contractually between the Department and a vendor providing export services to the Department; and (C) vehicle and equipment charge for any Department vehicle and equipment used to clean and remove the illegally dumped material determined by the fair market rental value of a comparable vehicle or equipment.
(iv)exhibited proof to the Commissioner that the ECB proceedings against the owner and operator, if the operator does not also own the vehicle, have been disposed of and that applicable penalties, if any, have been paid, or that a bond in the amount of Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500) has been deposited with the ECB as security for the payment of any penalty prior to the final disposition of the ECB proceedings.
(v)Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, the Commissioner may, in his or her discretion, waive requirements for payment of the removal charge, storage fee and/or cleaning costs prior to release of the vehicle where such vehicle is owned by a rental or leasing company and no violation was issued to such company or, if a violation was issued, the company has submitted proof that the violation was disposed of in the company's favor.
(3)Upon compliance with all of the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subdivision, the Commissioner shall issue a redemption form authorizing the person in whose name it has been issued to redeem his or her vehicle.
(4)Procedure for Refund of Charges and Fees. In the event that any underlying notices of violation issued to the owner or operator leading to the impoundment of the vehicle are dismissed by the ECB, then such owner shall be entitled to a refund of any fees paid to the Department or any agent of the Department under these rules upon written demand to the Department or agent of the Department, setting forth the amount claimed, the dates upon which such amounts were paid and furnishing a copy of the ECB decision, provided however, that in the event that the owner has been found not liable for the underlying violation leading to the impoundment of the vehicle but the operator has been found liable for such violation, the owner shall not be entitled to a refund of such fees.
(5)Failure to Redeem Impounded Vehicles. Any vehicle (other than a vehicle for which a forfeiture proceeding has been commenced pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of § 16-119 or paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of § 16-464 of the Administrative Code) which is not redeemed and removed from City property pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of this subdivision within 10 days following the making of a request by the Commissioner's representative to remove it shall be deemed to be an abandoned vehicle pursuant to § 1224 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law and shall be disposed of by the Commissioner pursuant to such Law. Such request shall be sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to the registered owner of the vehicle, at the address contained on the registration of such vehicle.
