New York Consolidated Laws, Environmental Conservation Law - ENV § 71-3601. Declaration of policy and statement of purpose

The legislature hereby finds and declares that contaminated site remedial programs are an important and necessary component of the state's policy of restoring and revitalizing real property located throughout New York state.  The legislature further finds that when an environmental remediation project leaves residual contamination at levels that have been determined to be safe for a specific use, but not all uses, or includes engineered structures that must be maintained or protected against damage to be effective, it is necessary to provide an effective and enforceable means of ensuring the performance of maintenance, monitoring or operation requirements, and of ensuring the potential restriction of future uses of the land, including restrictions on drilling for or pumping groundwater for as long as any residual contamination remains hazardous.  The legislature declares, therefore, that it is in the public interest to create environmental easements because such easements are necessary for the protection of human health and the environment and to achieve the requirements for remediation established at contaminated sites.