ECL 71-2712 · Title 27. Enforcement of Article 27 and Article 71
Endangering public health, safety or the environment in the third degree
Text — Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
§ 71-2712. Endangering public health, safety or the environment in the third degree.
A person is guilty of endangering public health, safety or the environment in the third degree when:
1. He recklessly engages in conduct which causes the release of a substance acutely hazardous to public health, safety or the environment; or
2. He recklessly engages in conduct which causes the release of more than two hundred gallons or two thousand pounds, whichever is less, of an aggregate weight or volume of a substance hazardous to public health, safety or the environment; or
3. He recklessly engages in conduct which causes the release of more than one hundred gallons or one thousand pounds, whichever is less, of an aggregate weight or volume of a substance hazardous to public health, safety or the environment and such release creates a substantial risk of physical injury to any person who is not a participant in the crime; or
4. He or she knowingly engages in conduct which causes the release of more than one hundred gallons or one thousand pounds, whichever is less, of an aggregate weight or volume of a substance hazardous to public health, safety or the environment; or
5. With intent to dispose of construction and demolition debris, he or she intentionally engages in conduct that causes the unlawful disposal or release of either ten cubic yards or more, or twenty thousand pounds or more, of construction and demolition debris, as defined in section 71-2702 of this title.
Endangering public health, safety or the environment in the third degree is a class E felony.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
- Official file
- https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/ENV71-2712
- Text hash
- sha256 a17776753bf11366ae9e21c112ee205c3d7b4d8063531ad078f1fe93b9204378
- Composed by
- gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.