Tri-State Compact and Interstate Environmental Commission (Consolidated Laws of New York: Environmental Conservation Law; Article 21 Pollution Control Compacts; Title 5)

1 Environmental Conservation ARTICLE 21 POLLUTION CONTROL COMPACTS TITLE 5 TRI-STATE COMPACT AND INTERSTATE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION Section 21-0501. Tri-state compact. 21-0503. Commissioners. 21-0505. Cooperation of other officers and agencies. 21-0507. Enforcement proceedings. 21-0509. Powers to be additional; inconsistent provisions. 21-0511. Further pollution. 21-0513. Hearings. 21-0515. Preparation of plan; consultation. 21-0517. Report and recommendations. 21-0519. Budget. 21-0521. Financial examination. 21-0523. Evaluation. 21-0525. Interstate air pollution. § 21-0501. Tri-state compact. The tri-state compact as first entered into pursuant to chapter 4 of the laws of 1936, as reenacted by chapter 476 of the laws of 1961, and as amended by chapter 1046 of the laws of 1969, is hereby continued. The compact is as follows: TRI-STATE COMPACT Whereas, The tremendous growth of population and the development of the territory surrounding and adjacent to the harbor of New York has resulted in recent years in an increasingly serious pollution of the harbor, coastal and tidal waters in such area and the tributary waters therein; and Whereas, Such pollution constitutes a grave menace to the health, welfare and recreational facilities of the people living in such area and is occasioning great economic loss; and Whereas, The control of future pollution and the abatement of existing pollution in the waters in such area is of prime importance to the people living in such area and can best be accomplished through the co-operation of the states of New Jersey and New York and Connecticut by and through a joint or common agency; Now, therefore, The state of New York and the state of New Jersey and the state of Connecticut do agree and are bound as follows: ARTICLE I 1. Each of the signatory states pledges each to the other faithful co-operation in the control of future pollution and agrees to provide for the abatement of existing pollution in the tidal and coastal waters in the adjacent portions of the signatory states defined herein as coming within the district, and consistent with such object, to enact adequate legislation which will enable each of the signatory states to 2 put and maintain the waters thereof in a satisfactory sanitary condition and particularly to protect public health; to render safe such waters as are now used or may later become available for bathing and recreational purposes; to abate and eliminate such pollution as becomes obnoxious or causes a nuisance; to permit the maintenance of major fish life, shellfish and marine life in waters now available or that may by practicable means be made available for the development of such fish, shellfish or marine life; to prevent oil, grease or solids from being carried on the surface of the water; to prevent the formation of sludge deposits along the shores or in the waterways; and with the fulfillment of these objectives to abate and avoid incurring unnecessary economic loss by safeguarding the rights of the public in its varied legitimate uses of the waters of the district. ARTICLE II 1. To that end they do agree that there shall be created and they do hereby create a district to be known as the Interstate Environmental District (hereinafter referred to as the district) which shall embrace the territory described as follows: All of the coastal, estuarial and tidal waters within or covering portions of the signatory states as follows: (a) In Connecticut, Long Island sound and estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the easterly side of New Haven harbor at Morgan Point and the Connecticut-New York state boundary, and the Housatonic river up to the northerly boundary lines of the towns of Stratford and Milford. (b) In New York, all of the tidal waters of Greater New York city; including Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill, Long Island Sound and the estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the New York city line and the New York-Connecticut state boundary and between the New York city line and the easterly side of Port Jefferson harbor; the Atlantic ocean and the estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the New York city line and the easterly side of Fire Island inlet; and the Hudson river and estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the New York and New Jersey state boundary and the northerly line of Rockland county on the westerly side and between the northerly line of New York city and the northerly line of Westchester county on the easterly side of the river. (c) In New Jersey, the Hudson river and New York upper bay and estuaries and tidal waters thereof between the New York-New Jersey boundary and Constable Point on Constable Hook, the Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill to the mouths of the rivers entering into the Kills; Newark bay and the estuaries thereof up to the mouth of the Passaic river; and up to the mouth of the Hackensack river; Raritan bay together with the Raritan river up to the Victory bridge on said river between Perth Amboy and South Amboy; together with the Cheesequake creek up to the New York and Long Branch Railroad bridge on said creek at Morgan; together with the Matawan creek up to the New York and Long Branch Railroad bridge on said creek at Matawan; Sandy Hook bay; together with the Shrewsbury river up to the passenger railroad bridge between Navesink Light and Highland Beach on said river. ARTICLE III 1. There is hereby created the Interstate Environmental Commission (hereinafter referred to as the commission) which shall be a body corporate and politic, having the powers, duties and jurisdiction herein enumerated and such other and additional powers as shall be conferred 3 upon it by the act or acts of a signatory state concurred in by the others and by the act or acts of congress when necessary. ARTICLE IV 1. The commission shall consist of five commissioners from each state, each of whom shall be a resident voter of the state from which he is appointed. The commissioners shall be chosen in the manner and for the terms provided by law of the state from which they shall be appointed, and each commissioner may be removed or suspended from office as provided by the law of the state from which he shall be appointed. The commissioners shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid their actual expenses incurred and incident to the performance of their duties. ARTICLE V 1. The commission shall elect from its number a chairman and vice-chairman and shall appoint and at its pleasure remove or discharge such officers and legal, clerical, expert and other assistants as may be required to carry the provisions of this compact into effect, and shall fix and determine their duties, qualifications and compensations. It shall adopt a seal and suitable by-laws and shall promulgate rules and regulations for its management and control. It may maintain one or more offices for the transaction of its business and may meet at any time or place within the signatory states. A majority of the members from each state shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, the exercise of any powers, or the performance of any duties, but no action of the commission shall be binding unless at least three of the members from each state shall vote in favor thereof. The commission shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements and shall make an annual report to the governor and the legislature of each state setting forth in detail the operations and transactions conducted by it pursuant to this compact, and shall make recommendations for any legislative action deemed by it advisable, including amendments to the statutes of the signatory states which may be necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of this compact, and changes in the district which concentration of population or other cause may require. The commission shall not incur any obligations for salaries, office or other administrative expenses prior to the making of appropriations adequate to meet the same; nor shall the commission pledge the credit of any of the signatory states except by and with the authority of the legislatures thereof. Each state reserves the right to provide hereafter by law for the examination and audit of the accounts of the commission by its comptroller or other official. The commissioners shall meet and organize within ten days after the effective date of this compact. ARTICLE VI 1. It is recognized by the signatory states that, where tidal waters are used for such varied purposes as bathing, navigation, shellfish culture, the development of fish life and the disposal of wastes, no single standard of purity is practicable in all parts of the district. In order to attain the objects of this compact, the commission, after 4 proper study and after conducting public hearings upon due notice, shall group the designated waters of the district into classes. Where local conditions shall have changed in the future to such an extent that changes in classification become necessary, the commission may, after conducting public hearings upon due notice, adopt such changes. Two general classifications shall be used: (1) Class "A", in which the designated water areas are expected to be used primarily for recreational purposes, shellfish culture or the development of fish life; (2) Class "B", in which the designated water areas are not expected to be used primarily for recreational purposes, shellfish culture or the development of fish life. ARTICLE VII 1. It is agreed between the signatory states that no sewage or other polluting matters shall be discharged or permitted to flow into, or be placed in, or permitted to fall or move into the tidal waters of the district, except under the following conditions and restrictions: (1) All sewage discharged or permitted to flow into Class "A" waters of the district shall first have been so treated as (a) to remove all floating solids and at least sixty per centum (60%) of the suspended solids; and (b) to effect a reduction of organisms of the B. Coli group (intestinal bacilli) so that the probable number of such organisms shall not exceed one per cubic centimeter in more than fifty per centum (50%) of the samples of sewage effluent tested by the partially confirmed test; provided, however, that in the case of discharge into waters used primarily for bathing this bacterial standard need not be required except during the bathing season; and (c) to effect a reduction in the oxygen demand of the sewage effluent sufficient to maintain an average dissolved oxygen content in the tidal waters of the district and in the general vicinity of the point of discharge of the sewage into those waters, at a depth of about five feet below the surface, of not less than fifty per centum (50%) saturation during any week of the year. 2. All sewage discharged or permitted to flow into class "B" waters of the district shall first have been so treated as (a) to remove all floating solids and at least ten per centum (10%) of the suspended solids, or such additional percentage as may by reason of local conditions be necessary to avoid the formation of sludge deposits in the class "B" waters of the district; and (b) to effect a reduction in the oxygen demand of the sewage effluent sufficient to maintain an average dissolved oxygen content in the tidal waters of the district and in the general vicinity of the point of discharge of the sewage into those waters, at a depth of about five feet below the surface, of not less than thirty per centum (30%) saturation during any week of the year. ARTICLE VIII 1. Each of the signatory states agrees, that in so far as waters within its jurisdiction may flow into any portion of the district, all sewage discharged or permitted to flow into any stream tributary to the tidal waters of the district shall be treated to that extent, if any, which may be necessary to maintain such tributary immediately above its confluence with the tidal waters of the district in a sanitary condition 5 at least equal to the classification requirements determined by the commission for the tidal waters of the district into which it discharges. The waters of the Hudson river, immediately above the mouth of Sparkhill creek on the westerly side and the New York-New Jersey boundary extended on the easterly side of the river, shall be maintained in a sanitary condition at ebb tide at least equal to the sanitary condition prevailing in the waters of the river immediately below said boundary at flood tide. ARTICLE IX 1. Nothing in this compact shall be construed to repeal or prevent the enactment of any legislation or the enforcement of any requirement by any signatory state imposing any additional conditions and restrictions to further lessen or prevent the pollution of waters within its jurisdiction. ARTICLE X 1. Subject to the provisions of this compact the commission, as soon as may be after its organization, after an investigation and after conducting public hearings upon due notice, shall by order prescribe the reasonable date on or before which each municipality or other entity discharging sewage into the designated waters within the district shall be treating such sewage in accordance with the standards specified in this compact. And such order may prescribe that certain specific progress shall be made at certain definite time prior to the final date fixed in such order. It is the desire of all parties to accomplish the objects herein set forth with the least possible injury to investments which have already been made in the construction of sewage treatment plants within the district, and where changes or additions to such plants would be necessary to conform to the standards herein adopted, a reasonable time to effect such changes or additions may, in the discretion of the commission, be granted. ARTICLE XI 1. Each of the signatory states agrees that it will prohibit the pollution of the said waters within the district in accordance with the several articles of this compact, and that it will enact suitable and adequate legislation which will accomplish effectively the objects of this compact and which will enable its officers, departments, boards and agents to accomplish satisfactorily the obligations and duties assumed by the state under the terms of this compact, and it is further agreed that the courts of the several states shall have jurisdiction to enforce as against any person, corporation, municipality or other entity or any employee, department or subdivision of the respective signatory states any and all provisions of this compact. The commission shall have authority to investigate and determine if the requirements of the compact and/or the orders of the commission pursuant thereto are complied with and if satisfactory progress has not been made, to bring action in its own name in the proper court or courts to compel the enforcement of any and all the provisions of this compact, and/or the orders of the commission pursuant thereto. ARTICLE XII 6 1. In order that future pollution be controlled and existing pollution be abated with the greatest possible economy and efficiency, the commission shall co-operate and advise with the respective state and district authorities having jurisdiction over stream pollution, with a view to coordinating their activities and securing the most satisfactory results at lower cost. For such purpose the commission may prepare a general plan of the most practicable and economical method of securing conformity with the standards herein set forth, having in view the future growth and development of the district. Such plan when completed shall be submitted to the governor and the legislature of each state and to the state agency or agencies or district agencies in charge of sewage problems. The provisions of this act shall not affect the discharge from the outfall pipes of the Passaic valley sewerage system into the water of New York harbor; provided, however, that said discharge shall be in accordance with the terms and provisions of the stipulation entered into on April fourteenth, one thousand nine hundred ten, between the United States of America and Passaic valley sewerage commissioners. ARTICLE XIII 1. Terms used in this compact are defined as follows: "District" means the area more particularly described in article two of this compact. "Commission" means the Interstate Environmental Commission. "Municipality" means any city, incorporated village, borough, county, town, township, district, or any municipality governed by an improvement commission, any joint sewer commission, or any other subdivision of any one of the signatory states, located within the district. "Rule" or "Regulation" means any rule or regulation established by the commission not inconsistent with the constitution of the United States or of any signatory state, promulgated by the commission touching the abatement or pollution of the waters of the district. "Tidal waters" means all those waters which ebb and flow within the designated district. "Dissolved oxygen" is the gaseous oxygen held in solution by the water at any given time. It is expressed as a percentage of the maximum amount of oxygen that would be required to saturate the water under the existing conditions of temperature and salinity. "Pollution" is any foreign matter which renders waters unfit to sustain fish life and unsatisfactory for bathing. "Sewage effluent" means the treated sewage discharged from a treatment plant. "Suspended solids" means those solid particles carried in suspension in the untreated sewage or sewage effluent. "Entity" means any organization or association owning, controlling or operating a sewerage system or treatment plant within a municipality. ARTICLE XIV 1. The signatory states agree to appropriate annually for the salaries, office and other administrative expenses such sum or sums as shall be recommended by the commission and approved by the governors of the signatory states, the state of New York and the state of New Jersey agreeing each to appropriate forty-five per centum (45%) thereof, and the state of Connecticut agreeing to appropriate ten per centum (10%) 7 thereof. The state of New York and the state of New Jersey obligate themselves hereunder, however, only to the extent of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00) each in any one year, and the state of Connecticut obligated itself hereunder only to the extent of three thousand, three hundred thirty-three dollars and thirty-four cents ($3,333.34) in any one year. ARTICLE XV 1. Should any part of this compact be held to be contrary to the constitution of any signatory state or of the United States, all other severable objects of this compact shall continue to be in full force and effect. ARTICLE XVI 1. This compact shall become effective as to the state of New Jersey and the state of New York immediately upon the signing thereof by the representatives of such states, and thereafter it shall also become effective as to the state of Connecticut immediately upon the signing thereof by the representatives of such state; provided, however, that prior to the signing of this compact by the representatives of the state of Connecticut the district as set forth in article two shall not embrace any territory within the jurisdiction of the state of Connecticut, nor shall the commission exercise any jurisdiction or perform any duties or acts affecting such territory; and the appropriations for salaries, office and other administrative expenses shall be borne equally by the state of New York and the state of New Jersey. 2. Nothing herein contained shall affect or abate any action now pending brought by any governmental board or body created by or existing under any of the signatory states. ARTICLE XVII In addition to, or in substitution for, the classifications of waters set forth in Articles VI and VII of this compact and the effluent standards made applicable thereto, the Commission may develop and, after public hearing place in force other classifications of waters and effluent standards within the District. Such classifications shall be on the basis of present or intended uses of the waters in question and shall be accompanied by requirements governing the quality of effluents, receiving waters, or both, as the public interest may make appropriate. Classifications, standards, and requirements adopted pursuant to this Article shall be developed and may be revised with due consideration for uniformity of requirements relating to the quality of effluents and receiving waters within the same classification in all parts of the District. Classifications made pursuant to this Article shall be governed by and shall implement any water and related land resource plans, water use plans or pollution control plans adopted by appropriate agencies of the signatory states, acting singly or in concert, or through joint intergovernmental agencies. Any exercise of authority by the Commission pursuant to this Article shall be subject to any procedural requirements, if applicable, that may be contained in federal law. Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed to abridge or limit any power otherwise existing of a signatory state to make and 8 enforce classifications, standards, and requirements for effluents and receiving waters. § 21-0503. Commissioners. 1. The Governor shall, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint four commissioners to the interstate environmental commission created by the tri-state compact, each of whom shall be a resident voter of the state of New York. The Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, and each of his successors in such office, also shall be a commissioner of the interstate environmental commission. Each commissioner shall hold office until his successor has been appointed and qualified. The commissioners serving on the effective date of this article shall continue in office until the expiration of their terms, or until their successors have qualified, or until otherwise ceasing to be commissioners pursuant to law. The Commissioner of Environmental Conservation may appoint a member of his department to act as his statutory representative on the commission. 2. At the expiration of the term of each appointive commissioner and of each succeeding appointive commissioner, the Governor shall, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint a successor who shall hold office for a term of four years or until his successor has been appointed and qualified. In the event of a vacancy occurring in the office of an appointive commissioner by death, resignation or otherwise, the Governor shall, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint a successor, who shall hold office for the unexpired term. Any commissioner may be removed upon charges and after hearing by the Governor. The commissioners shall have the powers and duties, and be subject to the limitations provided for in the compact and applicable laws of this state. The commissioners shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid their actual expenses incurred and incident to the performance of their duties. § 21-0505. Cooperation of other officers and agencies. All state and municipal departments, commissions, boards and bodies having to do with the waters of the state shall cooperate with the commission and shall furnish to the commission such information as the commission shall request, touching the pollution or the elimination thereof, of the waters of the district. § 21-0507. Enforcement proceedings. Whenever the interstate environmental commission shall be of the opinion that any person, association or corporation, municipal or otherwise, within the district is failing or omitting, or about to fail or omit to do anything required of it by its order or by the laws governing the control or elimination of pollution of the waters of the district, or is doing or is about to do anything, or permitting or about to permit anything to be done contrary to or in violation of such orders or such laws, or the provisions of the compact, it may direct its legal representative to commence an action or a proceeding in the name of the interstate environmental commission in an appropriate court having jurisdiction for the purpose of having such violations or threatened violations stopped and prevented. Such an action or proceeding when directed against any person, firm, association, corporation, municipal 9 or otherwise, within the state may be brought in the supreme court of this state and the said court shall have and is hereby given the necessary and appropriate jurisdiction to determine such action or proceeding upon the merits and/or to grant any relief appropriate to the case. § 21-0509. Powers to be additional; inconsistent provisions. Any powers herein granted to the interstate environmental commission shall be regarded as in aid of and supplemental to, and in no case a limitation upon, any other powers legally vested in said commission. No provision of the Public Health Law and no provision of the Environmental Conservation Law, if such provision of the Environmental Conservation Law was derived from a provision of the Public Health Law, which is inconsistent with the provisions of the tri-state compact shall be applicable to the interstate environmental commission or to any matter governed by the tri-state compact. § 21-0511. Further pollution. No person, firm or corporation, municipal or otherwise, shall create, establish, cause or maintain any source of pollution within the district, not existing on April 1, 1935; provided, however, that after hearing and investigation on application of such person, firm or corporation, municipal or otherwise, the commission may issue such order relating to any such pollution as it shall find will best serve the public interest. § 21-0513. Hearings. Whenever the commission shall determine upon investigation that sewage or other polluting matter from any city, village, town, county, borough, municipality or other entity, as defined in the compact, building, steamboat, or other vessel, or any garbage, offal or any decomposable or putrescible matter of any kind is being discharged into any waters of the district, and whenever in the opinion of the commission such discharge is polluting such waters in a manner injurious to or so as to create a menace to public health, welfare and recreational purposes, or so as to create a public nuisance, or so as to be obnoxious, the commission may order the municipality, corporation or person so discharging sewage, refuse or other matter, to show cause before it or its duly designated representative why such discharge should not be discontinued or why said commission should not issue an order regulating such pollution. A notice shall be served on the municipality, corporation or person so discharging sewage, refuse or other matter, directing such municipality, corporation or person to show cause before the said commission on a date specified in such notice why an order should not be made directing the discontinuance of such discharge or otherwise regulating the said pollution. Such notice shall specify the time when and place where a public hearing will be held by the commission or its duly delegated representative and shall be served personally, or by mail at least fifteen days before said hearing, and in case of a municipality or a corporation, such service shall be upon an officer thereof. The person or persons presiding at such hearing shall take evidence, and after conducting such public hearing, the commission shall by order prescribe a reasonable date on or before which such 10 municipality, corporation or person discharging sewage, refuse or other matter into the designated waters within the district, shall cease to discharge such refuse or other matter and shall treat such sewage in accordance with the standards specified in the compact, and such order may prescribe that certain specific progress shall be made at definite times prior to the final date fixed in such order. The commission shall have authority to require from the officials and persons responsible for the execution of such orders satisfactory evidence at specified times of proper progress in the execution of such orders. § 21-0515. Preparation of plan; consultation. The commission may prepare a general plan of the most practicable and economical method of securing conformity with the standards set forth in the compact, having in view the future growth and development of the district, and to that end shall cooperate and advise with the respective state authorities having jurisdiction over stream pollution and any other bodies having to do with sewage and garbage disposal and the pollution of the waters of the district, with the secretary of the army of the United States, with appropriate committees of congress and any and all other federal authorities having jurisdiction in the premises, with representatives of chambers of commerce and other civic bodies within the district, and with such bodies, commissions and legislative committees as may exist or be created in any of the signatory states, for the purpose of bringing about a comprehensive program for the abatement and elimination of pollution. § 21-0517. Report and recommendations. The commission shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements and shall report to the Governor and the legislature of this state on or before the twenty-fifth day of January in each year, setting forth in detail the transactions conducted by it and shall make recommendations for any legislative action deemed by it advisable, including amendments to the statutes of the signatory states which may be necessary to carry out the intent and purposes of the compact. § 21-0519. Budget. 1. The interstate environmental commission shall submit annually to the Governor in accordance with the laws and practice of this state, for study and consideration by him, an estimate of moneys required to administer, manage and support the commission during the ensuing fiscal year. Such estimate shall include any request for appropriation of funds by New York and shall be accompanied by a tabulation of similar requests which the commission expects to make to each other member state and the formula or factors upon which such respective requests are based. 2. The Commissioner of Environmental Conservation shall be afforded an opportunity to comment on any budget request by the commission, and the commission shall be furnished with a copy of any such comments. § 21-0521. Financial examination. The Comptroller of the state of New York is hereby authorized and empowered, from time to time, to examine the accounts and books of the commission including its receipts, disbursements and such other items 11 referring to its financial standing as such Comptroller may deem proper and to report the results of such examination to the Governor of such state. § 21-0523. Evaluation. On August 15, l964, and at intervals of four years thereafter, the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation shall evaluate the role of the commission with respect to the waters within and commingled with those in New York, and any other matter over which the commission has jurisdiction and shall report to the commission thereon. The Commissioner of Environmental Conservation shall transmit a copy of such report to the Governor. The Commissioner of Environmental Conservation may make such additional reports to the commission and the Governor as he deems appropriate. § 21-0525. Interstate air pollution. When the state of New Jersey shall have enacted legislation of substantially similar import and for so long as such legislation of the state of New Jersey remains in force, the interstate environmental commission shall, in addition to its other powers, duties and functions have authority, in accordance with article three of the tri-state compact set forth in section 21-0501 of this chapter, to engage in activities with respect to interstate air pollution problems between the states of New York and New Jersey as follows: a. to conduct studies; b. to undertake research, testing and development; c. to gather, exchange and disseminate information with and among public or private bodies, persons or organizations and to cooperate with any of them in solving air pollution problems; d. to take samplings and to trace sources of air pollutants; e. to refer complaints to an appropriate enforcement agency or agencies of the states in which the sources are located and to which air pollutants are carried, along with such data and information as it may have obtained with respect to the nature, characteristics, source, path and effect of air pollutants; f. whenever found appropriate on the basis of such studies and research, (1) to make recommendations and reports to the governors and legislatures of the participating states; (2) to recommend to the legislatures, air pollution control agencies and municipalities of the states the establishment of such specific control and enforcement measures as may be necessary to abate air pollution in one state which endangers the health and welfare of people in another state; (3) to join in a requirement upon the federal Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency that he convene a conference pursuant to the federal clean air act, and to participate in such a conference; and (4) to recommend and assist in the establishment of air pollution monitoring systems and air pollution warning systems. The primary effort of the interstate environmental commission under this act shall be directed to air contaminant solids, liquids or gases which are toxic, disagreeable or irritant, or which are destructive. In carrying out its functions under this act, the interstate environmental commission shall make use of the services, facilities and information of existing state, local and federal agencies wherever 12 feasible and available. In furtherance of the purposes of this act, the interstate environmental commission is empowered to accept moneys, property and other donations or gifts from any person whatever, whether public, private or governmental, real or artificial. No trade secret or secret process shall be inquired into by the interstate environmental commission under this act, whether with respect to one or more of the substances or one or more of the processes, operations, techniques or devices used in connection therewith, and whenever a trade secret or secret process is involved, the activity under this act shall be limited to the identification of the device or facility from which the effluent discharged into the outer air derives, and the nature, rate and period of emission of such effluent. All information obtained from any sampling, tracing or other specific inquiry performed under this act shall be kept and maintained as a confidential disclosure and, except as may be essential for the purpose of referring a complaint to an appropriate enforcement agency and of any enforcement proceeding by or before any such agency, shall not be disclosed or published in any way other than such as will not identify a given substance, process, operation, technique or device with the physical location or identity of the source plant or facility, or with the product made or service performed, or with the person or persons using the same. A printed copy of the provisions of this section shall be furnished on request to any person furnishing information to the interstate environmental commission and, in case of an inquiry at a plant or facility, to the person then in charge of the same. So long as the activities conducted pursuant to this act are limited to the states of New York and New Jersey, all of the costs and expenses of the same, direct and indirect, shall be met, within the limits of available appropriations therefor, by said two states in equal shares and all actions of the interstate environmental commission with respect to such activities shall be governed solely by the commissioners from the states of New York and New Jersey, with like effect as though the state of Connecticut were not a participant of said commission, and for this purpose the commission shall establish administratively a separate division on interstate air pollution, and maintain separate financial accounts to reflect its direct and allocated costs and expenses; provided, however, that the full commission, including the members representing the state of Connecticut, shall rule on all matters touching the accounting systems to be used and the charging and allocation of costs and expenses.