§ 24. New York state veterans' cemeteries. 1. Legislative intent. The\nlegislature finds and determines that the devoted service and sacrifice\nof veterans deserve important, unique and eternal recognition by the\nstate of New York. That it is by means of the devoted service and\nsacrifice of veterans that the liberty, freedom and prosperity enjoyed\nby all New Yorkers is maintained and preserved.\n The legislature further finds and determines that to provide this\nimportant, unique and eternal recognition, the state shall establish a\nprogram of New York state veterans' cemeteries in New York. Such program\nshall provide for the construction, establishment, expansion,\nimprovement, support, operation, maintenance and the provision of\nperpetual care for state veterans' cemeteries in this state, and thereby\nfor the memorialization and remembrance of individual veterans and their\nservice to their community, state and nation.\n The legislature additionally finds and determines that it is therefore\nnecessary to provide for the construction and establishment of one or\nmore New York state veterans' cemeteries, and that to thereafter,\nprovide for the expansion, improvement, support, operation, maintenance\nand the provision of perpetual care of all such cemeteries so\nconstructed and established. The legislature also finds and determines\nthat it is appropriate to have the responsibility for the construction,\nestablishment, expansion, improvement, support, operation, maintenance\nand the provision of perpetual care for veterans' cemeteries in this\nstate, to be under the oversight and direction of the state department\nof veterans' services, and its commissioner, individually, and as chair\nof the management board, for each such veterans' cemetery so constructed\nand established.\n 2. The establishment of the first New York state veterans' cemetery.\n(a) The commissioner shall issue, on behalf of the department, a public\nrequest for information for any local government desiring to have the\nfirst state veterans' cemetery located within its political subdivision.\nSuch request shall specify the type of information to be provided,\nincluding, at a minimum, a detailed map of the site including potential\ntransportation routes, the history of the site, the types of burials the\nsite could accommodate, and the estimated number of veterans within a\nseventy-five mile radius of the site. Such requests for information\nshall be returnable to the department by no later than sixty days\nfollowing the issuance of the requests for information. Requests for\ninformation issued by and returned to the department shall be publicly\navailable and posted on the department's website.\n (a-1) Following the deadline for the return of requests for\ninformation pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the\ndepartment, in cooperation with the United States Department of Veterans\nAffairs, and in consultation with, and upon the support of the\ndepartment of state division of cemeteries, is hereby directed to\nconduct an investigation and study on the issue of the construction and\nestablishment of the first New York state veterans' cemetery. Such\ninvestigation and study shall include, but not be limited to:\n (i) Potential site locations for such cemetery, with full\nconsideration as to the needs of the veterans population; only locations\nwithin local governments that have submitted a request for information\npursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall be considered and\neach such submission shall be considered;\n (ii) The size of the cemetery and types of grave sites;\n (iii) The number of annual interments at the cemetery;\n (iv) Transportation accessibility to the cemetery by veterans, their\nfamilies and the general public;\n (v) Costs for construction of the cemetery;\n (vi) Costs of operation of the cemetery, including but not limited to\nstaffing costs to maintain the cemetery;\n (vii) Scalability of the cemetery for
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