Environmental Wins Abound in NY’s 2022 Legislative Session

The New York State legislative session, which ran from January by June, noticed large wins for the surroundings. For the primary time in two years, NRDC and our companions, alongside lots of of activists, flooded the halls of the state capital in Albany to champion new insurance policies to guard the local weather, the surroundings, and New Yorkers’ well being.

Certain points notably resonated with lawmakers, and most of the payments that handed fall into the next themes:

• Protecting on a regular basis New Yorkers—those that face the cumulative impacts of environmental and social stressors, inconsistent entry to water utility providers, and flood dangers;
• Prioritizing power effectivity in merchandise and constructing building to reduce our carbon footprint;
• Mitigating the influence of know-how—from cryptocurrency to e-waste—on the surroundings; and
• Dedicating funding to statewide environmental and local weather well being initiatives.  

With the instruments to forestall local weather disaster being dismantled on the federal degree, it’s now extra essential than ever that we take daring motion on the state and native ranges. New York has for years taken robust positions on local weather, and the strides made this legislative session will proceed this crucial management.  

Read on for our recap of the 2022 legislative session. And in a companion weblog, we summarize the methods we’re already gearing up for 2023.

KEY ENVIRONMENTAL VICTORIES THIS SESSION:

The following payments handed the New York State Senate and Assembly and now head to Governor Hochul’s desk to be signed into regulation.  

Considering the Cumulative Impacts of Pollution in Environmental Justice Communities

Environmental air pollution shouldn’t be skilled equally. Low-income communities and communities of colour are burdened with a disproportionate variety of services like factories, energy crops, and rubbish dumps—dealing with overlapping air pollution from quite a few services whereas on the identical time being extra susceptible to the well being impacts of that air pollution resulting from different social situations they expertise. The compounding results of social and environmental stressors on folks’s well being is named cumulative impacts.

Earlier this session, New York State handed groundbreaking legislation that requires the state to contemplate the cumulative impacts of air pollution when approving new services. The state should carry out an environmental evaluation for all proposed fossil gas or energy-intensive initiatives which are supposed to be sited in low-to-moderate revenue communities, and that evaluation will measure the historic and cumulative environmental burdens to which that group has already been subjected. This landmark laws implies that air pollution and well being are thought-about not on a facility-by-facility foundation, however holistically. Once Governor Hochul indicators, doubtless someday this fall, New York will be a part of New Jersey because the second state in the nation to go this type of laws.

The marketing campaign to go this laws was championed by Environmental Justice teams WE ACT, South Bronx Unite, JustGreen Partnership, and others. Read more about addressing cumulative impacts in Environmental Justice communities.

Reporting Water Utility Service and Shutoffs

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how essential water, electrical energy, warmth, and different important providers are to protecting New Yorkers protected and wholesome. And but, nonetheless little is thought about whether or not utility providers—in explicit, water and sewer providers—are presently inexpensive for New Yorkers.

This session, the New York State Legislature handed a bill to require all water utilities to report back to the state, and concurrently put up on-line, information on water shutoffs, reconnections, liens, arrears, late charges, prolonged fee plans, and buyer help applications. The invoice requires the state utility fee to submit studies to the legislature making findings and suggestions regarding affordability of water service, maintain public hearings for suggestions on the fee’s preliminary report, and put up utilities’ uncooked information on the fee’s web site.

If signed by the governor, this might be the nation’s first laws mandating all water utilities (together with publicly owned techniques) to report this wide selection of knowledge, whether or not on a short lived or everlasting foundation. This invoice, which additionally covers electrical and fuel utilities, is a serious step ahead to reinforce transparency and assist facilitate future advocacy. It will present lawmakers with a full understanding of the dimensions and extent of the state’s water affordability disaster, in order that they will develop insurance policies to assist clients and utilities keep inexpensive entry to important providers. Read more about the water utility bill.

Informing Renters about their Homes’ Flood Risks

Flooding is the most typical and costly kind of catastrophe in the U.S. Its results will be devastating, main to wreck or lack of properties, displacement, harm and sickness, and even lack of life—with communities of colour and different marginalized folks on the highest danger. And with the more and more felt results of local weather change, the chance of flooding is shortly growing. 

Thanks to laws handed this session, New York renters will quickly know their properties’ flood dangers. Under this bill, landlords will probably be required to inform potential renters a house’s flood danger, together with whether or not the property has flooded beforehand. When signed into regulation, New York will be a part of solely a handful of states that give renters such rights. To safe this win for New York renters, NRDC labored intently with native companions Waterfront Alliance and the Rise to Resilience coalition. Read extra about disclosing flood dangers and this win for New York renters.

Addressing Mount Vernon’s Environmental Justice Crisis

Residents of Mount Vernon, a small metropolis in Westchester County, are burdened with a failing sewer infrastructure system. Nearly each day for the final 20 years, uncooked sewage has gushed into residents’ properties, backing up into bathrooms, bathtubs, and sinks. At its core, that is an environmental justice concern; Mount Vernon is 65 % Black and the second most densely populated metropolis in the state, and has skilled a decades-long underinvestment in sewer infrastructure mixed with a longstanding historical past of systemic racism that forces low-income communities and folks of colour to take care of disproportionate environmental harms.

In April, Governor Hochul introduced a $150 million funding dedication for the City of Mount Vernon to revive dependable sewer service to residents, make emergency repairs, and assist households with residence repairs wanted due to sewage backups. This historic infrastructure funding marks an enormous win for Mount Vernon. Read extra about how the state is addressing the environmental injustice in Mount Vernon.

Making Household Appliances and Buildings extra Energy Efficient

Energy effectivity is the science of attaining the identical or higher efficiency whereas utilizing much less power—and setting requirements for power effectivity is a robust coverage device with a confirmed success fee in decreasing power consumption. This session, we supported the Advanced Building Codes, Appliance and Equipment Efficiency Standards Act of 2022, which units increased effectivity requirements for a broad vary of client merchandise together with TVs, computer systems, air purifiers, and plenty of extra merchandise. These new requirements will disallow the sale of the worst-performing variations of those merchandise, thereby decreasing power and water consumption, curbing carbon emissions, and saving New Yorkers cash on power prices.

The invoice additionally updates the mathematics underlying the power codes for buildings. By incorporating greenhouse fuel emissions and the total helpful lifetime of constructing elements into the life cycle evaluation in the State Energy Code’s scope and design course of, these requirements will totally incorporate the advantages of power effectivity and ultra-efficient warmth pumps and account for the detrimental local weather impacts of oil and fuel warmth.

The Codes and Standards invoice handed each homes in the New York State Legislature and was signed into regulation by Governor Hochul on July fifth. Overall, it’ll present a $15 billion financial savings for NY shoppers in the subsequent 15 years. Read extra in regards to the Advanced Building Codes, Appliance and Equipment Efficiency Standards Act of 2022.

Investing in Energy Efficiency

This spring, three state companies—the New York Power Authority (NYPA), New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)—launched the Clean Heat for All Challenge. The problem prompts tools producers to develop new energy-efficient electrification merchandise to supply clear power to public housing residents. This marks a landmark $250 million funding in direction of modern fossil-free heating sources and warmth pump applied sciences. Read more about the #CleanHeat4All challenge.

The Governor additionally introduced a dedication to 2 million climate-friendly properties in January in her State of the State deal with, together with substantial funding in low-income properties by a devoted inexperienced electrification fund, as a part of Homes and Community Renewal’s (HCR) new $25 billion, five-year housing capital plan. Read more about the Governor’s plan to achieve 2 million climate-friendly homes by 2030.

Transitioning to Non-Fossil Fuel Heating Systems

Protecting the way forward for our planet depends on stopping the burning of soiled, polluting fossil fuels and transitioning to renewable power sources. Last month, the New York Public Service Commission took an essential step, issuing two orders that can facilitate strategic planning for a statewide transition to non-fossil gas heating techniques.

The first, the “Gas Planning Order,” directs fuel utilities to submit long-term plans for the subsequent 20 years. Each plan will embody a depreciation evaluation with varied situations, together with having a completely depreciated all fuel techniques pipes and tools by 2050; screening all capital initiatives for non-pipeline alternate options, particularly leak susceptible pipe (LPP) replacements; and a quantification and evaluation of present fuel system extension subsidies that totally pay for many new buyer connections.

The second, referred to as the “CLCPA Implementation Order,” makes certain that fuel utility firms adjust to the local weather targets of New York’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Gas utilities will probably be required to conduct a “Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reduction Pathways Study” that analyzes the dimensions, timing, prices, dangers, uncertainties, and buyer invoice impacts of attaining important and quantifiable reductions in GHG emissions from the usage of fuel delivered by the Utilities. Read extra in regards to the PSC orders. Read extra about how fuel utility planning can transition us to a clear power future.

Assessing the Climate Cost of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency could also be altering the monetary panorama—nevertheless it additionally brings probably harmful impacts on the local weather. Since cryptocurrencies exist solely on-line, they rely upon crypto mining, a comparatively new know-how that requires highly effective pc rigs to work nonstop to unravel complicated equations—in the method, consuming monumental quantities of electrical energy. Even worse, the cryptocurrency business has introduced again on-line defunct oil and fuel energy crops for use for these mining operations.

This session, the New York State Legislature handed a restricted, two-year moratorium on crypto mining operations. The moratorium targets the dramatically energy-intensive, wasteful Proof-of-Work mining services that use behind-the-meter energy crops not reliant on the prevailing electrical grid. Under this new invoice, the Department of Environmental Conservation may even be required to check the environmental impacts of the crypto business. The invoice now goes to Governor Hochul for signature. Read extra in regards to the crypto’s local weather downside.

Reducing Electronic Waste with a “Right to Repair” Bill

For years, producers of digital merchandise have had a monopoly on restore providers—in different phrases, you’ll typically must go to the identical retailer you acquire your sensible telephone to get it repaired. And as a result of repairs are sometimes not made resulting from lack of elements or excessive prices, these merchandise have grow to be a part of an increasing digital waste downside, winding up in landfills or illegally disposed.

This session, New York grew to become the primary state in the nation to go a broad “proper to restore” digital tools invoice. Under the Fair Repair Act, producers of digital merchandise like cellphones and computer systems are required to make diagnostic info and restore elements obtainable to impartial repairers and shoppers.

Funding for Environmental and Climate Health

In addition to those many legislative and regulatory wins, New York State handed a price range this yr that dedicates large funding in direction of environmental initiatives. These embody:

• A $400 million funding in the state’s Environmental Protection Fund;
• A $4.2 billion Bond Act;
• A dedication to affect 2 million properties;
• A $500 million dedication to Clean Water Infrastructure Investments;
• A vastly expanded wetlands protections; and
• The growth of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) advantages by $2.5 million.

As we glance again on the successes of this legislative session, we all know that the struggle to guard our planet and our neighbors is way from over.

Read about how we plan to construct from the momentum of this session’s wins as we stay up for subsequent session.