N.Y. ENV Law § 75-0103 — New York Code / Act ENV / Article 75 / Section 75-0103
New York state climate action council
Status: in_force

§ 75-0103. New York state climate action council.\n  1. There is hereby established the New York state climate action\ncouncil ("council") which shall consist of the following twenty-two\nmembers:\n  a. the commissioners of transportation, health, economic development,\nagriculture and markets, housing and community renewal, environmental\nconservation, labor, the chairperson of the public service commission,\nthe presidents of the New York state energy research and development\nauthority; New York power authority; Long Island power authority; the\nsecretary of state, or their designees.\n  b. two non-agency expert members appointed by the governor;\n  c. three members to be appointed by the temporary president of the\nsenate;\n  d. three members to be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;\n  e. one member to be appointed by the minority leader of the senate;\nand\n  f. one member to be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly.\n  2. The at large members shall include at all times individuals with\nexpertise in issues relating to climate change mitigation and/or\nadaptation, such as environmental justice, labor, public health and\nregulated industries.\n  3. Council members shall receive no compensation for their services\nbut shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in\nthe performance of their duties.\n  4. The co-chairpersons of the council shall be the commissioner of\nenvironmental conservation and the president of the New York state\nenergy research and development authority or their designee.\n  5. Each member of the council shall be entitled to one vote. The\ncouncil's approval and adoption of the final scoping plan pursuant to\nthis section, and any subsequent interim updates thereto, shall require\na supermajority of the council. No action may be taken by the council\nunless there is a quorum, which shall at all times be a majority of the\nmembers of the council.\n  6. Any vacancies on the council shall be filled in the manner provided\nfor the initial appointment.\n  7. The council shall convene advisory panels requiring special\nexpertise and, at a minimum, shall establish advisory panels on\ntransportation, energy intensive and trade-exposed industries, land-use\nand local government, energy efficiency and housing, power generation,\nand agriculture and forestry. The purpose of the advisory panels shall\nbe to provide recommendations to the council on specific topics, in its\npreparation of the scoping plan, and interim updates to the scoping\nplan, and in fulfilling the council's ongoing duties.\n  a. Each advisory panel shall be chaired by the relevant agency head or\nhis or her designee. The council may convene and dissolve additional\nadvisory panels, in its sole discretion, and pursuant to the\nrequirements herein.\n  b. Advisory panels shall be comprised of no more than five voting\nmembers. The council shall elect advisory panel members, and such\nmembership shall at all times represent individuals with direct\ninvolvement or expertise in matters to be addressed by the advisory\npanels pursuant to this section.\n  c. Advisory panels shall work directly with the council on the\npreparation of the scoping plan pursuant to this section. Each advisory\npanel shall coordinate with the environmental justice advisory group and\nclimate justice working group.\n  d. All agencies of the state or subdivisions thereof may, at the\nrequest of any such advisory panel or the council, provide the advisory\npanel with such facilities, assistance, and data as will enable advisory\npanels to carry out their powers and duties.\n  8. The council shall convene a just transition working group. The\nworking group shall be chaired by the commissioner of labor and the\npresident of the New York state energy research and development\nauthority and shall consist of no less than thirteen, but no more than\nseventeen members and shall include the commissioners of housing and\ncommunity renewal, the chair of the department of public service,\nrepresentatives of environmental justice communities and representatives\nof labor organizations, clean energy developers and at least five\nrepresentatives of distinct energy-intensive industries. The just\ntransition working group shall:\n  a. advise the council on issues and opportunities for workforce\ndevelopment and training related to energy efficiency measures,\nrenewable energy and other clean energy technologies, with specific\nfocus on training and workforce opportunities for disadvantaged\ncommunities, and segments of the population that may be underrepresented\nin the clean energy workforce such as veterans, women and formerly\nincarcerated persons;\n  b. identify energy-intensive industries and related trades and\nidentify sector specific impacts of the state's current workforce and\navenues to maximize the skills and expertise of New York state workers\nin the new energy economy;\n  c. identify sites of electric generating facilities that may be closed\nas a result of a transition to a clean energy sector and the issues and\nopportunities presented by reuse of those sites;\n  d. with respect to potential for greenhouse gas emission limits\ndeveloped by the department of environmental conservation pursuant to\nthis article, advise the council on the potential impacts of carbon\nleakage risk on New York state industries and local host communities,\nincluding the impact of any potential carbon reduction measures on the\ncompetitiveness of New York state business and industry;\n  e. advise the council and conduct stakeholder outreach on any other\nworkforce matters directed by the council; and\n  f. at a time frame determined by the council, prepare and publish\nrecommendations to the council on how to address: issues and\nopportunities related to the energy-intensive and trade-exposed\nentities; workforce development for trade-exposed entities,\ndisadvantaged communities and underrepresented segments of the\npopulation; measures to minimize the carbon leakage risk and minimize\nanti-competitiveness impacts of any potential carbon policies and energy\nsector mandates.\n  g. The just transition working group is hereby authorized and directed\nto conduct a study of and report on:\n  i. The number of jobs created to counter climate change, which shall\ninclude but not be limited to the energy sector, building sector,\ntransportation sector, and working lands sector;\n  ii. The projection of the inventory of jobs needed and the skills and\ntraining required to meet the demand of jobs to counter climate change;\nand\n  iii. Workforce disruption due to community transitions from a low\ncarbon economy.\n  9. The department and the New York state energy research and\ndevelopment authority shall provide the council with such facilities,\nassistance and data as will enable the council to carry out its powers\nand duties.  Additionally, all other agencies of the state or\nsubdivisions thereof may, at the request of the co-chairpersons, provide\nthe council with such facilities, assistance, and data as will enable\nthe council to carry out its powers and duties.\n  10. The council shall consult with the climate justice working group\nestablished in section 75-0111 of this article, the department of state\nutility intervention unit, and the federally designated electric bulk\nsystem operator.\n  11. The council shall on or before two years of the effective date of\nthis article, prepare and approve a scoping plan outlining the\nrecommendations for attaining the statewide greenhouse gas emissions\nlimits in accordance with the schedule established in section 75-0107 of\nthis article, and for the reduction of emissions beyond eighty-five\npercent, net zero emissions in all sectors of the economy, which shall\ninform the state energy planning board's adoption of a state energy plan\nin accordance with section 6-104 of the energy law. The first state\nenergy plan issued subsequent to completion of the scoping plan required\nby this section shall incorporate the recommendations of the council.\n  12. The draft scoping plan shall be developed in consultation with the\nenvironmental justice advisory group, and the climate justice working\ngroup established pursuant to section 75-0111 of this article and other\nstakeholders.\n  a. The council shall hold at least six regional public comment\nhearings on the draft scoping plan, including three meetings in the\nupstate region and three meetings in the downstate region, and shall\nallow at least one hundred twenty days for the submission of public\ncomment.\n  b. The council shall provide meaningful opportunities for public\ncomment from all segments of the population that will be impacted by the\nplan, including persons living in disadvantaged communities as\nidentified pursuant to section 75-0111 of this article.\n  c. On or before three years of the effective date of this article, the\ncouncil shall submit the final scoping plan to the governor, the speaker\nof the assembly and the temporary president of the senate and post such\nplan on its website.\n  13. The scoping plan shall identify and make recommendations on\nregulatory measures and other state actions that will ensure the\nattainment of the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits established\npursuant to section 75-0107 of this article. The measures and actions\nconsidered in such scoping plan shall at a minimum include:\n  a. Performance-based standards for sources of greenhouse gas\nemissions, including but not limited to sources in the transportation,\nbuilding, industrial, commercial, and agricultural sectors.\n  b. Measures to reduce emissions from the electricity sector by\ndisplacing fossil-fuel fired electricity with renewable electricity or\nenergy efficiency.\n  c. Land-use and transportation planning measures aimed at reducing\ngreenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.\n  d. Measures to achieve long-term carbon sequestration and/or promote\nbest management practices in land use, agriculture and forestry.\n  e. Measures to achieve six gigawatts of distributed solar energy\ncapacity installed in the state by two thousand twenty-five, nine\ngigawatts of offshore wind capacity installed by two thousand\nthirty-five, a statewide energy efficiency goal of one hundred\neighty-five trillion British thermal units energy reduction from the two\nthousand twenty-five forecast; and three gigawatts of statewide energy\nstorage capacity by two thousand thirty.\n  f. Measures to promote the beneficial electrification of personal and\nfreight transport and other strategies to reduce greenhouse gas\nemissions from the transportation sector.\n  g. Measures to achieve reductions in energy use in existing\nresidential or commercial buildings, including the beneficial\nelectrification of water and space heating in buildings, establishing\nappliance efficiency standards, strengthening building energy codes,\nrequiring annual building energy benchmarking, disclosing energy\nefficiency in home sales, and expanding the ability of state facilities\nto utilize performance contracting.\n  h. Recommendations to aid in the transition of the state workforce and\nthe rapidly emerging clean energy industry.\n  i. Measures to achieve healthy forests that support clean air and\nwater, biodiversity, and sequester carbon.\n  j. Measures to limit the use of chemicals, substances or products that\ncontribute to global climate change when released to the atmosphere, but\nare not intended for end-use combustion.\n  k. Mechanisms to limit emission leakage as defined in subdivision\neleven of section 75-0101 of this article.\n  l. Verifiable, enforceable and voluntary emissions reduction measures.\n  14. In developing such plan the council shall:\n  a. Consider all relevant information pertaining to greenhouse gas\nemissions reduction programs in states in the United States Climate\nAlliance, as well as other states, regions, localities, and nations.\n  b. Evaluate, using the best available economic models, emission\nestimation techniques and other scientific methods, the total potential\ncosts and potential economic and non-economic benefits of the plan for\nreducing greenhouse gases, and make such evaluation publicly available.\nIn conducting this evaluation, the council shall quantify:\n  i. The economic and social benefits of greenhouse gas emissions\nreductions, taking into account the value of carbon, established by the\ndepartment pursuant to section 75-0113 of this article, any other tools\nthat the council deems useful and pertinent for this analysis, and any\nenvironmental, economic and public health co-benefits (such as the\nreduction of co-pollutants and the diversification of energy sources);\nand\n  ii. The costs of implementing proposed emissions reduction measures,\nand the emissions reductions that the council anticipates achieving\nthrough these measures.\n  c. Take into account the relative contribution of each source or\nsource category to statewide greenhouse gas emissions, and the potential\nfor adverse effects on small businesses, and recommend a de minimis\nthreshold of greenhouse gas emissions below which emission reduction\nrequirements will not apply.\n  d. Identify measures to maximize reductions of both greenhouse gas\nemissions and co-pollutants in disadvantaged communities as identified\npursuant to section 75-0111 of this article.\n  15. The council shall update its plan toward achieving the statewide\ngreenhouse gas emissions limits and shall make such updates available to\nthe governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of\nthe senate and post such updates on its website. The first update shall\noccur in two thousand twenty-eight with subsequent updates due every six\nyears thereafter.\n  16. The council shall identify existing climate change mitigation and\nadaptation efforts at the federal, state, and local levels and may make\nrecommendations regarding how such policies may improve the state's\nefforts.\n  17. The council shall maintain a website that includes public access\nto the scoping plan and greenhouse gas limit information.\n