N.Y. ENV Law § 75-0109 — New York Code / Act ENV / Article 75 / Section 75-0109
Promulgation of regulations to achieve statewide greenhouse gas emissions reductions
Status: in_force

§ 75-0109. Promulgation of regulations to achieve statewide greenhouse\n             gas emissions reductions.\n  1. No later than December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-eight, the\ndepartment, after public workshops and consultation with the council,\nthe environmental justice advisory group, and the climate justice\nworking group established pursuant to section 75-0111 of this article,\nrepresentatives of regulated entities, community organizations,\nenvironmental groups, health professionals, labor unions, municipal\ncorporations, trade associations and other stakeholders, shall, after no\nless than two public hearings, promulgate, in accordance with\nsubdivision three of this section, rules and regulations designed to:\n(i) achieve, to the maximum extent feasible and cost effective, a sixty\npercent reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions from 1990\nemissions by two thousand forty; and (ii) to ensure compliance with the\nstatewide emissions reduction limit established in paragraph b of\nsubdivision one of section 75-0107 of this article, and work with other\nstate agencies and authorities to promulgate regulations required by\nsection eight of chapter one hundred six of the laws of two thousand\nnineteen.\n  2. The regulations promulgated by the department pursuant to this\nsection shall:\n  a. Ensure that the aggregate emissions of greenhouse gases from\ngreenhouse gas emission sources will not exceed the statewide greenhouse\ngas emissions limits established in section 75-0107 of this article.\n  b. Include legally enforceable emissions limits, performance\nstandards, or measures or other requirements to control emissions from\ngreenhouse gas emission sources, with the exception of agricultural\nemissions from livestock.\n  c. Reflect, in substantial part, the findings of the scoping plan\nprepared pursuant to section 75-0103 of this article.\n  d. Include measures to reduce emissions from greenhouse gas emission\nsources that have a cumulatively significant impact on statewide\ngreenhouse gas emissions, such as internal combustion vehicles that burn\ngasoline or diesel fuel and boilers or furnaces that burn oil or natural\ngas.\n  3. In promulgating these regulations, the department shall:\n  a. Design and implement all regulations in a manner that seeks to be\nequitable, to minimize costs and to maximize the total benefits to New\nYork, and encourages early action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;\n  b. Ensure that greenhouse gas emissions reductions achieved are real,\npermanent, quantifiable, verifiable, and enforceable by the department;\n  c. Ensure that activities undertaken to comply with the regulations do\nnot result in a net increase in co-pollutant emissions or otherwise\ndisproportionately burden disadvantaged communities as identified\npursuant to section 75-0111 of this article;\n  d. Prioritize measures to maximize net reductions of greenhouse gas\nemissions and co-pollutants in disadvantaged communities as identified\npursuant to section 75-0111 of this article and encourage early action\nto reduce greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutants;\n  e. Incorporate measures to minimize leakage; and\n  f. Consider the following, in the course of developing a regulatory\nprogram or programs as required by this section:\n  i. the feasibility and adoption of: programs that utilize regulatory\nmechanisms, including a market-based economy-wide cap-and-invest program\nthat could be linked to other jurisdictions and provide market\ncertainty; clean energy supply standards; and other regulations;\n  ii. the affordability of the programs identified in subparagraph i of\nthis paragraph for state residents, businesses and other entities,\nincluding how the pace and sequencing of the emissions reduction\nstrategies affect total costs over time, and through assessing energy\ncost impacts across customer classes and uses, as well as the\nutilization of effective cost containment measures as needed;\n  iii. the importance of fostering the state's economic growth and\ncompetitiveness, including the creation and maintenance of well-paying\nand family-sustaining jobs;\n  iv. the economy-wide emissions reduction strategies that result in\nimproved public health, increased quality of life, and a cleaner\nenvironment for all New Yorkers, and that any new revenue equitably\nsupports these outcomes;\n  v. the ability to maximize available funding and other resources to\nsupport emissions reductions; and\n  vi. the development and commercialization of low and zero emission\ntechnologies to achieve the goals of programs identified in subparagraph\ni of this paragraph.\n  4. a. The department may establish an alternative compliance mechanism\nto be used by sources subject to greenhouse gas emissions limits to\nachieve net zero emissions.\n  b. The use of such mechanism shall account for not greater than\nfifteen percent of statewide greenhouse gas emissions estimated as a\npercentage of nineteen ninety emissions pursuant to section 75-0105 of\nthis article, provided that the use of this mechanism must offset a\nquantity greater than or equal to the greenhouse gases emitted. The\noffset of greenhouse gas emissions shall not result in disadvantaged\ncommunities having to bear a disproportionate burden of environmental\nimpacts.\n  c. The department shall verify that greenhouse gas emission offset\nprojects authorized pursuant to this subdivision represent greenhouse\ngas equivalent emission reductions or carbon sequestration that are\nreal, additional, verifiable, enforceable, and permanent.\n  d. Any greenhouse gas emissions offset project shall comply with all\nof the requirements of this subdivision.\n  e. The department shall establish an application process that, at a\nminimum, requires a source to sufficiently demonstrate that compliance\nwith the greenhouse gas emissions limits is not technologically\nfeasible, and that the source has reduced emissions to the maximum\nextent practicable. After an initial four year period, the department\nshall review the participation of a source in this mechanism, and make a\ndetermination as to the source's continued need for an alternative\ncompliance, considering the extent to which the source is utilizing the\nbest available technology standards.\n  f. Sources in the electric generation sector shall not be eligible to\nparticipate in such mechanism.\n  g. The following types of projects shall be prohibited:\n  i. waste-to-energy projects, including incineration and pyrolysis; and\n  ii. biofuels used for energy or transportation purposes.\n  h. Any greenhouse gas emission offset project approved by the\ndepartment shall:\n  i. be designed to provide a discernable benefit to the environment\nrather than to the source;\n  ii. be located in the same county, and within twenty-five linear\nmiles, of the source of emissions, to the extent practicable;\n  iii. enhance the conditions of the ecosystem or geographic area\nadversely affected; and\n  iv. substantially reduce or prevent the generation or release of\npollutants through source reduction.\n  i. A greenhouse gas emission offset project shall not be approved by\nthe department where the project:\n  i. is required pursuant to any local, state or federal law,\nregulation, or administrative or judicial order;\n  ii. contains measures which the source would have undertaken anyway\nwithin the next five years;\n  iii. contributes to environmental research at a college or university;\nor\n  iv. is a study or assessment without a commitment to implement the\nresults.\n  j. In approving greenhouse gas emission offset projects, the\ndepartment shall prioritize projects that maximize public health and\nenvironmental benefits within the state and especially localized\nbenefits in disadvantaged communities, defined pursuant to section\n75-0111 of this article.\n  k. The department shall establish a public registry of greenhouse gas\nemission offset projects approved pursuant to this subdivision.\n  l. Prior to the inclusion of any alternative compliance mechanism in\nthe regulations, to the extent feasible and in the furtherance of\nachieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, the department\nshall do all of the following:\n  i. consult with the council, the environmental justice advisory group,\nand the climate justice working group;\n  ii. consider the potential for direct, indirect, and cumulative\nemission impacts from this mechanism, including localized impacts in\ndisadvantaged communities as identified pursuant to section 75-0111 of\nthis article;\n  iii. design the alternative compliance mechanism to prevent any\nincrease in the emissions of co-pollutants; and\n  iv. maximize additional environmental, public health, and economic\nbenefits for the state and for disadvantaged communities identified\npursuant to section 75-0111 of this article, as appropriate.\n