2023 New York Laws › ENV - Environmental Conservation › Article 70 - Uniform Procedures › 70-0118 - Disproportionate Impacts on Disadvantaged Communities.

* § 70-0118. Disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged communities.
1. For the purposes of this section:
(a)  "Disadvantaged  communities"  shall  have  the  same  meaning  as
subdivision five of section 75-0101 of this chapter.
(b) "Applicable permit" shall  mean  a  permit,  excluding  a  general
permit, applied for pursuant to:
(i)  title  fifteen  of article fifteen of this chapter for a facility
withdrawing and using over twenty million gallons per day of  water  for
cooling purposes;
(ii) article seventeen of this chapter;
(iii) article nineteen of this chapter;
(iv) title seventeen of article twenty-three of this chapter; or
(v)  title  three,  title seven, title nine or title eleven of article
twenty-seven of this chapter.
2. (a) When a new project subject to an applicable permit may cause or
contribute  more  than  a  de  minimis  amount  of  pollution   to   any
disproportionate  pollution  burden  on  a  disadvantaged community, the
department shall require  the  applicant  to  prepare  or  cause  to  be
prepared an existing burden report.
(b)  In  the  case of an application for renewal or modification of an
applicable permit not subject to the provisions of paragraph (a) of this
subdivision which may cause or contribute more than a de minimis  amount
of pollution to any disproportionate pollution burden on a disadvantaged
community the department shall require the applicant to prepare or cause
to  be  prepared  an  existing burden report; provided, however that the
department may elect not to require such existing burden report  if  the
permit would serve an essential environmental, health, or safety need of
the   disadvantaged   community   for   which  there  is  no  reasonable
alternative.
(c) Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraphs (a) or (b) of  this
subdivision,  no  existing  burden  report  shall  be  required  for  an
application for a renewal of a permit if an existing burden  report  has
been prepared with respect to such permit within the previous ten years.
3.  (a)  When considering an application for an applicable permit, the
department shall consider the existing burden report,  if  any,  and  an
administrative  record  that  includes,  but is not limited to, comments
received from the public in the disadvantaged community.
(b) The department shall not issue an  applicable  permit  for  a  new
project  if it determines that the project will cause or contribute more
than a de minimis amount of pollution to  a  disproportionate  pollution
burden on the disadvantaged community.
(c)  In the case of an application for a modification of an applicable
permit, the department shall  not  issue  an  applicable  permit  if  it
determines  that the issuance of the permit would significantly increase
the existing disproportionate  pollution  burden  on  the  disadvantaged
community.
(d) In the case of an application for renewal of an applicable permit,
the  department  shall  not  issue an applicable permit if it determines
that   the   project   would   significantly   increase   the   existing
disproportionate pollution burden on the disadvantaged community.
4.  The  department shall require actions to implement any appropriate
operational changes which would  reduce  the  pollution  burden  on  the
disadvantaged  community as a condition of an applicable permit, only if
such actions are  reasonable  and  practicable,  as  determined  by  the
department.
5.  The  department,  in  consultation  with the department of health,
shall develop the scope of the existing burden report and may adapt such
requirements based on whether a permit application is for a new project,

modification, or a renewal of a permit. The department shall provide for
at least a thirty-day public comment  period  prior  to  finalizing  the
scope  of  the report. The report shall provide for an assessment of the
following information:
(a)  relevant  baseline  data  on  existing  burdens,  including  from
relevant  criteria  used  to  designate  the  particular   disadvantaged
communities  pursuant  to  subdivision  one  of  section 75-0111 of this
chapter;
(b) the environmental or public health stressors already borne by  the
disadvantaged community as a result of existing conditions located in or
affecting the disadvantaged community;
(c)  the potential or projected contribution of the proposed action to
existing pollution burdens in the community; and
(d) existing and potential benefits of the project  to  the  community
including increased housing supply, or alleviation of existing pollution
burdens  that  may  be  provided  by  the project, including operational
changes to the project that would reduce the  pollution  burden  on  the
disadvantaged community.
* NB Effective December 30, 2024