BILL NUMBER: S6297REVISED 1/22/24
SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
New York state climate action council
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure that the requirement for the state to direct at least 35% of
the benefits of spending clean energy and energy efficiency programs,
projects, or investments as outlined in the Climate Leadership and
Community Protection Act (CLCPA) to disadvantaged communities incorpo-
rates a public engagement process
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends Section 75-0117 of the Environmental
Conservation Law to outline a public engagement process that must occur
before clean energy and energy efficiency investment decisions can be
made in disadvantaged communities. The process may be informed by the
CLCPA-directed report on barriers to and opportunities for community
ownership of services and commodities in disadvantaged communities as
outlined in § 6 of Ch. 106 of 2019, the CLCPA.
Section two of the bill sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
On June 19th, 2019, the New York State legislature passed the historic
Climact Act (CLCPA), requiring a statewide reduction of economy-wide
greenhouse gas emissions of 40 percent by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050
from 1990 levels. One of the better-known provisions of the Climate Act
is that disadvantaged communities, defined as "communities that bear
burdens of negative public health effects, environmental pollution,
impacts of climate change, and possess certain socioeconomic criteria,
or comprise high concentrations of low- and moderate-income households"
must receive at least 35%, with a goal of 40%, of the benefits of spend-
ing on clean energy and energy efficiency programs, projects, or invest-
ments. While the exact methodology for defining and directing benefits
of public spending has yet to be defined by state agencies, the Climate
Act specifies that it should be in the areas of housing, workforce
development, pollution reduction, low-income energy assistance, energy,
transportation, and economic development.
The Climate Action Council's Final Scoping Plan, outlining how the state
will achieve the emission reduction goals of the CLCPA, pledged that
"(s)tate entities will work to improve engagement with residents and
representatives of Disadvantaged Communities to identify and understand
barriers and opportunities at the local level to increase participation
in the clean energy transition and enhancing community resilience. This
work will include ensuring that agencies and authorities are creating
conditions for communities that would not typically engage in adminis-
trative processes to do so" (p. 6 of the plan). Page 262 of the CLCPA
Draft Scoping Plan also recommends "a process to obtain input from resi-
dents of (d)isadvantaged (c)ommunities in...investment decisions."
Beyond this scoping plan promise, however, there is nothing in the CLCPA
to actually guarantee that state agencies like the Department of Envi-
ronmental Conservation (DEC), NYS Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA), and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) engage the
members of the disenfranchised communities whom they are purporting to
help with a dedicated investment goal in what that investment should
look like. This bill would create a public engagement process which the
state must adhere to before it can make CLCPA spending decisions. The
process would entail coordination with local community-based organiza-
tions (CBOs), including fair compensation for CBOs who create opportu-
nities for public input, a language access plan for non-English profi-
cient individuals, accommodations for individuals with disabilities, and
integration of the principles of cultural competence and racial, ethnic,
and social justice into every aspect of the process.
Members of environmental justice communities deserve a say in the design
of the clean energy and energy efficiency projects in their own back-
yards. This bill helps fulfill the CLCPA's promise that those who have
borne the brunt of our state's climate pollution will reap the rewards
of the green energy revolution.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023: Died in Environmental Conservation
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninety first day after which it shall
have become a law.

Statutes affected:
S6297: 75-0117 environmental conservation law