BILL NUMBER: S8158A
SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the climate
resilient New York act of 2024
 
PURPOSE:
To effectively coordinate and unify climate adaptation efforts between
agencies and departments to maximize climate change resilience across
New York.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the executive law by adding a new article 43.
§ 930 declares the short title to be the "climate resilient New York
act of 2024."
§ 931 declares the purpose of the act-to protect and prepare New York
from climate threats through a coordinated approach consisting of estab-
lishing a statewide office of climate resilience within the executive
branch and office of the governor, establishing a chief resilience offi-
cer and resilience coordinators within the state, providing a resilience
plan, and establishing an interagency resilience coordination team.
§ 932 outlines the functions, powers, and duties of the Office of
Resilience.
§ 933 outlines the functions, powers, and duties of the Chief Resili-
ence Officer.
§ 934 declares the purpose of the State resilience plan and details
minimum components for the plan to include.
§ 935 establishes the State Agency Resilience Coordinators for each
agency and dictates their purpose.
§ 936 creates an Interagency Resilience Coordination Team and details
their purpose, composition, meeting frequency, and missions.
§ 937 establishes a Resilience Task Force to assist various department
heads.
§ 938 requires reporting before a certain date and every 5 years ther-
eafter with direction to make the report publicly available.
Section 2 states the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Several agencies and departments are mandated to consider and take
action for climate and sustainability efforts. However, there is no
requirement for these entities to coordinate with one another when
taking such actions. The lack of inter-agency coordination leads to
redundancies and deficits as New York battles climate change and the
associated impacts.
By creating a centralized statewide resilience plan and facilitating
communication between the leaders of agencies and departments, these
entities can better allocate their respective efforts to maximize the
aggregate public utility. Additionally, this legislation also estab-
lishes teams, task forces, and liaisons to facilitate and improve the
collective efforts of all charged departments and agencies. Many commu-
nities across the state are already feeling the effects of climate
change, and this legislation provides-critical solutions for New York to
prevail.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TED.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.