BILL NUMBER: S824
SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
climate change adaptation cost recovery program and requirements for
climate change adaptive infrastructure projects; to amend the labor law,
in relation to the use of funds from the climate change adaptation fund
for certain climate risk-related and energy transition projects; to
amend the tax law, in relation to the disclosure of certain data from
returns of petroleum or fossil fuel businesses to the department of
environmental conservation or the New York state energy research and
development authority; to amend the state finance law, in relation to
expenditure of funds from the climate change adaptation fund; to repeal
section 76-0105 of the environmental conservation law, relating to labor
and job standards and worker protection; and to amend a chapter of the
laws of 2024 amending the environmental conservation law relating to
establishing the climate change adaptation cost recovery program, and
amending the state finance law relating to establishing the climate
change adaptation fund, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.
2129-B and A. 3351-B, in relation to legislative findings and severabil-
ity
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This is a chapter amendment to the Climate Change Superfund Act (Chapter
679 of 2024) to revise the cost recovery administrative process, add
additional detail on the adaptation program, increase project spending
flexibility, and provide additional time for implementation.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 makes technical changes to the legislative findings.
Sections 2 and 3 make a number of amendments to cost recovery and adap-
tation plan components of the underlying chapter within the Environ-
mental Conservation Law (ECL), including:
1. Adding additional clarity regarding the process for determining
responsible parties, and providing the Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) with additional time to conduct its analysis prior to
making cost recovery demands.
2. Extending the covered period by six years to 2000-2024(the covered
period is 2000-2018 in the underlying chapter).
3. Providing explicit authority to DEC to obtain relevant information
from fossil fuel companies.
4. Giving DEC flexibility in establishing payment mechanics' within the
existing framework and setting additional penalties for nonpayment.
5. Requiring that DEC develop a process to publicly post extraction and
refining data.
6. Augmenting the process for issuing and contesting notices of cost
recovery demand for purposes of providing more detail for both DEC and
fossil fuel companies.
7. Giving DEC additional time to promulgate cost recovery regulations
(30 months instead of one year).
8. Removing the involvement of the Department of Tax and Finance (DTF)
in most cost recovery implementation matters.
9. Requiring that the adaptation plan contain additional detail regard-
ing project types, that the plan be subject to public input, and that
the plan due date will be 18 months after cost recovery regulations are
due (rather than two years after the effective date of the underlying
chapter).
10. Requiring that additional information be reported in the program
evaluation.
11. Making technical updates to the labor protections to conform to
similar provisions of law.
Section 4 conforms provisions of the Labor Law regarding the Climate
Action Fund to include the Climate Change Adaptation Fund in place of
the underlying chapter's approach of establishing prevailing wage
requirements in the ECL, and removes the job plan requirements.
Section 5 amends the Tax Law to clarify that DTF may share fossil fuel
company tax information with DEC and NYSERDA for purposes of implement-
ing the Climate Change Superfund Act.
Section 6 amends the State Finance Law provisions regarding the Climate
Change Adaptation Fund to ensure legislative appropriation oversight of
expenditures, allow up to one percent of cost recovery receipts to be
spent on agency expenses for development of adaptation projects, permit
transfer of funds to other accounts to support adaptation projects, and
require that appropriations include detail on project type.
Sections 7 and 8 provide for severability.
Section 9 provides for guidance on statutory construction.
Section 10 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This legislation is a negotiated revision to the underlying chapter to
make technical revisions to the administrative processes for determining
responsible parties (fossil fuel companies with a payment obligation)
and recovering amounts owed, provide additional detail on the adaptation
plan, and add flexibility in the use of funds for adaptation projects.
In particular, with regard to the cost recovery components of the
program, the bill limits emissions analysis to extraction and refining
data (rather than all emissions throughout the production and supply
chains), extends the covered period from 2000-2018 to 2000-2024,
provides additional guidance to DEC to develop its analysis, provides
DEC additional time to promulgate regulations and issue cost recovery
demands, imposes additional procedural requirements on the cost recovery
administrative process, provides DEC additional flexibility in structur-
ing payments, and strengthens consequences for nonpayment.
In terms of the adaptation components of the program, this legislation
provides agencies with additional time to develop the adaptation plan,
refines the details that need to be included in the plan, and requires
additional public engagement in plan development. The program evaluation
must also contain additional detail.
This chapter amendment also makes clear that all appropriations for
adaptation projects are subject to legislative oversight, allows up to
one percent of program receipts to be used for agencies' adaptation
project administrative expenses, and permits limited transfers to other
funds for adaptation project support.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a chapter amendment to Chapter 679 of the Laws of 2024.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Similar to the underlying chapter. Adds additional flexibility for the
Executive to implement projects, and allows for up to one percent of
proceeds for administrative expenses.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
On the same date and in the same manner as the underlying chapter.

Statutes affected:
S824: 224-f labor law, 314 tax law