NY State Senate Bill 2019-S8447

Senate Bill S8447

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Authorizes and directs the department of health to update the report entitled "New York State Department of Health Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) in New York State"

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 03, 2020	referred to health

2019-S8447 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health

2019-S8447 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes and directs the department of health to update the report entitled "New York State Department of Health Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) in New York State".

2019-S8447 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8447

SPONSOR: MAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to authorizing and directing the department of health
to update the report entitled "New York State Department of Health
Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) in New York State"

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to incorporate the public health lessons
learned from the COVID-19 pandemic into the existing Climate and Health
Profile document first created by the DOH in 2015 so that the state may
be better prepared to anticipate and respond to future challenges of an
epidemiological nature.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This act directs the Department of Health to update the climate and
health profile produced in the 2015 report entitled "New York State

Department of Health Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE)
in New York State".

The update will include the following climate-related public health
issues:

   a. Health vulnerability indicators;

   b. Disease burden projection tools;

   c. An expansion of vector borne disease vulnerability, including, but
not limited to, vulnerability to COVID-19 or similar viruses; and

   d. Any other climate-related public health issue the department deems
appropriate in the updated report.

A draft copy of the updated report shall be circulated to state agencies
for comment and recommendations and to the climate action council estab-
lished pursuant to the CLCPA, section 75-0103 of the environmental
conservation law.

The final updated BRACE report would be submitted to the governor, the
legislature, the climate action council, and agencies throughout the
state no later than 2 years after the effective date of the act.

The updated report would also be made available on the department's
website.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first promoted the
creation of a framework of strategies that states' health officials
could use to help communities prepare for the health effects of climate
change in 2010. New York received a grant to conduct and complete its
own climate and health profile not long after and produced its report in
2015. The report contains short and long range projections included
epidemiological analyses, along with atmospheric data, to help the state
more effectively anticipate, prepare for, and respond to a range of
climate sensitive health impacts. The impacts of climate change have so
dramatically increased in just the past five years that the 2015 BRACE
report is desperately in need of update.

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has presented a public health challenge like
none other to this state since the 1917-18 Spanish Flu. We must waste no
time incorporating and building upon the lessons this novel coronavirus
has taught us so that we can successfully prepare for future challenges
of this type. The updated BRACE report will serve as an excellent and
evolving guidebook, consisting of the evolving body of climate science
and its intersection with public health. New York must not only record
the lessons from the COVID-19 experience, it must use them to strengthen
its resources for combatting future public health crises. Doing this
will save lives, reduce the financial burden of emergency response, and
help government resume the job of promoting quality of life for all New
Yorkers.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately

2019-S8447 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8447
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 3, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT in relation to authorizing and directing the department of health
   to update the report entitled "New York  State  Department  of  Health
   Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) in New York State"

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The department of health  is  authorized  and  directed  to
 update  the climate and health profile set forth in the June 2015 report
 entitled "New  York  State  Department  of  Health  Building  Resilience
 Against  Climate  Effects  (BRACE) in New York State". Such update shall
 include, but not be limited to, the following New York state climate-re-
 lated public health issues:
   a. health vulnerability indicators;
   b. disease burden projection tools;
   c. an expansion of vector borne disease vulnerability, including,  but
 not limited to, vulnerability to COVID-19; and
   d.  any other climate-related public health issue the department deems
 appropriate to include or expand upon in such report update.
   § 2. The department of health shall seek funding for the BRACE  report
 update  from the federal center for disease control and any other source
 that provided funding for the initial report.
   § 3. The updated BRACE report shall  be  used  by  the  department  of
 health and any other state agency with appropriate expertise and author-
 ity in matters relating to public health and/or climate effects in order
 to advance public health initiatives of the state following the COVID-19
 pandemic.
   §  4.  On  or  before one year after the effective date of this act, a
 draft copy of the updated BRACE report shall be circulated  to  agencies
 throughout the state for comment and recommendations.
   §  5.  On  or  before one year after the effective date of this act, a
 draft copy of the updated BRACE report shall be submitted  to  New  York
 state climate action council established by section 75-0103 of the envi-
 ronmental  conservation  law. Such council shall comment and make recom-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16483-01-0

 S. 8447                             2
 
 mendations the council deems appropriate to help achieve  the  statewide
 greenhouse  gas  emissions  limits  and  clean energy goals set forth in
 article 75 of the environmental conservation law.
   §  6.  On  or before two years after the effective date of this act, a
 copy of the final updated BRACE report shall be submitted to the  gover-
 nor,  the  legislature,  the  New  York state climate action council and
 agencies throughout the state, and shall be made available on the  offi-
 cial website of the department of health.
   § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.

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