Assembly Bill A10681

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10681
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              August 28, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Anderson) --
   read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
   New York state climate action council
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Section 75-0117 of the environmental conservation law, as
 added by chapter 106 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
 § 75-0117. Investment of funds.
   1. State agencies, authorities and entities, in consultation with  the
 environmental  justice  working  group  and  the climate action council,
 shall, to the extent practicable, invest or direct available  and  rele-
 vant  programmatic  resources in a manner designed to achieve a goal for
 disadvantaged communities to receive forty percent of  overall  benefits
 of  spending on clean energy and energy efficiency programs, projects or
 investments in the areas of housing,  workforce  development,  pollution
 reduction,  low  income  energy  assistance,  energy, transportation and
 economic development, provided however, that  disadvantaged  communities
 shall  receive  no less than thirty-five percent of the overall benefits
 of spending on clean energy and energy efficiency programs, projects  or
 investments  [and],  provided; further that this section shall not alter
 funds already contracted or committed as of the effective date  of  this
 section,  AND  PROVIDED,  FURTHER  THAT  NO  RESOURCES DESCRIBED IN THIS
 SECTION SHALL BE INVESTED  OR  DIRECTED  BEFORE  UNDERGOING  THE  PUBLIC
 ENGAGEMENT PROCESS DESCRIBED IN SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION.
   2.  State  agencies, authorities, and entities shall design and imple-
 ment a public engagement process to guide the  investment  of  available
 and  relevant  programmatic resources as described in subdivision one of
 this section. Such process shall be designed with the goal of maximizing
 the involvement of disadvantaged community members in the development of
 local clean energy and energy efficiency programs, projects, and invest-
 ments, including in the permitting, planning,  and  budgeting  processes
 needed  to  implement  such  program, project, and investment decisions.
 Such public engagement process shall include, but not be limited to:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD06557-01-3
 A. 10681                            2
 
   (a) Coordination with  local  community-based  organizations  for  the
 planning, execution, and advertisement of meetings, forums, surveys, and
 other opportunities for public input;
   (b)  Sufficient  lead time to advertise opportunities for public input
 before such opportunities occur;
   (c) Fair compensation for community-based organizations  and  individ-
 uals  who  help design, advertise, and execute on such opportunities, to
 the extent practicable;
   (d) A language access plan to engage non-English proficient members of
 a disadvantaged community in the public  engagement  process,  including
 dedication of bilingual agency staff;
   (e)  A plan to engage and accommodate individuals with disabilities by
 using tools such as, but not limited to, visual  aids,  open  or  closed
 captioning,  large print and Braille transcriptions, audio descriptions,
 sign language interpretation, assistive listening  devices,  and  wheel-
 chair accessible entrances, exits, and spaces, wherever practicable;
   (f)  A  plan  to describe potential clean energy and energy efficiency
 programs in clear and accessible language that is easily  understood  by
 lay-persons; and
   (g)  Integration  of the principles of cultural competence and racial,
 ethnic, and social justice into every aspect of such  public  engagement
 process.
   3.  State  agencies, authorities, and entities may refer to the report
 drafted pursuant to section six of chapter one hundred six of  the  laws
 of  two thousand nineteen in the design of the public engagement process
 described in subdivision two of this section.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninety-first day after it shall
 have become a law.