Senate Bill S4191

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4191

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the energy law, in relation to code requirements for
heavy distribution centers

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To mandate that all-heavy distribution warehouses be equipped with elec-
tric vehicle charging stations within one year of passage of this act.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one adds a new section 11-111 to Article 11 of the Energy Law,
which contains the State Energy Conservation Construction Code Act, to
mandate that all heavy distribution centers subject to the code must be
equipped with electric vehicle charging stations. The Secretary of State
in consultation with the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority
(NYSERDA) shall be responsible for promulgating regulations to effectu-
ate the code, including how many stations should be installed at differ-
              

ent types of centers.

Warehouse operators in violation of the act shall be subject to the
penalties of Energy Law § 11-108, which provide that persons served with
an order to remedy a violation of the code who fail to comply within a
certain time frame, and any owner, builder, architect, engineer,
contractor, or subcontractor assisting in construction who knowingly
violates a provision of the code, can be liable for a fine of up to
$1,000 or a maximum of 30 days in jail, or both.

Section two sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York set a statutory goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by
2040, including 70% renewable energy generation by 2030, in the historic
Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) of 2019. The
state legislature later codified in Ch. 423 of 2021 the goal that 100%
of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold or leased in New York be zero-
emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2045. The CLCPA's Final Scoping Plan, the
document which details the strategy by which the state is to achieve the
CLCPA's carbon emission goals, calls for an even tighter ZEV timeline of
50% of all medium-duty vehicle sales by 2030 and 80% of all heavy-duty
vehicle sales by 2035 (Scoping Plan:  Full Report, December 2022, New
York State Climate Action Council, p.155.).

Heavy distribution warehouses, defined in this act as storage and
distribution facilities that are fifty thousand square feet or greater
and have as a primary purpose the temporary storage, sorting, and redis-
tribution of goods to fulfill e-commerce orders via delivery vehicles,
are responsible for a disproportionate amount of medium- and heavy-duty
vehicle traffic in disadvantaged communities. These facilities, which
are frequently hundreds of thousands of square feet wide, have a much
larger environmental footprint in the overnight delivery age than their
predecessor sites. Clustered largely in manufacturing "as-of-right"
zones, these facilities attract bigger, and thus more polluting, trucks,
and at greater volumes, than a traditional parcel hub. It is only appro-
priate therefore, that they be subject to some basic code requirements
so that the heavily polluting fleets that they attract have a chance of
transitioning to 100% ZEV models by 2045.

This bill would create the policy, recommended on page 417 of the Final
Scoping Plan, that all heavy distribution facilities subject to the
State Energy Conservation Construction Code have some kind of ZEV charg-
ing infrastructure in place. As prescribed in paragraph (b) of subdivi-
sion one of section 11-103 of Article 11 of the Energy Law (also known
as the the State Energy Conservation Construction Code Act) , the code
applies only to construction of new buildings or additions or alter-
ations to existing buildings, meaning that existing warehouses with no
plans to retrofit would not need to undergo construction just to comply
with the bill. Warehouse operators, or their architects and contractors,
who knowingly violate the act and refuse to remedy a violation would be
subject to the penalties of § 11-108 of the Energy Law/Code Act.

This bill represents a simple step forward on our state's path to a
zero-emission electricity sector. In providing that all new or retrofit-
ted warehouses have ZEV charging infrastructure for their trucking
fleets, we can help ease the trucking industry's transition away from
fossil fuels while ensuring that New York is able to meet the carbon
neutrality goals of the landmark CLCPA.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2024: S6301 - Passed Senate, died in Assembly

2023: S6301 - Died on Third Reading

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.