Legislation

§ 75-0109. Promulgation of regulations to achieve statewide greenhouse

gas emissions reductions.

1. No later than December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-eight, the
department, after public workshops and consultation with the council,
the environmental justice advisory group, and the climate justice
working group established pursuant to section 75-0111 of this article,
representatives of regulated entities, community organizations,
environmental groups, health professionals, labor unions, municipal
corporations, trade associations and other stakeholders, shall, after no
less than two public hearings, promulgate, in accordance with
subdivision three of this section, rules and regulations designed to:
(i) achieve, to the maximum extent feasible and cost effective, a sixty
percent reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions from 1990
emissions by two thousand forty; and (ii) to ensure compliance with the
statewide emissions reduction limit established in paragraph b of
subdivision one of section 75-0107 of this article, and work with other
state agencies and authorities to promulgate regulations required by
section eight of chapter one hundred six of the laws of two thousand
nineteen.

2. The regulations promulgated by the department pursuant to this
section shall:

a. Ensure that the aggregate emissions of greenhouse gases from
greenhouse gas emission sources will not exceed the statewide greenhouse
gas emissions limits established in section 75-0107 of this article.

b. Include legally enforceable emissions limits, performance
standards, or measures or other requirements to control emissions from
greenhouse gas emission sources, with the exception of agricultural
emissions from livestock.

c. Reflect, in substantial part, the findings of the scoping plan
prepared pursuant to section 75-0103 of this article.

d. Include measures to reduce emissions from greenhouse gas emission
sources that have a cumulatively significant impact on statewide
greenhouse gas emissions, such as internal combustion vehicles that burn
gasoline or diesel fuel and boilers or furnaces that burn oil or natural
gas.

3. In promulgating these regulations, the department shall:

a. Design and implement all regulations in a manner that seeks to be
equitable, to minimize costs and to maximize the total benefits to New
York, and encourages early action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;

b. Ensure that greenhouse gas emissions reductions achieved are real,
permanent, quantifiable, verifiable, and enforceable by the department;

c. Ensure that activities undertaken to comply with the regulations do
not result in a net increase in co-pollutant emissions or otherwise
disproportionately burden disadvantaged communities as identified
pursuant to section 75-0111 of this article;

d. Prioritize measures to maximize net reductions of greenhouse gas
emissions and co-pollutants in disadvantaged communities as identified
pursuant to section 75-0111 of this article and encourage early action
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutants;

e. Incorporate measures to minimize leakage; and

f. Consider the following, in the course of developing a regulatory
program or programs as required by this section:

i. the feasibility and adoption of: programs that utilize regulatory
mechanisms, including a market-based economy-wide cap-and-invest program
that could be linked to other jurisdictions and provide market
certainty; clean energy supply standards; and other regulations;

ii. the affordability of the programs identified in subparagraph i of
this paragraph for state residents, businesses and other entities,
including how the pace and sequencing of the emissions reduction
strategies affect total costs over time, and through assessing energy
cost impacts across customer classes and uses, as well as the
utilization of effective cost containment measures as needed;

iii. the importance of fostering the state's economic growth and
competitiveness, including the creation and maintenance of well-paying
and family-sustaining jobs;

iv. the economy-wide emissions reduction strategies that result in
improved public health, increased quality of life, and a cleaner
environment for all New Yorkers, and that any new revenue equitably
supports these outcomes;

v. the ability to maximize available funding and other resources to
support emissions reductions; and

vi. the development and commercialization of low and zero emission
technologies to achieve the goals of programs identified in subparagraph
i of this paragraph.

4. a. The department may establish an alternative compliance mechanism
to be used by sources subject to greenhouse gas emissions limits to
achieve net zero emissions.

b. The use of such mechanism shall account for not greater than
fifteen percent of statewide greenhouse gas emissions estimated as a
percentage of nineteen ninety emissions pursuant to section 75-0105 of
this article, provided that the use of this mechanism must offset a
quantity greater than or equal to the greenhouse gases emitted. The
offset of greenhouse gas emissions shall not result in disadvantaged
communities having to bear a disproportionate burden of environmental
impacts.

c. The department shall verify that greenhouse gas emission offset
projects authorized pursuant to this subdivision represent greenhouse
gas equivalent emission reductions or carbon sequestration that are
real, additional, verifiable, enforceable, and permanent.

d. Any greenhouse gas emissions offset project shall comply with all
of the requirements of this subdivision.

e. The department shall establish an application process that, at a
minimum, requires a source to sufficiently demonstrate that compliance
with the greenhouse gas emissions limits is not technologically
feasible, and that the source has reduced emissions to the maximum
extent practicable. After an initial four year period, the department
shall review the participation of a source in this mechanism, and make a
determination as to the source's continued need for an alternative
compliance, considering the extent to which the source is utilizing the
best available technology standards.

f. Sources in the electric generation sector shall not be eligible to
participate in such mechanism.

g. The following types of projects shall be prohibited:

i. waste-to-energy projects, including incineration and pyrolysis; and

ii. biofuels used for energy or transportation purposes.

h. Any greenhouse gas emission offset project approved by the
department shall:

i. be designed to provide a discernable benefit to the environment
rather than to the source;

ii. be located in the same county, and within twenty-five linear
miles, of the source of emissions, to the extent practicable;

iii. enhance the conditions of the ecosystem or geographic area
adversely affected; and

iv. substantially reduce or prevent the generation or release of
pollutants through source reduction.

i. A greenhouse gas emission offset project shall not be approved by
the department where the project:

i. is required pursuant to any local, state or federal law,
regulation, or administrative or judicial order;

ii. contains measures which the source would have undertaken anyway
within the next five years;

iii. contributes to environmental research at a college or university;
or

iv. is a study or assessment without a commitment to implement the
results.

j. In approving greenhouse gas emission offset projects, the
department shall prioritize projects that maximize public health and
environmental benefits within the state and especially localized
benefits in disadvantaged communities, defined pursuant to section
75-0111 of this article.

k. The department shall establish a public registry of greenhouse gas
emission offset projects approved pursuant to this subdivision.

l. Prior to the inclusion of any alternative compliance mechanism in
the regulations, to the extent feasible and in the furtherance of
achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, the department
shall do all of the following:

i. consult with the council, the environmental justice advisory group,
and the climate justice working group;

ii. consider the potential for direct, indirect, and cumulative
emission impacts from this mechanism, including localized impacts in
disadvantaged communities as identified pursuant to section 75-0111 of
this article;

iii. design the alternative compliance mechanism to prevent any
increase in the emissions of co-pollutants; and

iv. maximize additional environmental, public health, and economic
benefits for the state and for disadvantaged communities identified
pursuant to section 75-0111 of this article, as appropriate.