Authorizes municipalities to create a municipal sustainable energy loan program using federal grant assistance or federal credit support available for such purpose.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 4-A A. 4-A
Twentieth Extraordinary Session
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
November 10, 2009
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sens. THOMPSON, AUBERTINE, BRESLIN, STACHOW-
SKI, VALESKY, C. JOHNSON, FOLEY, PARKER, ESPADA -- (at request of the
Governor) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
committed to the Committee on Rules -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of
A. Sweeney, Cahill, Englebright, Hevesi, Lupardo, Silver, Bradley,
Weisenberg, DelMonte) -- (at request of the Governor) -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Energy -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to authorizing
municipalities to create a municipal sustainable energy loan program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new arti-
2 cle 5-L to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 5-L
4 MUNICIPAL SUSTAINABLE ENERGY LOAN PROGRAM
5 Section 119-ee. Legislative findings and declaration.
6 119-ff. Definitions.
7 119-gg. Sustainable energy loan program.
8 § 119-ee. Legislative findings and declaration. The legislature finds
9 and declares that it is the policy of the state to achieve statewide
10 energy efficiency and renewable energy goals, reduce greenhouse gas
11 emissions and mitigate the effect of global climate change, and advance
12 a clean energy economy; and that to achieve such policy and goals the
13 state must promote the deployment of renewable energy systems and energy
14 efficiency measures throughout the state; and that municipalities would
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD12151-05-9
S. 4-A 2 A. 4-A
1 fulfill an important public purpose by providing loans to property
2 owners for the installation of renewable energy systems and energy effi-
3 ciency measures.
4 § 119-ff. Definitions. For purposes of this article:
5 1. "Authority" means the New York state energy research and develop-
6 ment authority, as defined by subdivision two of section eighteen
7 hundred fifty-one of the public authorities law, or its successor.
8 2. "Credit support" means and includes direct loans, letters of cred-
9 it, loan guarantees, and insurance products; and the purchase of or
10 commitment to purchase, or the sale of or commitment to sell, debt
11 instruments, including subordinated securities.
12 3. "Energy audit" means a formal evaluation of the energy consumption
13 of a permanent building or structural improvement to real property,
14 conducted by a contractor certified by the authority, or certified by a
15 certifying entity approved by the authority for purposes of this arti-
16 cle, for the purpose of identifying appropriate energy efficiency
17 improvements that could be made to the property. A municipal corpo-
18 ration may, by local law, provide for the certification of such contrac-
19 tors based upon criteria at least as stringent as the state-wide crite-
20 ria for certification adopted by the authority for purposes of this
21 article.
22 4. "Energy efficiency improvement" means and includes any renovation
23 or retrofitting of a building to reduce energy consumption, such as
24 window and door replacement, lighting, caulking, weatherstripping, air
25 sealing, insulation, and heating and cooling system upgrades, and simi-
26 lar improvements, determined to be cost-effective pursuant to criteria
27 established by the authority. However, "energy efficiency improvement"
28 shall not include lighting measures or household appliances that are not
29 permanently fixed to real property.
30 5. "Municipal corporation" means a county, town, city or village.
31 6. "Renewable energy system" means an energy generating system for the
32 generation of electric or thermal energy, to be used primarily at such
33 property, by means of solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, wind, geother-
34 mal, anaerobic digester gas-to-electricity systems, fuel cell technolo-
35 gies, or other renewable energy technology approved by the authority not
36 including the combustion or pyrolysis of solid waste.
37 7. "Renewable energy system feasibility study" means a written study,
38 conducted by a contractor certified by the authority, or certified by a
39 certifying entity approved by the authority for purposes of this arti-
40 cle, for the purpose of determining the feasibility of installing a
41 renewable energy system. A municipal corporation may, by local law,
42 provide for the certification of such contractors based upon criteria at
43 least as stringent as the state-wide criteria for certification adopted
44 by the authority for purposes of this article.
45 § 119-gg. Sustainable energy loan program. 1. The legislative body of
46 any municipal corporation may, by local law, establish a sustainable
47 energy loan program using federal grant assistance or federal credit
48 support available for this purpose.
49 2. Such program may make loans to the owners of real property located
50 within the municipal corporation to finance the installation of renewa-
51 ble energy systems and energy efficiency improvements, related energy
52 audits and renewable energy system feasibility studies, and the verifi-
53 cation of the installation of such systems and improvements. No munici-
54 pal corporation shall make such a loan to an owner of property that has
55 received a loan from another municipal corporation pursuant to this
56 article.
S. 4-A 3 A. 4-A
1 3. Each such local law establishing the sustainable energy loan
2 program shall provide for the criteria for making such loans and the
3 terms and conditions for repayment of such loans. The sustainable ener-
4 gy loan program shall use such lists of cost effective energy efficiency
5 improvements for different building types as are approved by the author-
6 ity.
7 4. The municipal corporation shall verify and report on the installa-
8 tion and performance of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency
9 improvements financed by the loan program in such form and manner as the
10 authority may establish.
11 5. Every loan made under the sustainable energy loan program shall be
12 repaid over a term not to exceed the weighted average of the useful life
13 of such systems and improvements as determined by the municipal corpo-
14 ration. The municipal corporation shall set a fixed rate of interest
15 for the repayment of the principal amount of each loan at the time the
16 loan is made.
17 6. The principal amount of each such loan, excluding interest, shall
18 not exceed the lesser of ten percent of the appraised real property
19 value or the actual cost of installing the renewable energy system and
20 energy efficiency improvements, including the costs of necessary equip-
21 ment, materials, and labor, the costs of each related energy audit and
22 renewable energy system feasibility study, and the cost of verification
23 of such renewable energy system and energy efficiency improvements.
24 7. No such loan shall be made for energy efficiency improvements
25 unless determined to be appropriate through an energy audit, and no such
26 loan shall be made for a renewable energy system unless determined to be
27 feasible through a renewable energy system feasibility study.
28 8. The loan made under the sustainable energy loan program shall
29 constitute a lien upon the real property benefitted by such loan.
30 9. The municipal corporation may require the loan made under the
31 sustainable energy loan program to be repaid by the property owner
32 through a charge on the real property benefitted by such loan. Such
33 charge shall be on the real property and shall be levied and collected
34 at the same time and in the same manner as municipal taxes, provided
35 that such charge shall be separately listed on the tax bill, and
36 provided further that in the event such charge should not be paid in a
37 timely manner, no other municipal corporation shall be required to cred-
38 it or otherwise guarantee the amount of such unpaid charge to the munic-
39 ipal corporation which authorized the loan, notwithstanding any
40 provision of law to the contrary.
41 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
