Amd §§2 & 6, Chap of 2024; rpld & add §76-0105, amd §§76-0101 & 76-0103, En Con L; amd §97-m, St Fin L (as
proposed in S.2129-B & A.3351-B); amd §224-f, Lab L; amd §314, Tax L
Relates to the climate change adaptation cost recovery program and requirements for climate change adaptive infrastructure projects; relates to the use of funds from the climate change adaptation fund for certain projects; relates to the disclosure of certain data from returns of petroleum or fossil fuel businesses; relates to expenditure of funds from the climate change adaptation fund; repeals certain provisions; relates to severability and legislative findings.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1474
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
climate change adaptation cost recovery program and requirements for
climate change adaptive infrastructure projects; to amend the labor
law, in relation to the use of funds from the climate change adapta-
tion fund for certain climate risk-related and energy transition
projects; to amend the tax law, in relation to the disclosure of
certain data from returns of petroleum or fossil fuel businesses to
the department of environmental conservation or the New York state
energy research and development authority; to amend the state finance
law, in relation to expenditure of funds from the climate change adap-
tation fund; to repeal section 76-0105 of the environmental conserva-
tion law, relating to labor and job standards and worker protection;
and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the environmental
conservation law relating to establishing the climate change adapta-
tion cost recovery program, and amending the state finance law relat-
ing to establishing the climate change adaptation fund, as proposed in
legislative bills numbers S. 2129-B and A. 3351-B, in relation to
legislative findings and severability
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 5, paragraph c of subdivision 6 and subdi-
2 visions 7 and 8 of section 2 of a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending
3 the environmental conservation law relating to establishing the climate
4 change adaptation cost recovery program; and amending the state finance
5 law relating to establishing the climate change adaptation fund, as
6 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 2129-B and A. 3351-B, are
7 amended to read as follows:
8 1. Climate change, resulting primarily from the combustion of fossil
9 fuels, is an immediate, grave threat to the state's communities, envi-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02898-01-5
A. 1474 2
1 ronment, and economy. In addition to mitigating the further buildup of
2 greenhouse gases, the state must take action to adapt to certain conse-
3 quences of climate change that are irreversible, including rising sea
4 levels, increasing temperatures, extreme weather events, flooding, heat
5 waves, [toxic] harmful algal blooms and other climate-change-driven
6 threats. Maintaining New York's quality of life into the future,
7 particularly for young people, who will experience greater impacts from
8 climate change over their lifetimes, will be one of the state's greatest
9 challenges over the next three decades. Meeting that challenge will
10 require a shared commitment of purpose, huge investments in new or
11 upgraded infrastructure, and new revenue sources to pay for those
12 investments.
13 5. The obligation to pay under the program is based on the fossil fuel
14 companies' historic contribution to the buildup of greenhouse gases that
15 is largely responsible for climate change. The program operates under a
16 standard of strict liability; companies are required to pay into the
17 fund based on the amount of historic greenhouse gas emissions attribut-
18 able to greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels which they are responsible
19 for extracting and refining, because the use of [their] products derived
20 from such fossil fuels caused [the] such pollution. No finding of wrong-
21 doing is required.
22 c. The total assessment [rate] of [$3] $75 billion dollars [per year]
23 represents a small percentage of the extraordinary cost to New York
24 State for repairing from and preparing for climate change-driven extreme
25 events over the next 25 years, and is designed to have a meaningful
26 impact on the burden borne by New York State taxpayers for climate adap-
27 tation while being sufficiently limited so as to not impose a punitive
28 negative impact on an industry in which just the three largest domestic
29 oil and gas producers made a combined $85.6 billion in profits in 2023.
30 Recent science has determined that the largest one hundred fossil fuel
31 producing companies are responsible for more than 70% of global green-
32 house gas emissions since 1988, and therefore bear a much higher share
33 of responsibility for climate damage to New York State than is repres-
34 ented by the $75 billion being assessed them.
35 7. A covered period of [2000-2018] 2000-2024 has been selected. Over
36 70 percent of the total increase in greenhouse gas concentrations since
37 the Industrial Revolution has occurred since 1950, with a marked
38 increase in the rate of emissions after the year 2000. By 2000 the
39 science of climate change was well established, and no reasonable corpo-
40 rate actor could have failed to anticipate regulatory action to address
41 its impacts. In addition, the data necessary to attribute proportional
42 responsibility is very robust in the covered period.
43 8. This act is not intended to intrude on the authority of the feder-
44 al government in areas where it has preempted the right of the states to
45 legislate. This [act] program is remedial in nature, seeking compen-
46 sation for damages resulting from the past actions of polluters.
47 § 2. Section 76-0105 of the environmental conservation law, as added
48 by a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the environmental conservation
49 law relating to establishing the climate change adaptation cost recovery
50 program; and amending the state finance law relating to establishing the
51 climate change adaptation fund, as proposed in legislative bills numbers
52 S.2129-B and A. 3351-B, is REPEALED.
53 § 3. Sections 76-0101 and 76-0103 of the environmental conservation
54 law, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the environ-
55 mental conservation law relating to establishing the climate change
56 adaptation cost recovery program; and amending the state finance law
A. 1474 3
1 relating to establishing the climate change adaptation fund, as proposed
2 in legislative bills numbers S. 2129-B and A. 3351-B, are amended and a
3 new section 76-0105 is added to read as follows:
4 § 76-0101. Definitions.
5 For the purposes of this article the following terms shall have the
6 following meanings:
7 1. "Affiliate" means, with respect to any specified entity, an entity
8 that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries,
9 controls or is controlled by, or is under common control with, the enti-
10 ty specified.
11 2. "Applicable payment date" means [September thirtieth] December
12 thirty-first of the [second] fourth calendar year following the year in
13 which this article is enacted into law.
14 [2.] 3. "Climate change adaptive infrastructure project" means an
15 infrastructure project for purposes of climate change adaptation that:
16 a. includes but is not limited to projects designed to avoid, moder-
17 ate, repair, or adapt to negative impacts caused by climate change, and
18 to assist communities, households, and businesses in preparing for
19 future climate change-driven disruptions. Such [projects] project types
20 include but are not limited to restoring coastal wetlands and developing
21 other nature-based solutions and coastal protections; upgrading storm
22 water drainage systems; making defensive upgrades to roads, bridges,
23 subways, and transit systems; preparing for and recovering from hurri-
24 canes and other extreme weather events; undertaking preventive health
25 care programs and providing medical care to treat illness or injury
26 caused by the effects of climate change; relocating, elevating, or
27 retrofitting [sewage] wastewater treatment plants vulnerable to flood-
28 ing; installing energy efficient cooling systems and other weatheriza-
29 tion and energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits in public and private
30 buildings, including schools and public housing; upgrading parts of the
31 electrical grid to increase stability and resilience, including support-
32 ing the creation of self-sufficient clean energy microgrids; addressing
33 urban heat island effects through green spaces, urban forestry, and
34 other interventions; and responding to [toxic algae] harmful algal
35 blooms, loss of agricultural topsoil, and other climate-driven ecosystem
36 threats to forests, farms, fisheries, and food systems; and
37 b. is guided by the project criteria identified in the statewide
38 climate change adaptation and resilience plan adopted pursuant to subdi-
39 vision six of section 76-0103 of this article.
40 [3. "Coal" shall have the same definition as in section 1-103 of the
41 energy law.]
42 4. "Control" (including the terms controlling, controlled by and
43 under common control with) means the possession, direct or indirect, of
44 the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and poli-
45 cies of an entity, whether through the ownership of voting securities,
46 by contract, or otherwise.
47 5. "Controlled group" means two or more entities [treated as a single
48 employer under section 52(a) or (b) or section 414(m) or (o) of the
49 Internal Revenue Code. In applying subsections (a) and (b) of section
50 52, section 1563 of the Internal Revenue Code shall be applied without
51 regard to subsection (b)(2)(C). For purposes of this article, entities
52 in a controlled group are treated as a single entity for purposes of
53 meeting the definition of responsible party and are jointly and
54 severally liable for payment of any cost recovery demand owed by any
55 entity in the controlled group] that are affiliates of each other.
56 [5.] 6. "Cost recovery amount" means seventy-five billion dollars.
A. 1474 4
1 7. "Cost recovery demand" means [a charge asserted against] the
2 portion of the cost recovery amount determined by the department pursu-
3 ant to the program to be owed by a responsible party [for cost recovery
4 payments under the program] for payment to the fund.
5 [6.] 8. "Covered greenhouse gas emissions" means, with respect to any
6 entity, the total quantity of greenhouse [gases released into the atmos-
7 phere during the covered period] gas emissions, expressed in metric tons
8 of carbon dioxide equivalent, as defined in section 75-0101 of this
9 chapter, [including but not limited to releases of greenhouse gases
10 resulting from the extraction, storage, production, refinement, trans-
11 port, manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of fossil fuels or petro-
12 leum products extracted, produced, refined, or sold by such entity]
13 attributable to the total amount of fossil fuels extracted by that enti-
14 ty during the covered period, as well as the total amount of crude oil
15 refined by that entity during the covered period. For the purposes of
16 this article, covered greenhouse gas emissions include those emissions
17 attributable to all fossil fuel extraction and refining worldwide by
18 such entity and are not limited to such emissions within the state.
19 [7.] 9. "Covered period" means the period that began January first,
20 two thousand and ended on December thirty-first, two thousand [eighteen]
21 twenty-four.
22 [8.] 10. "Crude oil" means oil or petroleum of any kind and in any
23 form, including bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, conventional and uncon-
24 ventional oil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, condensates, and related
25 fossil fuels.
26 [9.] 11. "Entity" means any individual, trustee, agent, partnership,
27 association, corporation, company, municipality, political subdivision,
28 or other legal organization, [including a foreign nation,] that holds or
29 held an ownership interest in a fossil fuel business during the covered
30 period. For purposes of this article, entities in a controlled group are
31 treated as a single entity for the purposes of meeting the definition of
32 responsible party and shall be jointly and severally liable for payment
33 of any cost recovery demand owed by any entity in the controlled group.
34 [10.] 12. "Fossil fuel" shall have the same definition as in section
35 1-103 of the energy law.
36 [11.] 13. "Fossil fuel business" means a business engaging in the
37 extraction of fossil fuels or the refining of petroleum products.
38 [12. "Fuel gases" shall have the same definition as in section 1-103
39 of the energy law.
40 13.] 14. "Fund" means the climate change adaptation fund established
41 pursuant to section ninety-seven-m of the state finance law.
42 [14.] 15. "Greenhouse gas" shall have the same definition as in
43 section 75-0101 of this chapter.
44 [15.] 16. "Nature-based solutions" shall mean projects that utilize or
45 mimic nature or natural processes and functions and that may also offer
46 environmental, economic, and social benefits, while increasing resili-
47 ence. Nature-based solutions include both green and natural infrastruc-
48 ture.
49 [16.] 17. "Notice of cost recovery demand" means the written communi-
50 cation informing an entity that they are a responsible party and of the
51 amount of the cost recovery demand payable to the fund.
52 [17.] 18. "Petroleum products" shall have the same definition as in
53 section 1-103 of the energy law.
54 [18.] 19. "Program" means the climate change adaptation cost recovery
55 program established under section 76-0103 of this article.
A. 1474 5
1 [19.] 20. "Qualifying expenditure" means [an authorized] a payment
2 from the fund in support of a climate change adaptive infrastructure
3 project, including its operation and maintenance, as defined by the
4 department.
5 [20.] 21. "Responsible party" means any entity (or a successor in
6 interest to such entity described herein), which, during any part of the
7 covered period, was engaged in the trade or business of extracting
8 fossil fuel or refining crude oil and is determined by the department to
9 be responsible for more than one billion tons of covered greenhouse gas
10 emissions. The term responsible party shall not include any person who
11 lacks sufficient [connection] contacts with the state to satisfy the
12 [nexus requirements] due process clause of the United States Constitu-
13 tion.
14 § 76-0103. The climate change adaptation cost recovery program.
15 1. There is hereby established a climate change adaptation cost recov-
16 ery program to be administered by the department.
17 2. The purposes of the program shall be the following:
18 a. To secure compensatory payments from responsible parties based on a
19 standard of strict liability to provide a source of revenue for climate
20 change adaptive infrastructure projects within the state. Such payments
21 in aggregate shall total the cost recovery amount and shall be due and
22 payable on the applicable payment date.
23 b. To determine proportional liability of responsible parties for the
24 cost recovery amount pursuant to subdivision three of this section;
25 c. To impose cost recovery demands on responsible parties and issue
26 notices of cost recovery [demands] demand;
27 d. To accept and collect payment from responsible parties;
28 e. To identify climate change adaptive infrastructure projects;
29 f. To disperse funds to climate change adaptive infrastructure
30 projects; and
31 g. To allocate funds in such a way as to achieve a goal that at least
32 forty percent of the qualified expenditures from the program, but not
33 less than thirty-five percent of such expenditures, shall go to climate
34 change adaptive infrastructure projects that benefit disadvantaged
35 communities as defined in section 75-0101 of this chapter.
36 3. a. A responsible party shall be strictly liable, without regard to
37 fault, for a share of the cost recovery amount, which shall be used for
38 the costs of climate change adaptive infrastructure projects, including
39 their operation and maintenance, supported by the fund.
40 b. With respect to each responsible party, the cost recovery demand
41 shall be equal to an amount that bears the same ratio to [seventy-five
42 billion dollars] the cost recovery amount as the responsible party's
43 applicable share of covered greenhouse gas emissions bears to the aggre-
44 gate applicable shares of covered greenhouse gas emissions of all
45 responsible parties.
46 c. The applicable share of covered greenhouse gas emissions taken into
47 account under this section for any responsible party shall be the amount
48 by which the covered greenhouse gas emissions attributable to such
49 responsible party exceeds one billion metric tons.
50 d. [Where an entity owns a minority interest in another entity of ten
51 percent or more, the calculation of the entity's applicable share of
52 greenhouse gas emissions taken into account under this section shall
53 include the applicable share of greenhouse gas emissions taken into
54 account under this section by the entity in which the responsible party
55 holds a minority interest, multiplied by the percentage of the minority
56 interest held.
A. 1474 6
1 e.] In determining the amount of greenhouse gas emissions attributable
2 to any entity, [an amount equivalent to nine hundred forty-two and one-
3 half metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent shall be treated as
4 released for every million pounds of coal attributable to such entity;
5 an amount equivalent to four hundred thirty-two thousand one hundred
6 eighty metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent shall be treated as
7 released for every million barrels of crude oil attributable to such
8 entity; and an amount equivalent to fifty-three thousand four hundred
9 forty metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent shall be treated as
10 released for every million cubic feet of fuel gases attributable to such
11 entity] the department may: i. require an entity to provide information
12 to the department related to past practices, production, extraction,
13 refining, emissions, or other historical information about such entity
14 necessary or appropriate to enable the department to determine whether
15 such entity is a responsible party and, if so, the amount of such
16 responsible party's covered greenhouse gas emissions; ii. apply consist-
17 ent emissions factors, consistent with the climate leadership and commu-
18 nity protection act pursuant to chapter one hundred six of the laws of
19 two thousand nineteen, to convert extraction and refining data into
20 greenhouse gas emissions; and iii. utilize information received from the
21 department of taxation and finance pursuant to subdivision (a) of
22 section three hundred fourteen of the tax law.
23 e. i. The department shall issue notices of cost recovery demand to
24 all responsible parties at the times set forth in paragraph a of subdi-
25 vision four of this section. Payment of a cost recovery demand shall be
26 made in full on the applicable payment date provided that, notwithstand-
27 ing paragraph a of subdivision two of this section, the department may
28 provide that a responsible party may elect to pay an amount no greater
29 than ninety-two percent of the amount of the cost recovery demand after
30 the applicable payment date. Any such payments permitted to be made
31 after the applicable payment date shall be made within twenty-four years
32 of the applicable payment date, shall be no less frequent than annual
33 beginning in the year following the applicable payment date, and shall
34 not increase over time.
35 ii. Any responsible party who fails to make a payment required pursu-
36 ant to this subdivision shall pay a penalty of fifty per centum of the
37 unpaid payment amount, plus interest on the unpaid payment amount
38 computed in accordance with section 6621(a)(2) of the United States
39 internal revenue code of 1986 (Public Law 99-514, 26 U.S.C. section 1 et
40 seq.) from the date the payment was required to be paid.
41 f. [The commissioner may adjust the cost recovery demand amount of a
42 responsible party refining petroleum products (or who is a successor in
43 interest to such an entity) if such responsible party establishes to the
44 satisfaction of the commissioner that a portion of the cost recovery
45 demand amount was attributable to the refining of crude oil extracted by
46 another responsible party (or who is a successor in interest to such an
47 entity) that accounted for such crude oil in determining its cost recov-
48 ery demand amount.
49 g. Payment of a cost recovery demand shall be made in full on the
50 applicable payment date unless a responsible party elects to pay in
51 installments pursuant to paragraph h of this subdivision.
52 h. A responsible party may elect to pay the cost recovery demand
53 amount in twenty-four annual installments, eight percent of the total
54 due in the first installment and four percent of the total due in each
55 of the following twenty-three installments. If an election is made under
56 this paragraph, the first installment shall be paid on the applicable
A. 1474 7
1 payment date and each subsequent installment shall be paid on the same
2 date as the applicable payment date in each succeeding year.
3 i.] If there is any addition to the original amount of the final cost
4 recovery demand as of the applicable payment date for failure to timely
5 pay any [installment] amount required to be paid under this subdivision,
6 a liquidation or sale of substantially all the assets of the responsible
7 party (including in a proceeding under U.S. Code: Title 11 or similar
8 case), a cessation of business by the responsible party, or any similar
9 circumstance, then the unpaid balance of all [remaining installments]
10 unpaid amounts shall be due on the date of such event (or in the case of
11 a proceeding under U.S. Code: Title 11 or similar case, on the day
12 before the petition is filed). The preceding sentence shall not apply to
13 the sale of substantially all of the assets of a responsible party to a
14 buyer if such buyer enters into an agreement with the department under
15 which such buyer is liable for [the remaining installments] all unpaid
16 amounts due [under this subdivision] in the same manner as if such buyer
17 were the responsible party.
18 4. a. Within [one year] thirty months of the effective date of this
19 article, the department shall promulgate such regulations as are neces-
20 sary or appropriate to carry out this article, including but not limited
21 to:
22 i. provisions for the department to require an entity to provide
23 information to the department related to past practices, production,
24 extraction, refining, emissions, or other historical information about
25 such entity necessary or appropriate to enable the department to deter-
26 mine whether such entity is a responsible party and, if so, the amount
27 of such responsible party's covered greenhouse gas emissions;
28 ii. adopting uniform and consistent methodologies using the best
29 available [science] information, such as publicly available databases of
30 historical production data, to determine responsible parties and their
31 applicable share of covered greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the
32 provisions of this article;
33 [ii.] iii. registering entities that are responsible parties under the
34 program;
35 [iii.] iv. issuing notices of cost recovery demand [to responsible
36 parties informing them of the cost recovery demand amount; how and where
37 cost recovery demands can be paid; the potential consequences of nonpay-
38 ment and late payment; and information regarding their rights to contest
39 an assessment], no later than June thirtieth of the fourth calendar year
40 following the effective date of this article, for each responsible
41 party's cost recovery demand;
42 [iv.] v. establishing a process such that:
43 (1) a responsible party may file a request for reconsideration of its
44 cost recovery demand with the department within sixty days following
45 service of the notice of cost recovery demand if within the United
46 States, and within ninety days following such service outside the United
47 States, and in doing so shall exhaust administrative remedies;
48 (2) a request for reconsideration shall state the grounds for the
49 request and include supporting documentation, which may include but is
50 not limited to documentation of the party's covered greenhouse gas emis-
51 sions and the party's contacts with the state;
52 (3) the department shall consider whether any such requests for recon-
53 sideration, including whether a responsible party refining petroleum
54 products, or who is a successor in interest to such an entity, estab-
55 lishes to the satisfaction of the department that a portion of the cost
56 recovery demand amount was attributable to the refining of crude oil
A. 1474 8
1 extracted by a responsible party, or who is a successor in interest to
2 such an entity, that was accounted for in determining the cost recovery
3 demand amount of such responsible party, and whether notices of cost
4 recovery demand should be updated, and shall issue updated notices of
5 cost recovery demand, if applicable, which shall include a statement of
6 the grounds of the department's determination, within sixty days follow-
7 ing the expiration of all periods for submitting a request for reconsid-
8 eration under item one of this subparagraph;
9 (4) if notices of cost recovery demand issued pursuant to item three
10 of this subparagraph result in a new responsible party receiving a
11 notice of cost recovery demand that was not issued a notice of cost
12 recovery demand by the date required by subparagraph iv of this para-
13 graph, then, in the same manner as set forth in items one, two and three
14 of this subparagraph, such responsible party shall have sixty days from
15 service within the United States, and ninety days from service outside
16 the United States, to file a request for reconsideration, which filing
17 shall exhaust such responsible party's administrative remedies, and the
18 department shall consider such request for reconsideration and issue
19 updated notices of cost recovery demand, if applicable, in the manner
20 contemplated by item three of this subparagraph;
21 (5) if any updating of notices of cost recovery demand pursuant to
22 such processes for reconsideration results in a new responsible party
23 that was not previously issued a cost recovery demand, such new respon-
24 sible party shall also be given the opportunity to file a request for
25 reconsideration in the same manner as set forth in item four of this
26 subparagraph, and such process shall continue until no new responsible
27 party results from issuance of notices of cost recovery demand; and
28 (6) if the processes in this subparagraph result in issuances of
29 notices of cost recovery demand after the applicable payment date, then
30 the applicable payment date shall be the date which is thirty days after
31 the final issuance of notices of cost recovery demand; and
32 vi. accepting payments from, pursuing collection efforts against, and
33 negotiating settlements with responsible parties[; and
34 v. adopting procedures for identifying and selecting climate change
35 adaptive infrastructure projects eligible to receive qualifying expendi-
36 tures, including legislative budget appropriations, issuance of requests
37 for proposals from localities and not-for-profit and community organiza-
38 tions, grants to private individuals, or other methods as determined by
39 the department, and for dispersing moneys from the fund for qualifying
40 expenditures. When considering projects intended to stabilize tidal
41 shorelines, the department shall encourage the use of nature-based
42 solutions. Total qualifying expenditures shall be allocated in such a
43 way as to achieve a goal that at least forty percent of the qualified
44 expenditures from the program, but not less than thirty-five percent of
45 such expenditures, shall go to climate change adaptive infrastructure
46 projects that benefit disadvantaged communities as defined in section
47 75-0101 of this chapter].
48 b. The department shall hold at least two public hearings, one in-per-
49 son and one virtual, on proposed regulations, with a minimum of thirty
50 days' public notice in compliance with the provisions of article seven
51 of the public officers law.
52 5. The department shall develop procedures to make publicly avail-
53 able, by posting on its website, all data related to fossil fuel
54 extraction and refining by entities which the department obtains pursu-
55 ant to the program, to the maximum extent practicable.
A. 1474 9
1 6. Within [two years] eighteen months of the [effective date of this
2 article] promulgation of the final regulations pursuant to subdivision
3 four of this section, the department shall complete a statewide climate
4 change adaptation [master] and resilience plan, which shall be publicly
5 available, including at a minimum on the department's website, and
6 updated no less than every three years following the procedures of this
7 subdivision, for the purpose of guiding the dispersal of funds, pursuant
8 to section ninety-seven-m of the state finance law, to all regions of
9 the state in a timely, efficient, and equitable manner [to all regions
10 of the state] in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. In
11 completing such plan, the department shall:
12 a. collaborate with the department of state, [empire state develop-
13 ment] homes and community renewal, the department of agriculture and
14 markets, the New York state energy research and development authority,
15 the department of public service, the department of transportation, the
16 department of health, the division of budget and the [New York independ-
17 ent systems operator] division of homeland security and emergency
18 services;
19 b. assess the adaptation needs [and vulnerabilities] of various areas
20 vital to the state's economy, normal functioning, and the health and
21 well-being of New Yorkers, including but not limited to: agriculture,
22 biodiversity, ecosystem services, education, finance, healthcare, manu-
23 facturing, housing and [real estate] land use, retail, tourism (includ-
24 ing state and municipal parks), transportation, and municipal and local
25 government.
26 c. identify major potential, proposed, and ongoing climate change
27 adaptive infrastructure projects throughout the state;
28 d. identify opportunities for alignment with existing federal, state,
29 and local funding streams;
30 e. identify potential municipal, not-for-profit, and community organ-
31 ization grant programs;
32 f. include in such plan project criteria, project types and recommen-
33 dations for identifying and selecting climate change adaptive infras-
34 tructure projects eligible to receive qualifying expenditures. When
35 considering projects intended to stabilize tidal shorelines, the depart-
36 ment shall encourage the use of nature-based solutions;
37 g. consult with stakeholders, including local governments, businesses,
38 environmental advocates, the federally designated bulk system operator,
39 relevant subject area experts, and representatives of disadvantaged
40 communities; and
41 [f.] h. provide opportunities for public engagement in all regions of
42 the state, including by holding at least two public hearings, one
43 in-person and one virtual, with meaningful opportunities for partic-
44 ipation and public comment from all segments of the population, includ-
45 ing persons living in disadvantaged communities as identified pursuant
46 to section 75-0111 of this chapter, a minimum of sixty days' public
47 notice in compliance with the provisions of article seven of the public
48 officers law, on a draft of the plan, a summary and analysis of the
49 public comments and a description of any changes made to the plan based
50 on the public comments received.
51 [6.] 7. Total qualifying expenditures shall be allocated in such a
52 way as to achieve a goal that at least forty percent of the qualified
53 expenditures from the program, but not less than thirty-five percent of
54 such expenditures, shall go to climate change adaptive infrastructure
55 projects that benefit disadvantaged communities as defined in section
56 75-0101 of this chapter.
A. 1474 10
1 8. The department[, the department of taxation and finance,] and the
2 attorney general are hereby authorized to implement and enforce the
3 provisions of this article.
4 [7. The department or the department of taxation and finance shall
5 provide an opportunity to be heard to any responsible parties that seek
6 to contest a cost recovery demand. Determinations made in favor of a
7 petitioner after such hearing shall be final and conclusive. A determi-
8 nation in favor of the state may be appealed under article seventy-eight
9 of the civil practice law and rules.
10 8.] 9. Moneys received from cost recovery demands shall be deposited
11 in the climate change adaptation fund established pursuant to section
12 ninety-seven-m of the state finance law.
13 [9.] 10. a. The department shall conduct an [independent] evaluation
14 of the climate change adaptation cost recovery program. The purpose of
15 this evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of the program in
16 achieving its purposes as defined in subdivision two of this section.
17 Such evaluation shall include, at minimum:
18 i. a list of all responsible parties and their respective cost recov-
19 ery demands, as well as any changes to an entity's status as a responsi-
20 ble party during the preceding program year;
21 ii. an accounting of all cost recovery demands made to responsible
22 parties, actual monies collected, and penalties or other collection
23 measures taken during the preceding program year;
24 iii. an accounting of all expenditures from the climate change adapta-
25 tion fund established pursuant to section ninety-seven-m of the state
26 finance law, including at a minimum:
27 (1) expenditures that benefit disadvantaged communities as defined in
28 section 75-0101 of this chapter;
29 (2) expenditures by project type;
30 (3) expenditures by percentage of overall funding used for grant
31 programs for municipalities and not-for-profit and community organiza-
32 tions; and
33 (4) expenditures for administration and implementation support;
34 iv. a review of climate change adaptive infrastructure projects'
35 status, including the number of projects that have been completed and
36 those projects which have been identified and remain unfunded;
37 v. a summary of the geographic distribution of climate change adaptive
38 infrastructure projects; and
39 vi. identification of future spending needs.
40 b. Such evaluation shall be made public on the department's website
41 and provided to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and
42 the speaker of the assembly on or before January first of the second
43 calendar year following the year in which this article is enacted into
44 law, and annually on or before September thirtieth thereafter.
45 [c. Any entity contracted by the department to conduct such evaluation
46 shall receive prompt payment of all moneys due upon completion of such
47 evaluation.] 11. The department shall publish all information, requests
48 for proposals, application forms, procedures and guidelines relating to
49 climate change adaptive infrastructure projects on its website and in a
50 manner that is accessible to the public and all potential recipients.
51 § 76-0105. Requirements for climate change adaptive infrastructure
52 projects.
53 For each contract for climate change adaptive infrastructure projects,
54 funded in part or in whole from the climate change adaptation fund
55 established pursuant to section ninety-seven-m of the state finance law,
56 by a public entity, or a third party acting on behalf and for the bene-
A. 1474 11
1 fit of a public entity, the "public work" for the purposes of this
2 subdivision shall ensure that such contract shall contain a provision
3 that the iron and steel used or supplied in the performance of the
4 contract or any subcontract thereto, shall be produced or made in whole
5 or substantial part in the United States, its territories or
6 possessions. In the case of an iron or steel product all manufacturing
7 must take place in the United States, from the initial melting stage
8 through the application of coatings, except metallurgical processes
9 involving the refinement of steel additives.
10 § 4. Section 224-f of the labor law, as added by section 3 of part TT
11 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
12 § 224-f. Wage requirements for certain climate risk-related and energy
13 transition projects. 1. For purposes of this section, a "covered climate
14 risk-related and energy transition project" means a construction project
15 that receives at least one hundred thousand dollars of funds from the
16 New York climate action fund climate investment account established
17 pursuant to section ninety-nine-qq of the state finance law or the
18 climate change adaptation fund established pursuant to section ninety-
19 seven-m of the state finance law.
20 2. A covered climate risk-related and energy transition project shall
21 be subject to prevailing wage requirements in accordance with sections
22 two hundred twenty, two hundred twenty-a, two hundred twenty-b, two
23 hundred twenty-i, two hundred twenty-three, and two hundred
24 twenty-four-b of this article, provided that a covered climate risk-re-
25 lated and energy transition project may still otherwise be considered a
26 covered project pursuant to section two hundred twenty or two hundred
27 twenty-four-a of this article if it meets the definition therein.
28 3. For purposes of this section, a covered climate risk-related and
29 energy transition project shall exclude:
30 a. Privately owned construction work performed under a pre-hire
31 collective bargaining agreement between an owner or developer and a bona
32 fide building and construction trades labor organization which has
33 established itself, and/or its affiliates, as the collective bargaining
34 representative for all persons who will perform work on such a project,
35 and which provides that only contractors and subcontractors who sign a
36 pre-negotiated agreement with the labor organization can perform work on
37 such a project; or
38 b. Construction work on one- or two-family dwellings where the proper-
39 ty is the owner's primary residence, or construction work performed on
40 property where the owner of the property owns no more than four dwelling
41 units; or
42 c. Construction work performed on a multiple residence and/or ancil-
43 lary amenities or installations that is wholly privately owned in any of
44 the following circumstances:
45 (i) where no less than twenty-five percent of the residential units
46 are affordable and shall be retained subject to an anticipated regulato-
47 ry agreement with a local, state, or federal governmental entity, or a
48 not-for-profit entity with an anticipated formal agreement with a local,
49 state, or federal governmental entity for purposes of providing afforda-
50 ble housing in a given locality or region provided that the period of
51 affordability for a residential unit deemed affordable under the
52 provisions of this paragraph shall be for no less than fifteen years
53 from the date of construction; or
54 (ii) where no less than thirty-five percent of the residential units
55 involves the provision of supportive housing services for vulnerable
A. 1474 12
1 populations provided that such units are subject to an anticipated regu-
2 latory agreement with a local, state, or federal governmental entity.
3 4. As a condition of receiving funds from the New York climate action
4 fund climate investment account established pursuant to section ninety-
5 nine-qq of the state finance law or from the climate change adaptation
6 fund established pursuant to section ninety-seven-m of the state finance
7 law for a covered climate risk-related and energy transition project,
8 the owner or developer of such covered climate risk-related and energy
9 transition project, or a third party acting on such owner's or develop-
10 er's behalf, shall agree to enter into a labor peace agreement with at
11 least one bona fide labor organization either:
12 a. where such bona fide labor organization is actively representing
13 non-construction employees who will be working within the covered
14 climate risk-related and energy transition project once built; or
15 b. upon notice by a bona fide labor organization that is attempting to
16 represent such non-construction employees.
17 5. For purposes of this section "labor peace agreement" means an
18 agreement between an owner and/or developer and labor organization that,
19 at a minimum, protects the state's proprietary interests by prohibiting
20 labor organizations and members from engaging in picketing, work stop-
21 pages, boycotts, and any other economic interference.
22 6. The owner or developer using funds from the New York climate action
23 fund climate investment account established pursuant to section ninety-
24 nine-qq of the state finance law or from the climate change adaptation
25 fund established pursuant to section ninety-seven-m of the state finance
26 law for a covered climate risk-related and energy transition project
27 pursuant to this section shall:
28 a. require the use of apprenticeship agreements as defined by article
29 twenty-three of this chapter; or for industries without apprenticeship
30 programs, require the use of workforce training, preferably in conjunc-
31 tion with a bona fide labor organization; and
32 b. consider use of registered pre-apprenticeship direct entry programs
33 for the recruitment of local and/or disadvantaged workers.
34 7. For purposes of this section, the "fiscal officer" shall be deemed
35 to be the commissioner. The enforcement of any covered climate risk-re-
36 lated and energy transition project under this section shall be subject
37 to the requirements of sections two hundred twenty, two hundred twen-
38 ty-a, two hundred twenty-b, two hundred twenty-i, two hundred twenty-
39 three, two hundred twenty-four-b of this article, and section two
40 hundred twenty-seven of this chapter and within the jurisdiction of the
41 fiscal officer; provided, however, nothing contained in this section
42 shall be deemed to construe any covered climate risk-related and energy
43 transition project as otherwise being considered public work pursuant to
44 this article.
45 8. The fiscal officer may issue rules and regulations governing the
46 provisions of this section. Violations of this section shall be grounds
47 for determinations and orders pursuant to section two hundred twenty-b
48 of this article.
49 9. For any building service work on a covered climate risk-related and
50 energy transition project, prevailing wage shall be paid consistent with
51 article nine of this chapter.
52 10. Any public entity receiving at least five million dollars in funds
53 from the New York climate action fund climate investment account estab-
54 lished pursuant to section ninety-nine-qq of the state finance law or
55 from the climate change adaptation fund established pursuant to section
56 ninety-seven-m of the state finance law for a project which involves the
A. 1474 13
1 construction, reconstruction, alteration, maintenance, moving, demoli-
2 tion, excavation, development or other improvement of any building,
3 structure or land, shall be subject to section two hundred twenty-two of
4 this article.
5 § 5. Subdivision (a) of section 314 of the tax law, as amended by
6 chapter 190 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
7 (a) General.[--] Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as
8 otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful for any tax commission-
9 er, any officer or employee of the department of taxation and finance,
10 or any person who, pursuant to this section, is permitted to inspect any
11 return, or to whom any information contained in any return is furnished,
12 or any person engaged or retained by such department on an independent
13 contract basis, or any person who in any manner may acquire knowledge of
14 the contents of a return filed pursuant to this article, to divulge or
15 make known in any manner the amount of income or gross receipts or any
16 particulars set forth or disclosed in any return under this article. The
17 officers charged with the custody of such returns shall not be required
18 to produce any of them or evidence of anything contained in them in any
19 action or proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the state or the
20 commissioner of taxation and finance in an action or proceeding under
21 the provisions of this chapter or in any other action or proceeding
22 involving the collection of a tax due under this chapter to which the
23 state or the commissioner is a party or a claimant, or on behalf of any
24 party to any action or proceeding under the provisions of this article
25 when the returns or facts shown thereby are directly involved in such
26 action or proceeding, in any of which events the court may require the
27 production of, and may admit in evidence, so much of said returns or of
28 the facts shown thereby as are pertinent to the action or proceeding and
29 no more. The commissioner may, nevertheless, publish a copy or a summary
30 of any determination or decision rendered after the formal hearing
31 provided for in this chapter. Nothing herein shall be construed to
32 prohibit the delivery to a petroleum business or its duly authorized
33 representative of a copy of any return filed by it, nor to prohibit the
34 publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification
35 of particular returns and the items thereof, or the disclosure of data
36 other than taxpayer identity information from a return or returns of one
37 or more petroleum or fossil fuel businesses to the department of envi-
38 ronmental conservation or the New York state energy research and devel-
39 opment authority for the purpose of implementing the New York state
40 climate change superfund act, or the publication of delinquent lists
41 showing the names of petroleum businesses who have failed to pay their
42 taxes at the time and in the manner provided by section three hundred
43 eight of this article together with any relevant information which in
44 the opinion of the commissioner may assist in the collection of such
45 delinquent taxes; or the inspection by the attorney general or other
46 legal representatives of the state of the return of any petroleum busi-
47 ness which shall bring action to set aside or review the tax based ther-
48 eon, or against whom an action or proceeding under this chapter has been
49 recommended by the commissioner or the attorney general or has been
50 instituted; or the inspection of the returns of any petroleum business
51 by the comptroller or duly designated officer or employee of the state
52 department of audit and control, for purposes of the audit of a refund
53 of any tax paid by such petroleum business under this article. Provided,
54 further, nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the disclosure of
55 taxpayer identity information, including name, mailing address and
56 taxpayer identifying number (social security account number, or such
A. 1474 14
1 other number as has been assigned by the secretary of the United States
2 treasury or [his] such secretary's delegate, or by the commissioner of
3 taxation and finance), with respect to persons who are registered as
4 residual petroleum product or aviation fuel businesses under this arti-
5 cle or as distributors of motor fuel or diesel motor fuel or kero-jet
6 fuel only for the purpose of article twelve-A of this chapter or this
7 article, whose registration as a residual petroleum product business or
8 as such distributor has been cancelled or suspended pursuant to this
9 article or such article twelve-A or whose application for registration
10 as a residual petroleum product business or as such distributor has been
11 refused pursuant to this article or such article twelve-A. In addition,
12 the commissioner may disclose the fact that a person is not registered
13 as a residual petroleum business under this article or as a distributor
14 of motor fuel, diesel motor fuel or kero-jet fuel only under article
15 twelve-A of this chapter. Information disclosed pursuant to this subdi-
16 vision shall not, by itself, be construed as proof of compliance or
17 noncompliance with the provisions of this chapter.
18 § 6. Section 97-m of the state finance law, as added by a chapter of
19 the laws of 2024 amending the environmental conservation law, relating
20 to establishing the climate change adaptation cost recovery program; and
21 amending the state finance law relating to establishing the climate
22 change adaptation fund, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.
23 2129-B and A. 3351-B, is amended to read as follows:
24 § 97-m. Climate change adaptation fund. 1. There is hereby established
25 in the custody of the comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and
26 finance a special [revolving] revenue fund to be known as the "climate
27 change adaptation fund" for the purpose of receiving moneys through cost
28 recovery demands and issuing funds for qualifying expenditures pursuant
29 to the climate change adaptation cost recovery program established in
30 article seventy-six of the environmental conservation law.
31 2. No monies shall be expended from the fund for any [project] purpose
32 except:
33 a. following appropriation by the legislature, qualifying expenditures
34 pursuant to the program, including their operation and maintenance, as
35 well as reasonable costs and expenses incurred by state entities for
36 administering and directly supporting the implementation of climate
37 change adaptive infrastructure projects under the program; provided,
38 however, that no more than one percent of the receipts of the fund may
39 be used for such administrative or implementation costs; and
40 b. Following appropriation or authorization by the legislature, trans-
41 fer to other funds for investments, payments or benefits directly
42 related to such climate change adaptive infrastructure projects, as
43 appropriate.
44 3. Any appropriation for qualifying expenditures shall indicate by
45 project type the amount of qualifying expenditures to be made available,
46 however, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
47 amounts associated with various project types shall be fully inter-
48 changeable within the overall appropriation.
49 4. Revenues in the fund shall be kept separate and shall not be
50 commingled with any other moneys in the custody of the comptroller or
51 the commissioner of taxation and finance. All deposits of such revenues
52 shall, if required by the comptroller, be secured by obligations of the
53 United States or of the state having a market value equal at all times
54 to the amount of such deposits and all banks and trust companies are
55 authorized to give security for such deposits. Any such revenues in such
56 fund may, upon the discretion of the comptroller, be invested in obli-
A. 1474 15
1 gations in which the comptroller is authorized to invest pursuant to
2 section ninety-eight-a of this article.
3 [4.] 5. All payments of moneys from the fund shall be made on the
4 audit and warrant of the comptroller.
5 § 7. Section 6 of a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the environ-
6 mental conservation law relating to establishing the climate change
7 adaptation cost recovery program; and amending the state finance law
8 relating to establishing the climate change adaptation fund, as proposed
9 in legislative bills numbers S. 2129-B and A. 3351-B, is amended to read
10 as follows:
11 § 6. Severability. If any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph,
12 section, or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent
13 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
14 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
15 to the word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part ther-
16 eof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall
17 have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legis-
18 lature that this act would have been enacted even if such invalid
19 provisions had not been included herein.
20 § 8. Severability. If any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph,
21 section, or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent
22 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
23 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
24 to the word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part ther-
25 eof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall
26 have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legis-
27 lature that this act would have been enacted even if such invalid
28 provisions had not been included herein.
29 § 9. Construction. This act, being necessary for the general health,
30 safety, and welfare of the people of this state, shall be liberally
31 construed to effect its purpose.
32 § 10. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
33 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the environmental
34 conservation law relating to establishing the climate change adaptation
35 cost recovery program; and amending the state finance law relating to
36 establishing the climate change adaptation fund, as proposed in legisla-
37 tive bills numbers S. 2129-B and A. 3351-B, takes effect.
