Amd §239-c, Gen Muni L; amd §§27 & 81, Gen City L; amd §§267 & 271, Town L; amd §§7-712 & 7-718, Vil L
Requires certain municipal planning boards and zoning boards of appeals to receive at least one hour of environmentally conscious planning training annually.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
600--A
Cal. No. 563
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government --
reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second
report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, the general city law, the
town law, and the village law, in relation to requiring certain munic-
ipal planning boards and zoning boards of appeals to receive environ-
mentally conscious planning training
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of
2 section 239-c of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 662 of
3 the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
4 (i) Each member of a county planning board shall complete, at a mini-
5 mum, [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such
6 members to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by
7 a member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for
8 environmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the
9 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this
10 paragraph. Such training shall be approved by the county and may
11 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a regional or coun-
12 ty planning office or commission, county planning federation, state
13 agency, statewide municipal association, college or other similar enti-
14 ty. Training shall include at least one hour related to environmentally
15 conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, training to
16 meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership and commu-
17 nity protection act, including any grant and funding opportunities,
18 farmland and natural resource conservation, climate justice, environ-
19 mentally conscious site design, building material techniques and water
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02018-02-5
S. 600--A 2
1 mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training may be provided
2 in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, electronic media,
3 video, distance learning and traditional classroom training.
4 § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 27 of the general city
5 law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as
6 follows:
7 a. Each member of the planning board of a city, except a city having a
8 population of more than one million, shall complete, at a minimum,
9 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members
10 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a
11 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi-
12 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the
13 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this
14 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the legislative body and
15 may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality,
16 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder-
17 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other
18 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to
19 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to,
20 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership
21 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu-
22 nities, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate justice,
23 environmentally conscious site design, building material techniques and
24 water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training may be
25 provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, elec-
26 tronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom train-
27 ing.
28 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 81 of the general
29 city law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to
30 read as follows:
31 (a) Each member of the board of appeals in a city, except a city
32 having a population of more than one million, shall complete, at a mini-
33 mum, [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such
34 members to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by
35 a member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for
36 environmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the
37 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this
38 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the legislative body and
39 may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality,
40 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder-
41 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other
42 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to
43 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to,
44 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership
45 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu-
46 nities, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate justice,
47 environmentally conscious site design, building material techniques and
48 water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training may be
49 provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, elec-
50 tronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom train-
51 ing.
52 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 267 of the town law,
53 as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as
54 follows:
55 (a) Each member of the board of appeals shall complete, at a minimum,
56 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members
S. 600--A 3
1 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a
2 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi-
3 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the
4 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this
5 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the town board and may
6 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality,
7 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder-
8 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other
9 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to
10 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to,
11 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership
12 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu-
13 nities, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate justice,
14 environmentally conscious site design, building material techniques and
15 water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training may be
16 provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, elec-
17 tronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom train-
18 ing.
19 § 5. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 271 of the town law,
20 as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as
21 follows:
22 a. Each member of the planning board shall complete, at a minimum,
23 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members
24 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a
25 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi-
26 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the
27 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this
28 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the town board and may
29 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality,
30 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder-
31 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other
32 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to
33 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to,
34 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership
35 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu-
36 nities, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate justice,
37 environmentally conscious site design, building material techniques and
38 water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training may be
39 provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, elec-
40 tronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom train-
41 ing.
42 § 6. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 7-712 of the village
43 law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as
44 follows:
45 (a) Each member of the board of appeals shall complete, at a minimum,
46 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members
47 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a
48 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi-
49 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the
50 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this
51 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the board of trustees
52 and may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a munici-
53 pality, regional or county planning office or commission, county plan-
54 ning federation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college
55 or other similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour
56 related to environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be
S. 600--A 4
1 limited to, training to meet the goals of and compliance with the
2 climate leadership and community protection act, including any grant and
3 funding opportunities, farmland and natural resource conservation,
4 climate justice, environmentally conscious site design, building materi-
5 al techniques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices.
6 Training may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not
7 limited to, electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional
8 classroom training.
9 § 7. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 7-718 of the village
10 law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as
11 follows:
12 a. Each member of the planning board shall complete, at a minimum,
13 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members
14 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a
15 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi-
16 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the
17 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this
18 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the board of trustees
19 and may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a munici-
20 pality, regional or county planning office or commission, county plan-
21 ning federation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college
22 or other similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour
23 related to environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be
24 limited to, training to meet the goals of and compliance with the
25 climate leadership and community protection act, including any grant and
26 funding opportunities, farmland and natural resource conservation,
27 climate justice, environmentally conscious site design, building materi-
28 al techniques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices.
29 Training may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not
30 limited to, electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional
31 classroom training.
32 § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
33 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
