Requires the commissioner to establish standards for and a program of inspection and certification of green roofs prior to and after installation, including standards for environmentally acceptable chemical fertilizers and the testing of runoff water for evidence of such fertilizers; further establishes a green roof installation credit in the amount of fifty-five percent of qualified expenditures with a credit maximum of five thousand dollars.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2763--A
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 2, 2009
___________
Introduced by Sen. THOMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
-- recommitted to the Committee on Environmental Conservation in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to pre-
installation review and certification of green roof materials and to
amend the tax law, in relation to establishing a green roof installa-
tion credit
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a
2 new section 3-0308 to read as follows:
3 § 3-0308. Green roof inspection and certification.
4 1. The commissioner shall develop and implement a program to evaluate
5 and set standards for the plant material utilized in green roof
6 construction in the state and for environmentally acceptable chemical
7 fertilizers used in the maintenance of green roofs. Such program shall
8 include criteria for inspection and certification of green roof plans
9 prior to installation and inspection after installation. Such pre-ins-
10 tallation criteria for certification shall include, but not be limited
11 to: height, growth rate, drought tolerance, root systems, irrigation or
12 nutritional requirements, maintenance requirements, production of seeds
13 likely to invade nearby landscapes, generation of allergens and remedial
14 air filtration. The commissioner shall implement a program to inform
15 commercial installers and the public of any prohibitions and recommenda-
16 tions. Inspection after installation shall include, in addition to
17 pre-installation criteria, the testing of runoff water for environ-
18 mentally unacceptable chemical fertilizers.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02756-03-0
S. 2763--A 2
1 2. The commissioner may delegate to qualified personnel of county and
2 city building inspectors his or her duties of review and approval of
3 plans and issuance of certification required in subdivision one of this
4 section, subject to such conditions as he or she may establish.
5 3. For purposes of this section "green roof" shall mean roofing on a
6 building constructed of from two to four inches of soil and drainage
7 material supporting plant material with foliage from two to four inches
8 high designed to provide maximum groundcover, water retention, erosion
9 resistance, and respirative transpiration of moisture.
10 § 2. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
11 (u) to read as follows:
12 (u) Green roof installation credit. (1) General. An individual taxpay-
13 er shall be allowed a credit for taxable years beginning on or after
14 January first, two thousand eleven against the tax imposed by this arti-
15 cle for the installation of a green roof. The amount of the credit shall
16 be fifty-five percent of qualified green roof installation expenditures,
17 but shall not exceed the maximum credit of five thousand dollars.
18 (2) Qualified green roof installation expenditures. (A) The term
19 "qualified green roof installation expenditures" means expenditures for
20 the purchase, construction and installation of a green roof which is
21 installed in connection with residential property which is (i) located
22 in this state and (ii) which is used by the taxpayer as his or her prin-
23 cipal residence at the time the green roof is placed in service.
24 (B) Such qualified expenditures shall include expenditures for materi-
25 als, including but not limited to, irrigation systems, production of
26 seed and root systems and labor costs properly allocable to on-site
27 preparation, assembly and original installation, architectural and engi-
28 neering services, pre-installation criteria for installation and
29 designs and plans directly related to the construction or installation
30 of the green roof.
31 (C) Such qualified expenditures shall not include interest or other
32 finance charges.
33 (3) Green roof pre-installation criteria. The term "green roof pre-
34 installation criteria" shall include, but not be limited to, height,
35 growth rate, drought tolerance, irrigation or nutritional requirements,
36 generation of allergens and remedial air filtration and testing of
37 runoff water for environmentally unacceptable chemical fertilizers.
38 (4) Condominium/cooperative housing. Where a green roof is installed
39 by a condominium management association or a cooperative housing corpo-
40 ration, a taxpayer who is a member of the condominium management associ-
41 ation or who is a tenant-stockholder in the cooperative housing corpo-
42 ration may for the purpose of this subsection claim a proportionate
43 share of the total expenses as expenditure for the purposes of the cred-
44 it attributable of his or her principal residence.
45 (5) Multiple taxpayers. Where a green roof is purchased and installed
46 in a principal residence shared by two or more taxpayers, the amount of
47 the credit allowable under this subsection for each such taxpayer shall
48 be prorated according to the percentage of the total expenditure for
49 such roof contributed by each taxpayer.
50 (6) Grants. For purposes of determining the amount of the expenditure
51 incurred in purchasing and installing the green roof, the amount of any
52 federal, state or local grant received by the taxpayer, which was used
53 for the purchase and/or installation of such roof and which was not
54 included in the federal gross income of the taxpayer, shall not be
55 included in the amount of such expenditures.
S. 2763--A 3
1 (7) When credit allowed. The credit provided for in this subsection
2 shall be allowed with respect to the taxable year, commencing after
3 January first, two thousand eleven, in which the green roof is
4 installed.
5 (8) Carryover of credit. If the amount of the credit, and carryovers
6 of such credit, allowable under this subsection for any taxable year
7 shall exceed the taxpayer's tax for such year, such excess amount may be
8 carried over to the five taxable years next following the taxable year
9 with respect to which the credit is allowed and may be deducted from the
10 taxpayer's tax for such year or years.
11 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately provided that section one
12 of this act shall take effect January 1, 2011 and that section two of
13 this act shall apply to taxable years commencing on or after January 1,
14 2012; provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition,
15 amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
16 implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and
17 directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
