Bill Text: NY A05399 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Declares a climate emergency and places a ban on fossil fuel infrastructure projects but shall not apply to repair or maintenance of existing infrastructure.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 20-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to environmental conservation [A05399 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A05399-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         5399--B

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 11, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL, COLTON, ARROYO, SIMON, PICHARDO, D'URSO,
          ORTIZ,  GRIFFIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environ-
          mental Conservation -- committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted  as  amended  and  recommitted  to  said  committee -- again
          reported from said committee with  amendments,  ordered  reprinted  as
          amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  environmental  conservation law, in relation to
          declaring a climate emergency and placing a moratorium on fossil  fuel
          infrastructure

          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 1-0103 to read as follows:
     3  § 1-0103. Climate emergency declaration and policy.
     4    1. The legislature finds and declares the following:
     5    (a)  A  climate emergency exists that threatens the state of New York,
     6  the nation, and the world;
     7    (b) Irrevocable damage to the environment has been  caused  by  global
     8  warming of approximately one degree celsius demonstrating that the earth
     9  is  already too hot for safety and justice, as attested by increased and
    10  intensifying wildfires, floods, rising  seas,  diseases,  droughts,  and
    11  extreme weather;
    12    (c)  On  April twenty-second, two thousand sixteen, world leaders from
    13  one hundred seventy-four countries and the European Union recognized the
    14  threat of climate change and the urgent need to combat it by signing the
    15  Paris Agreement, agreeing to keep warming well below two degrees celsius
    16  above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit  the  temper-
    17  ature increase to one and one-half degrees fahrenheit;
    18    (d)  On  October  eighth,  two  thousand  eighteen, the United Nations
    19  International Panel  on  Climate  Change  ("IPCC")  released  a  special
    20  report,  which  projected  that limiting warming to the one and one-half

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09246-11-9
        A. 5399--B                          2

     1  degrees celsius target this century will require an unprecedented trans-
     2  formation of every sector of the global economy  over  the  next  twelve
     3  years;
     4    (e) On November twenty-third, two thousand eighteen, the United States
     5  Fourth National Climate Assessment ("NCA4") was released and details the
     6  massive  threat  that  climate change poses to the American economy, our
     7  environment and climate stability, and underscores the need for  immedi-
     8  ate climate emergency action at all levels of government;
     9    (f)  According  to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's
    10  (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS),  global  temperatures
    11  in two thousand eighteen were eighty-three one-hundredths degrees celsi-
    12  us  (one  and  one-half  degrees  fahrenheit)  warmer  than the nineteen
    13  hundred fifty-one to nineteen hundred eighty mean,  and  the  past  five
    14  years are collectively the warmest in modern history;
    15    (g)  World  Wildlife Fund's 2018 Living Planet report finds that there
    16  has been a sixty per  centum  decline  in  global  wildlife  populations
    17  between  nineteen hundred seventy and two thousand fourteen, with causes
    18  including overfishing, pollution and climate change;
    19    (h) According to  the  intergovernmental  science-policy  platform  on
    20  biodiversity and ecosystem services, human activity has already severely
    21  altered  forty per centum of the marine environment, fifty per centum of
    22  inland waterways, and seventy-five per centum of the planet's land,  and
    23  it  is  projected  that five hundred thousand to one million species are
    24  threatened with extinction, many within the next few decades;
    25    (i) Globally, eighteen of the nineteen hottest years  on  record  have
    26  occurred since two thousand one;
    27    (j) The state of New York is particularly vulnerable to the effects of
    28  climate  change  and has already been subjected to devastating disasters
    29  caused by global warming, including increasing  superstorms  and  severe
    30  flooding;
    31    (k)  Marginalized  populations in the state of New York and worldwide,
    32  including people of color, immigrants, indigenous  communities,  low-in-
    33  come individuals, people with disabilities, and the unhoused are already
    34  disproportionately affected by climate change, and will continue to bear
    35  an  excess  burden  as temperatures increase, oceans rise, and disasters
    36  worsen;
    37    (l) Restoring a safe and stable  climate  and  reversing  biodiversity
    38  loss  requires an emergency mobilization on a scale not seen since World
    39  War II to attain zero greenhouse gas emissions  across  all  sectors  at
    40  wartime  speed,  to  rapidly  and  safely draw down or remove all excess
    41  carbon from the atmosphere, and to implement  measures  to  protect  all
    42  people  and  species  from the consequences of abrupt climate change and
    43  ecological destruction;
    44    (m) Building a society that is resilient to the current, expected, and
    45  potential effects of climate change will protect health, lives, environ-
    46  ments, and economies.  Resilience is best achieved by preparing for  the
    47  most dramatic potential consequences of climate change; and
    48    (n) Justice demands climate policy that addresses the specific experi-
    49  ences,  vulnerabilities,  and needs of the marginalized communities most
    50  affected by the effects of climate change, and includes  those  communi-
    51  ties in climate and ecological resilience planning, policy and actions.
    52    2.  It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of New York to
    53  restore an optimal safe climate and to provide maximum  protection  from
    54  climate  change  to all people and species, globally, including the most
    55  vulnerable.
        A. 5399--B                          3

     1    3. It is the intent of the legislature that the state do  all  of  the
     2  following in furtherance of such policy:
     3    (a) Convert the economy to net zero greenhouse gas emissions as quick-
     4  ly as possible.
     5    (b)  Immediately  initiate  a  multigenerational  effort  to draw down
     6  greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere in as short a time as  possi-
     7  ble, and develop research in support of this goal.
     8    (c) Immediately initiate a massive effort to restore ecosystems.
     9    (d) Respond to the climate emergency based on a just transition frame-
    10  work  that  focuses  on  equity, self-determination, culture, tradition,
    11  democracy, and the fundamental human right of all people to clean, heal-
    12  thy, and adequate air, water, land, food, education, and shelter.
    13    (e) Engage the public in  climate-emergency-related  deliberations  so
    14  that  citizens  can see their influence on the policy and resource deci-
    15  sions that impact their daily lives and their future.
    16    (f) Encourage nongovernment actors to contribute  to  the  development
    17  and implementation of solutions.
    18    (g)  A  sweeping  overhaul  of  the economy that centers on equity and
    19  justice in its solutions is vital to our future  and  must  include  the
    20  following  goals:  dramatically  expand existing renewable power sources
    21  and deploy new production capacity with the goal of meeting one  hundred
    22  per  centum  of national power demand through renewable sources; build a
    23  national, energy-efficient, "smart" grid; upgrade every residential  and
    24  industrial  building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and
    25  safety; eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing,  agricul-
    26  tural  and other industries, including by investing in local-scale agri-
    27  culture in communities across the country; repair and improve  transpor-
    28  tation  and  other  infrastructure,  and upgrade water infrastructure to
    29  ensure universal access to clean water; fund massive investment  in  the
    30  drawdown  of  greenhouse  gases;  and make "green" technology, industry,
    31  expertise, products and services a major export of  the  United  States,
    32  with the aim of becoming the international leader in helping other coun-
    33  tries  become  greenhouse  gas  neutral  economies  and bringing about a
    34  global transition.
    35    (h) Support efforts for an emergency mobilization to  restore  a  safe
    36  climate in other states and at the federal and global level.
    37    §  2.  Article  23 of the environmental conservation law is amended by
    38  adding a new title 29 to read as follows:
    39                                  TITLE 29
    40                  MORATORIUM ON FOSSIL FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE
    41  Section 23-2901. Moratorium on fossil fuel infrastructure.
    42  § 23-2901. Moratorium on fossil fuel infrastructure.
    43    1. Legislative intent. New York state faces  an  existential  climate,
    44  ecological, economic, and security emergency which threatens our munici-
    45  palities,  state,  nation, and the world; a World War II-scale mobiliza-
    46  tion is needed to eliminate  greenhouse  gas  emissions.    Human-caused
    47  climate  change and air pollution are due to using fossil fuels. Climate
    48  change disproportionately impacts communities of color, children, elder-
    49  ly, Native Americans, indigenous peoples, the ill,  the  poor,  farmers,
    50  and  future generations.  The state shall promote a controlled reduction
    51  of fossil fuel utilization and a transition to clean,  renewable  energy
    52  for  the  purpose  of  improving  safety,  public  health, environmental
    53  protection, economic growth, and energy reliability as well as providing
    54  cost savings, creating jobs, and preventing climate catastrophe.
    55    2. For the purposes of this section, "fossil fuel"  shall  mean  coal,
    56  petroleum products and fuel gases.
        A. 5399--B                          4

     1    3.  For  the  purposes  of  this section, "fossil fuel infrastructure"
     2  shall mean a structure, such as a natural gas plant, coal  power  plant,
     3  natural  gas  compressor  station,  or ancillary facilities used to move
     4  fossil fuel from one location to another, such as a natural gas  or  oil
     5  pipeline.  The  phrase  does  not include: motor vehicles; gas stations;
     6  underground tanks or pipes located  on  the  site  of  a  motor  vehicle
     7  service station; retail, manufacturing or other facilities not primarily
     8  used to produce or store fossil fuels; retail products; or pipes leading
     9  to  a  residential or commercial building from a fuel tank to which fuel
    10  is delivered by motor vehicle.  Furthermore it includes:
    11    a. large-scale uses and facilities engaged in the  wholesale  distrib-
    12  ution, extraction, refinement or processing of fossil fuels;
    13    b.  terminals  engaged in the bulk movement of fossil fuels, excluding
    14  rail yards, fuel storage for airports and marine servicing facilities;
    15    c. bulk storage of fossil fuels in excess of two million  gallons  and
    16  fossil  fuel  facilities that do not provide direct sale or distribution
    17  to consumers; and
    18    d. any additional  meaning  of  fossil  fuel  infrastructure  for  the
    19  purposes  of  this  section  shall  be determined by the commissioner in
    20  accordance with the primary intent of this section.
    21    e. This moratorium shall not apply to uses and facilities necessary to
    22  address a bona  fide  imminent  threat  to  public  health,  safety  and
    23  welfare.  This  moratorium  shall  also not apply to uses and facilities
    24  necessary for public safety, including, but not limited to, police, fire
    25  and rescue agencies.
    26    4. A moratorium shall be  established  on  any  and  all  fossil  fuel
    27  infrastructure  projects  including  as  it relates to the distribution,
    28  processing, storage, or extraction of  fossil  fuels.  No  new  permits,
    29  licenses, or any form of permission shall be granted for any fossil fuel
    30  infrastructure  project  nor shall any funding, investment, or any other
    31  financial assistance  be  granted  to  any  fossil  fuel  infrastructure
    32  project  as  long as there are economically and technologically feasible
    33  alternatives to ensure energy reliability. This section shall not  apply
    34  to the repair or maintenance of existing infrastructure as of the effec-
    35  tive  date  of this section. Such moratorium shall apply to the entirety
    36  of the state  including  all  departments,  agencies,  offices,  munici-
    37  palities, and any other governmental body.
    38    5. The moratorium shall be lifted upon an act of the legislature.
    39    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.