STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8617--C

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     October 2, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  CARROLL, MOSLEY, JAFFEE, DICKENS, RODRIGUEZ,
          ORTIZ, GOTTFRIED, ABINANTI, GLICK, STIRPE, BARRON, FAHY, DAVILA, NIOU,
          L. ROSENTHAL -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.  COOK,  SIMON  --  read
          once  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on Governmental Operations --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted  to  said  committee  --  recommitted  to the Committee on
          Governmental Operations in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee  --  recommitted  to  the  Committee  on
          Governmental  Operations in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend the state finance law and the tax law, in relation to
          implementing "The New York State Low Embodied Carbon Concrete  Leader-
          ship Act"

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "The  New  York
     2  State Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Leadership Act".
     3    §  2.  Section 165 of the state finance law is amended by adding a new
     4  subdivision 9 to read as follows:
     5    9. Special provisions for purchase of concrete.
     6    a. For the purposes of this section, the following  terms  shall  have
     7  the following meanings:
     8    (i)  "Concrete" shall mean structural and non-structural masonry, pre-
     9  cast and ready-mix concrete building products.
    10    (ii) "Concrete mix" shall mean a specific combination  of  components,
    11  including water, cement, aggregate and other materials which are used to
    12  produce  concrete  products. The structural properties of concrete mixes
    13  vary by strength, durability, curing time and other performance  charac-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13765-09-0

        A. 8617--C                          2

     1  teristics as a result of the defined proportions of their components and
     2  the methods used in their production.
     3    (iii)  "Portland  cement"  shall  mean  hydraulic  cement  produced by
     4  pulverizing clinkers in combination with one or more  of  the  forms  of
     5  calcium sulfate.
     6    (iv) "Embodied carbon emissions" shall mean carbon emissions generated
     7  as  a result of a material's production, including mining, refining, and
     8  shipping.
     9    (v)"Global warming potential" (GWP) shall mean a  numeric  value  that
    10  measures  the  total contribution to global warming from the emission of
    11  greenhouse gases, or the  elimination  of  greenhouse  gas  sinks,  that
    12  results  from the production and/or utilization of a specific product or
    13  service.
    14    (vi) "Carbon dioxide equivalent" (CO2e) shall mean a measure  used  to
    15  compare  the  emissions  from  various greenhouse gases based upon their
    16  global warming potential.
    17    (vii) "Low embodied carbon concrete" shall mean concrete that has been
    18  verified to embody lower carbon emissions, as measured by a GWP  metric,
    19  compared  to  the  baseline  embodied  carbon  emissions of conventional
    20  concrete made with portland cement. Low embodied carbon emissions can be
    21  achieved through diverse methods and processes including, but not limit-
    22  ed to: (A) higher energy efficiency at the level of the concrete  and/or
    23  cement  plant;  (B)  low  carbon  fuel  substitution at the level of the
    24  concrete and/or cement plant; (C) local production resulting in  reduced
    25  emissions  from  transportation; (D) the reduction of clinker content in
    26  the cement component of concrete, or the substitution of clinker content
    27  with lower carbon-intensive  alternative  materials  like  supplementary
    28  cementitious  materials  (SCMs)  such as ground granulated blast furnace
    29  slag, fly ash, and recycled ground-glass pozzolan; (E) the  capture  and
    30  storage  of  point  source  CO2 emissions during the cement and concrete
    31  production process; or (F) the utilization and mineralization of  carbon
    32  in concrete materials.
    33    (viii)  "Environmental  product  declaration" (EPD) shall mean product
    34  specific Type III EPDs that conform to ISO Standard 14025 and enable the
    35  numeric GWP and environmental impact comparisons between concrete  mixes
    36  fulfilling the same functions.
    37    (ix)  "Carbon  capture,  utilization and/or storage" (CCUS) shall mean
    38  methods and technologies to remove CO2 from the flue gas  and  from  the
    39  atmosphere,  followed by recycling the CO2 for utilization and/or deter-
    40  mining  safe and permanent storage options for captured CO2.
    41    (x) "Concrete delivery miles" (CDM) shall mean the distance  in  miles
    42  concrete  mixer  trucks  travel  from the production facility to the job
    43  site plus return travel.
    44    (xi) "Low embodied carbon discount rate" shall mean a rate, set by the
    45  commissioner, applied to one or more of the bids for supply of  concrete
    46  and  based  on  the  GWP derived from certified EPD analysis of each bid
    47  relative to all competitive bids. Estimated CO2e resulting from  project
    48  CDM  shall  be assessed in addition to GWP derived from EPD analysis and
    49  factored into the discount rate.
    50    (xii) "CCUS discount rate" shall mean a discount, set by  the  commis-
    51  sioner,  applied  to  one or more of the bids for supply of concrete and
    52  based on CO2 capture  and  CO2  utilization  methods  employed  by  each
    53  respective bid.
    54    (xiii)  "Net  zero CO2 emissions" shall mean a state whereby the total
    55  amount of CO2 utilized and/or captured during  the  concrete  production
    56  process and/or mineralized in concrete materials are equal to the amount

        A. 8617--C                          3

     1  of  CO2 emissions released during the production and utilization of that
     2  concrete.
     3    (xiv)  "Net  negative  CO2  emissions"  shall mean a state whereby the
     4  amount of CO2 utilized and/or captured during  the  concrete  production
     5  process  and/or  mineralized  in concrete materials are greater than the
     6  amount of CO2 emissions released during the production  and  utilization
     7  of that concrete.
     8    b.  When  letting  contracts  for the purchase of fifty cubic yards or
     9  more of concrete on behalf of facilities, transportation authorities and
    10  institutions of the state, solicitation specifications of the office  of
    11  general  services  and  any  other  agency, department, office, board or
    12  commission shall apply a low embodied  carbon  concrete  price  discount
    13  rate  to  offerer bids for the purposes of bid assessment and selection.
    14  Discount rates will be applied to offerer bid prices on the basis of the
    15  GWP values for concrete products specified in offerer bids.  GWP  values
    16  shall  be  submitted by offerers in the form of certified EPDs. In addi-
    17  tion to GWP values quantified in EPD submissions, the effect of CDM  and
    18  the  fuel  usage/emissions factor thereof shall be considered.  The CO2e
    19  emissions quantified for CDM shall be incorporated into the  GWP  values
    20  quantified  in EPD. A price discount not exceeding five percent shall be
    21  applied to top performing bids that certify the lowest  GWP  values  via
    22  EPD  submission.  The  commissioner shall establish rules and guidelines
    23  whereby specific price discount rates shall be determined and applied to
    24  bids based on GWP performance.
    25    c.  For bids that have been certified by the commissioner to  incorpo-
    26  rate products and technologies that involve CCUS, the commissioner shall
    27  establish  a  supplemental price discount rate to be applied in addition
    28  to the low embodied carbon concrete discount rate defined in paragraph b
    29  of this subdivision. Bids that receive  price  discounts  based  on  GWP
    30  performance  and which incorporate certified CCUS products and technolo-
    31  gies will be granted a supplemental price discount  for  bid  assessment
    32  and  selection  purposes  that shall not exceed three percent.  The CCUS
    33  discount rate shall be added to the low embodied  carbon  discount  rate
    34  and applied to the base bid price.
    35    d.  For bid opportunities that include multiple concrete mixes the GWP
    36  of all mixes will be proportionally weighted into  a  single  GWP  score
    37  that will serve as the basis for assessment and selection.
    38    e.  For  state-funded  construction projects that will be completed by
    39  private contracting firms that have been contracted by  the  state,  and
    40  for  which  concrete  will be procured for the project, such contractors
    41  shall comply with the selection standards and rules stipulated  in  this
    42  paragraph  when  subcontracting  services  from concrete providers. Such
    43  contractors shall report EPD documentation included in subcontract  bids
    44  that  demonstrate  compliance  with the standards and rules. The commis-
    45  sioner shall institute and issue guidelines pertaining to penalties  for
    46  non-compliance by such contractors.
    47    f.  The commissioner shall issue regulations for the implementation of
    48  this subdivision, including but not limited to: (i) establishing  guide-
    49  lines  that will assist agencies in determining which contracts meet the
    50  requirements in paragraph b of this subdivision;  (ii)  publishing  such
    51  purchasing  guidelines  on  the  office  of  general  services' website,
    52  disseminating such  guidelines  to  agencies  and  training  contracting
    53  personnel on implementing such guidelines; and (iii) providing for moni-
    54  toring of implementation.
    55    g.  The  commissioner  shall complete and submit to the legislature an
    56  annual  cost-benefit  analysis  of  the  low  embodied  carbon  concrete

        A. 8617--C                          4

     1  procurement standard, once implemented, in order to quantify the budget-
     2  ary  impact  of  the  program  relative to the latter's carbon reduction
     3  impact.
     4    §  3. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
     5  (kkk) to read as follows:
     6    (kkk) The environmental product  declaration  tax  credit.  (a)  Defi-
     7  nitions. For the purposes of this section:
     8    (i)  "low  embodied carbon concrete" shall mean concrete that has been
     9  verified by environmental product declaration  to  embody  lower  carbon
    10  emissions,  as  measured  by  a  Global  Warming Potential (GWP) metric,
    11  compared to the  baseline  embodied  carbon  emissions  of  conventional
    12  concrete.
    13    (ii)  "environmental  product  declaration  (EPD) analysis" shall mean
    14  product specific Type III EPDs that conform to ISO  Standard  14025  and
    15  enable  global  warming potential (GWP) and environmental impact compar-
    16  isons between products fulfilling the same functions.
    17    (b) Allowance of credit. Producers of concrete, as well as the produc-
    18  ers of the major concrete components, cement  and  aggregate,  that  are
    19  taxpayers  shall be allowed a credit, to be computed as provided in this
    20  subsection, against the tax imposed by this article, to  compensate  for
    21  financial  burdens  incurred  as  a result of EPD analyses undertaken to
    22  determine the product-based embodied carbon emissions of one or multiple
    23  concrete products produced at one or multiple plants that such  taxpayer
    24  owns and operates.
    25    (c)  Amount  of credit. The credit authorized by this subsection shall
    26  not exceed the lessor of: (i) the full costs incurred for an EPD  analy-
    27  sis  of a single concrete, cement, supplementary cementitious materials,
    28  and/or aggregate production facility; or (ii)  three  thousand  dollars,
    29  and  may  be  claimed  for the costs of completing EPD analyses at up to
    30  eight facilities owned by the same producer in a single tax  year  by  a
    31  single  taxpaying  entity  in  tax years two thousand twenty-one and two
    32  thousand twenty-two.  Tax credit eligibility will expire at the  end  of
    33  two thousand twenty-two.
    34    (d)  Application  of  credit. The credit allowed under this subsection
    35  for any taxable year shall not reduce the tax due for such year to  less
    36  than  the  fixed  dollar  minimum amount prescribed in  paragraph (d) of
    37  subdivision one of section two hundred ten of this chapter. However,  if
    38  the  amount  of the credit allowed under this subsection for any taxable
    39  year reduces the tax to such amount or if the  taxpayer  otherwise  pays
    40  tax  based on the fixed dollar minimum amount, any amount of credit thus
    41  not deductible in such taxable year shall be treated as  an  overpayment
    42  of  tax  to be credited or refunded in accordance with the provisions of
    43  section one thousand eighty-six of this chapter. Provided, however,  the
    44  provisions  of  subsection  (c)  of section one thousand eighty-eight of
    45  this chapter notwithstanding, no interest shall be paid thereon.
    46    § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
    47  ing  the  date  on  which  it shall have become a law and shall apply to
    48  taxable years commencing on and after such date. Effective  immediately,
    49  the  addition,  amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
    50  sary for the implementation of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are
    51  authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.