Fahy Releases 2021 Climate Action & Environmental Justice Agenda, Legislative Priorities

ALBANY, NY (Jan. 21) — Assemblymember Patricia Fahy (D — Albany) announced today that she is introducing and reintroducing a package of environmental legislative and policy priorities for the upcoming year as a senior member of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee. President Biden’s first-day decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords elevates the need for states to lead on innovative environmental policy. Recognizing the immediate threat climate change poses to New York State’s economy and ecosystems, this package acts on a growing need to preserve and protect open space to bolster climate and disaster resiliency. This package aligns with the goals of the CCPA to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by creating incentives and goals to electrify our transportation sector and improve the energy efficiency of our building stock.

Electrifying NY’s Building & Vehicle Inventory

NYSERDA estimates 30% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are produced by fuel combustion and heating in residential, industrial, and commercial buildings. Transportation in New York accounts for another 36% of all GHGs; together, these sectors account for over half of the state’s GHGs. To accelerate and expand electrification, Fahy sponsors the following bills:

• A.6434A of 2020* Boosting EV Sales — Provides a state sales tax exemption for the sale of the first $35,000 of a battery, electric, or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. New York lags behind much of the country in EV adoption, not even breaking into the top 10 for EV ownership.
• A.2412 100% EV Fleet of State Vehicles — Requires that New York’s fleet of state vehicles be 100% electric vehicles by 2032. This will be cost-neutral, phasing in new electric vehicles as municipalities and state agencies retire older fleet vehicles.
• A.2415 Greening NY’s Building Stock — Requires development and implementation of benchmarking standards for the total annual use of energy and water for large buildings outside of New York City over 25,000 square feet. Benchmarking measures the energy usage of similar kinds of buildings and under this bill will be used to create energy efficiency codes for certain classes of buildings.
• A.9879 of 2020* EV Charging Stations & Spaces — Requires new construction with attached parking to have certain EV-capable and EV-ready parking capabilities. New commercial construction with a parking lot would be required to have a certain percentage of parking spaces either equipped with EV-charging infrastructure, or built with the electrical infrastructure to support future installation. This prevents costly installation expenses post-construction and removes a major barrier to EV adoption. It would also require new residential construction to have EV-capable parking spots, enabling the installation of a charging unit in the future for a fraction of the cost.
• A.9743 of 2020* Tracking Energy Efficiency — Requires an annual report on appliance and equipment energy efficiency standards and resulting energy and utility bill savings.
• A.XXXX* EV Dealerships — Permits direct sales of electric vehicles outside of New York City at authorized locations. Electric vehicles have struggled to break into the New York market, with our state not breaking into the top 10 for EV ownership. This bill would enable more EV manufacturers to operate storefronts in New York, particularly in Upstate.

Preventing Climate Disasters & Bolstering Eco-Resiliency

Disaster-related emergencies cost New York State and the federal government an estimated $37.3 billion in response over the last 10 years and are projected to cost an additional $55 billion by 2029, according to Rebuild By Design, a coalition of New York’s leading infrastructure experts and stakeholders. These bills address the fallout of this crisis:

• A.XXXX* 30x30 Preservation Effort — Requires that New York State make it an official goal of the state and develop a plan and strategy to preserve and protect at least thirty percent of the state’s landmass by 2030 to help bolster resistance to climate change and natural weather-related disasters and events.
• A.11070 of 2020* Climate Risk(s) in SEQRs — Includes comprehensive climate change risk analysis as part of every environmental assessment statement and requires updates to rules and regulations regarding the state environmental quality review.

Reducing Plastic Pollution & Reinvigorating Recycling Markets

Global production of plastic water bottles emits over 2.5 million tons of carbon emissions annually, and plastics’ share of total global carbon and greenhouse gas emissions is projected to rise from 8% to 17% by 2050. Further, policy changes in Asia have decimated the global market for American recycled plastics. These bills look to make New York the center of a new market and rebuild our recycling industry by requiring certain consumer products to have recycled content mandates to be sold in our state:

• A.8664 of 2020* 75% Recycled Content in All Plastic Bottles — Requires single-use beverage containers to be manufactured with seventy-five percent recycled materials by 2025.
• A.9121 of 2020* 100% Recycled Content in Plastic Water Bottles — Requires single-use plastic water bottles to be composed of one hundred percent recycled material by 2025.