New York Senate Bill S07081 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7081 2023-2024 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE May 17, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to estab- lishing the agrivoltaics research program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new 2 section 151-j to read as follows: 3 § 151-j. Agrivoltaics research program. 1. There is hereby established 4 the agrivoltaics research program. The purpose of the program is to 5 develop innovative science-based solutions to facilitate the co-location 6 of crops and photovoltaics while promoting the biodiversity of endemic 7 flora and fauna. In developing the program, the New York state college 8 of agriculture and life sciences, as named pursuant to section fifty- 9 seven hundred twelve of the education law, shall conduct, support, and 10 develop technologies and management strategies, along with verifications 11 systems to facilitate the sustainable and resilient co-location of crops 12 and photovoltaics. 13 2. Subject to available appropriations, the program shall consider, 14 but not be limited to, the following: crop varietals and/or livestock 15 suitable for agrivoltaics; siting design considerations and array 16 installation techniques compatible with agricultural co-location and/or 17 biodiversity conservation; and integration of digital and robotic tech- 18 nologies. The program shall also concomitantly consider socio-economics 19 in the formation of research trials and published recommendations. The 20 program shall conduct and demonstrate successful cropping and/or live- 21 stock systems and technologies in pilot locations throughout the state 22 of New York and is hereby authorized to conduct such research on the 23 state's agricultural experiment stations, and other locations deemed 24 suitable for private and public sector partnerships to evaluate, deter- 25 mine, and recommend strategies to enable agrivoltaics. The Cornell EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08775-02-3 
 S. 7081 2 1 Cooperative Extension system shall be utilized for knowledge transfer, 2 and annual reports shall be made and publicly disseminated. 3 3. The program shall include, but not be limited to, research on the 4 following topics, consistent with New York state's climate goals: 5 (a) methods to maximize the economic efficiency and scientific effica- 6 cy of the co-location of agricultural crops and photovoltaics; 7 (b) improvements or enhancements in biodiversity when combined with 8 low-lying or elevated photovoltaic installments; 9 (c) development, testing and deployment of technologies, including 10 digital agriculture systems, small-scale robotics for planting, harvest- 11 ing, and crop management; 12 (d) research that facilitates productive agrivoltaics across several 13 different varieties of crops including research that enables understand- 14 ing of agrivoltaics effects on soil health, soil carbon sequestration, 15 erosion, water management, and specialty crop canopy management for 16 enhanced climate resiliency; and 17 (e) research that quantifies total kilowatts produced, rates of crop 18 production, and greenhouse gas emissions avoided in lieu of fossil fuel 19 generation. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.