STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8931 IN SENATE April 1, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, the general city law, the town law, and the village law, in relation to requiring certain munic- ipal planning boards and zoning boards of appeals to receive environ- mentally conscious planning training The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of 2 section 239-c of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 662 of 3 the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 4 (i) Each member of a county planning board shall complete, at a mini- 5 mum, [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such 6 members to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by 7 a member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for 8 environmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 9 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 10 paragraph. Such training shall be approved by the county and may 11 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a regional or coun- 12 ty planning office or commission, county planning federation, state 13 agency, statewide municipal association, college or other similar enti- 14 ty. Training shall include at least one hour related to environmentally 15 conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, training to 16 meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership and commu- 17 nity protection act, including any grant and funding opportunities for 18 counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate justice, 19 environmentally conscious site design, building material techniques and 20 water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training may be 21 provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, elec- 22 tronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom train- 23 ing. 24 § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 27 of the general city 25 law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 26 follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13888-02-4
S. 8931 2 1 a. Each member of the planning board of a city, except a city having a 2 population of more than one million, shall complete, at a minimum, 3 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 4 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 5 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 6 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 7 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 8 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the legislative body and 9 may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, 10 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 11 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 12 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to 13 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, 14 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership 15 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu- 16 nities for counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate 17 justice, environmentally conscious site design, building material tech- 18 niques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training 19 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 20 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 21 training. 22 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 81 of the general 23 city law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to 24 read as follows: 25 (a) Each member of the board of appeals in a city, except a city 26 having a population of more than one million, shall complete, at a mini- 27 mum, [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such 28 members to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by 29 a member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for 30 environmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 31 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 32 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the legislative body and 33 may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, 34 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 35 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 36 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to 37 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, 38 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership 39 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu- 40 nities for counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate 41 justice, environmentally conscious site design, building material tech- 42 niques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training 43 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 44 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 45 training. 46 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 267 of the town law, 47 as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 48 follows: 49 (a) Each member of the board of appeals shall complete, at a minimum, 50 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 51 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 52 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 53 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 54 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 55 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the town board and may 56 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality,
S. 8931 3 1 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 2 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 3 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to 4 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, 5 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership 6 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu- 7 nities for counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate 8 justice, environmentally conscious site design, building material tech- 9 niques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training 10 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 11 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 12 training. 13 § 5. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 271 of the town law, 14 as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 15 follows: 16 a. Each member of the planning board shall complete, at a minimum, 17 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 18 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 19 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 20 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 21 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 22 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the town board and may 23 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, 24 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 25 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 26 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to 27 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, 28 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership 29 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu- 30 nities for counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate 31 justice, environmentally conscious site design, building material tech- 32 niques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training 33 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 34 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 35 training. 36 § 6. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 7-712 of the village 37 law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 38 follows: 39 (a) Each member of the board of appeals shall complete, at a minimum, 40 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 41 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 42 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 43 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 44 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 45 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the board of trustees 46 and may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a munici- 47 pality, regional or county planning office or commission, county plan- 48 ning federation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college 49 or other similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour 50 related to environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be 51 limited to, training to meet the goals of and compliance with the 52 climate leadership and community protection act, including any grant and 53 funding opportunities for counties, farmland and natural resource 54 conservation, climate justice, environmentally conscious site design, 55 building material techniques and water mitigation and energy systems 56 best practices. Training may be provided in a variety of formats,
S. 8931 4 1 including but not limited to, electronic media, video, distance learning 2 and traditional classroom training. 3 § 7. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 7-718 of the village 4 law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 a. Each member of the planning board shall complete, at a minimum, 7 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 8 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 9 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 10 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 11 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 12 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the board of trustees 13 and may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a munici- 14 pality, regional or county planning office or commission, county plan- 15 ning federation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college 16 or other similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour 17 related to environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be 18 limited to, training to meet the goals of and compliance with the 19 climate leadership and community protection act, including any grant and 20 funding opportunities for counties, farmland and natural resource 21 conservation, climate justice, environmentally conscious site design, 22 building material techniques and water mitigation and energy systems 23 best practices. Training may be provided in a variety of formats, 24 including but not limited to, electronic media, video, distance learning 25 and traditional classroom training. 26 § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 27 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.