STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 476 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CLARK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments 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- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02018-01-5
A. 476 2 1 tronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom train- 2 ing. 3 § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 27 of the general city 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 of a city, except a city having a 7 population of more than one million, shall complete, at a minimum, 8 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 9 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 10 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 11 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 12 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 13 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the legislative body and 14 may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, 15 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 16 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 17 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to 18 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, 19 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership 20 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu- 21 nities for counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate 22 justice, environmentally conscious site design, building material tech- 23 niques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training 24 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 25 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 26 training. 27 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 81 of the general 28 city law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to 29 read as follows: 30 (a) Each member of the board of appeals in a city, except a city 31 having a population of more than one million, shall complete, at a mini- 32 mum, [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such 33 members to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by 34 a member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for 35 environmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 36 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 37 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the legislative body and 38 may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, 39 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 40 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 41 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to 42 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, 43 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership 44 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu- 45 nities for counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate 46 justice, environmentally conscious site design, building material tech- 47 niques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training 48 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 49 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 50 training. 51 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 267 of the town law, 52 as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 53 follows: 54 (a) Each member of the board of appeals shall complete, at a minimum, 55 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 56 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a
A. 476 3 1 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 2 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 3 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 4 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the town board and may 5 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, 6 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 7 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 8 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to 9 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, 10 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership 11 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu- 12 nities for counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate 13 justice, environmentally conscious site design, building material tech- 14 niques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training 15 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 16 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 17 training. 18 § 5. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 271 of the town law, 19 as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 20 follows: 21 a. Each member of the planning board shall complete, at a minimum, 22 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 23 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 24 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 25 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 26 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 27 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the town board and may 28 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, 29 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 30 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 31 similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour related to 32 environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be limited to, 33 training to meet the goals of and compliance with the climate leadership 34 and community protection act, including any grant and funding opportu- 35 nities for counties, farmland and natural resource conservation, climate 36 justice, environmentally conscious site design, building material tech- 37 niques and water mitigation and energy systems best practices. Training 38 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 39 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 40 training. 41 § 6. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7-a of section 7-712 of the village 42 law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 43 follows: 44 (a) Each member of the board of appeals shall complete, at a minimum, 45 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 46 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 47 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 48 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 49 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 50 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the board of trustees 51 and may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a munici- 52 pality, regional or county planning office or commission, county plan- 53 ning federation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college 54 or other similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour 55 related to environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be 56 limited to, training to meet the goals of and compliance with the
A. 476 4 1 climate leadership and community protection act, including any grant and 2 funding opportunities for counties, farmland and natural resource 3 conservation, climate justice, environmentally conscious site design, 4 building material techniques and water mitigation and energy systems 5 best practices. Training may be provided in a variety of formats, 6 including but not limited to, electronic media, video, distance learning 7 and traditional classroom training. 8 § 7. Paragraph a of subdivision 7-a of section 7-718 of the village 9 law, as added by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 10 follows: 11 a. Each member of the planning board shall complete, at a minimum, 12 [four] five hours of training each year designed to enable such members 13 to more effectively carry out their duties. Training received by a 14 member in excess of [four] five hours in any one year, except for envi- 15 ronmentally conscious planning training, may be carried over by the 16 member into succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this 17 subdivision. Such training shall be approved by the board of trustees 18 and may include, but not be limited to, training provided by a munici- 19 pality, regional or county planning office or commission, county plan- 20 ning federation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college 21 or other similar entity. Training shall include at least one hour 22 related to environmentally conscious planning, including, but not to be 23 limited to, training to meet the goals of and compliance with the 24 climate leadership and community protection act, including any grant and 25 funding opportunities for counties, farmland and natural resource 26 conservation, climate justice, environmentally conscious site design, 27 building material techniques and water mitigation and energy systems 28 best practices. Training may be provided in a variety of formats, 29 including but not limited to, electronic media, video, distance learning 30 and traditional classroom training. 31 § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 32 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.