STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1224 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 9, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, BURDICK, SIMON, COLTON, STECK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law and the tax law, in relation to establishing a carbon dioxide emissions price for electric generation from carbon-based fuel and creating a carbon dioxide emis- sions fund The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. The legislature here- 2 by finds and declares that: 3 1. As part of the 2020 state budget, the legislature passed the accel- 4 erated renewable energy growth and community benefit act to advance 5 renewable energy siting and establish tools for achieving the nation- 6 leading climate change goals of the climate leadership and community 7 protection act (CLCPA). 8 2. a. The CLCPA passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Cuomo 9 in 2019 codified into law the following requirements: 10 i. 70% of electricity delivered in New York state must be derived from 11 renewable resources by 2030; 12 ii. 100% of the electricity consumed in New York state must be derived 13 from zero-emissions resources by 2040; 14 iii. 9,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind installed by 2035; 15 iv. 6,000 MW of distributed solar energy resources installed by 2025; 16 v. 3,000 MW of energy storage installed by 2030; and 17 vi. Reducing building end-use energy consumption by 185 trillion Brit- 18 ish thermal units by 2025. 19 b. The CLCPA created a 22-member climate action council to establish 20 an implementation plan for how the state will achieve these goals. 21 3. The CLCPA amended the environmental conservation law by adding a 22 new section 75-0113 to establish a social cost of carbon for use by 23 state agencies. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01358-01-5
A. 1224 2 1 4. Entities other than state agencies have been considering how to 2 account for the value of carbon dioxide emissions in their business 3 plans and operations in light of the CLCPA and the accelerated renewable 4 energy growth and community benefit act. For example, the federally-de- 5 signated electric bulk system operator in New York state has developed a 6 proposal to introduce a carbon pricing mechanism into the competitive 7 wholesale electricity markets. Encouraging the incorporation of the 8 social cost of carbon established under the CLCPA into a carbon price by 9 entities beyond state agencies would facilitate programs to incorporate 10 the social cost of carbon in energy and other sectors of New York's 11 economy that emit greenhouse gases. 12 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 75-0113 of the environmental conserva- 13 tion law, as added by chapter 106 of the laws of 2019, is amended to 14 read as follows: 15 1. No later than one year after the effective date of this article, 16 the department, in consultation with the New York state energy research 17 and development authority, shall establish a social cost of carbon for 18 use by state agencies, and shall be taken into account in carbon pricing 19 mechanism programs in New York state, expressed in terms of dollars per 20 ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. 21 § 3. The tax law is amended by adding a new article 12-B to read as 22 follows: 23 ARTICLE 12-B 24 CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS PRICE FOR ELECTRIC GENERATION FROM CARBON-BASED 25 FUEL 26 Section 289-g. Definitions. 27 289-h. Determination and establishment of carbon dioxide emis- 28 sions price. 29 289-i. Carbon dioxide emissions fund. 30 289-j. Regulations. 31 § 289-g. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following 32 terms shall have the following meanings: 33 1. "Carbon-based fuel" means coal, natural gas, renewable biomass, 34 petroleum products, and any other product that emits carbon dioxide, 35 methane, nitrous oxide, or other greenhouse gases when combusted, and 36 that is used for fuel for the purposes of producing electric energy. 37 2. "Carbon-generated electricity" means electric energy produced using 38 a carbon-based fuel. 39 3. "Carbon dioxide equivalent" means a unit of measure denoting the 40 amount of emissions from a greenhouse gas, expressed as the amount of 41 carbon dioxide by weight that produces the same global warming impact. 42 4. "Carbon dioxide emissions price" means a price that incorporates 43 the social cost of carbon established by the department of environmental 44 conservation pursuant to subdivision one of section 75-0113 of the envi- 45 ronmental conservation law on each ton of carbon dioxide equivalency 46 emitted in the production of electric energy. 47 § 289-h. Determination and establishment of carbon dioxide emissions 48 price. 1. The department of environmental conservation shall determine 49 and establish a carbon dioxide emissions price. The department of envi- 50 ronmental conservation may also obtain information necessary for the 51 determination of the price from other state or federal agencies or the 52 federally designated electric bulk system operator. 53 2. Upon determining and establishing the carbon dioxide emissions 54 price, the department of environmental conservation shall transmit such 55 price to the federally designated electric bulk system operator in New 56 York state for use in its proposal to introduce a carbon pricing mech-
A. 1224 3 1 anism into competitive wholesale electricity markets, thereby conveying 2 support by the state of New York for the bulk system operator to final- 3 ize the carbon pricing mechanism and submit it to the federal energy 4 regulatory commission for approval. The amount of charges paid for 5 allowances auctioned under the regional greenhouse gas initiative shall 6 be deducted from the price determined pursuant to this section. 7 3. The department of environmental conservation shall be authorized to 8 develop any rule or regulation necessary to determine and establish the 9 carbon dioxide emissions price authorized under this article. 10 4. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the 11 price authorized under this section shall not be paid by any generator 12 of carbon-based electricity if such requirement is superseded by federal 13 law or regulation. 14 § 289-i. Carbon dioxide emissions fund. 1. The department, in coordi- 15 nation with the department of environmental conservation, shall estab- 16 lish the carbon dioxide emissions fund, and the department of environ- 17 mental conservation's office of climate change shall serve as the fund's 18 administrator. The department of environmental conservation shall depos- 19 it into such fund all revenues transferred to it by load serving enti- 20 ties, to the extent that such revenues are provided to such entities by 21 the federally designated electric bulk system operator in New York state 22 in accordance with the implementation of section two hundred eighty- 23 nine-h of this article. No such revenues shall fund government oper- 24 ations of New York state, other than to pay for reasonable administra- 25 tive costs as provided under subdivision two of this section. 26 2. The office of climate change shall distribute sixty percent of all 27 carbon dioxide emissions price revenues as follows: (a) forty percent 28 shall be returned to very low to moderate income residents of the state 29 in the form of tax credits in order to offset the cost of the carbon 30 dioxide emissions price. The amount of such credit shall be based on 31 estimates and averages of expense and consumption trends for very low to 32 moderate income residents determined by the office of climate change in 33 conjunction with the department of public service in accordance with 34 regulations pursuant to section two hundred eighty-nine-j of this arti- 35 cle. Such credit shall be progressively issued to very low to moderate 36 income residents. Such income categories shall mean those with income 37 below fifty percent for very low income residents, income between fifty 38 and eighty percent for low income residents, and income between eighty- 39 one and one hundred fifteen percent for moderate income residents, of 40 the area median income as determined by the department of housing and 41 urban development; and (b) twenty percent shall be used to support the 42 transition to renewable energy and improve climate change adaptation in 43 disadvantaged communities as defined in subdivision five of section 44 75-0101 of the environmental conservation law, including but not limited 45 to payments and subsidies for renewable energy, energy conservation and 46 efficiency measures, improvements in infrastructure, protection of low- 47 lying areas including coastlines, and emergency responses to extreme 48 weather events. 49 3. The office of climate change shall distribute the remaining forty 50 percent of revenues of such fund to support mass transit to reduce 51 carbon emissions. 52 § 289-j. Regulations. The department, in coordination with the 53 department of environmental conservation and the department of public 54 service, shall promulgate such rules and regulations as shall be neces- 55 sary to implement the provisions of this article. 56 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.