Int. No. 1302-A

By Council Members Gennaro, Narcisse, Hanif, Gutiérrez and Won

A Local Law to amend the New York city charter and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the reporting requirements of the office of long-term planning and sustainability, and to repeal sections 3-123, 3-126, 24-806, and 24-808 of the administrative code of the city of New York, relating to the New York city climate change adaptation task force, New York city energy policy, a wind resource assessment, and the citywide climate adaption plan, respectively

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

                     Section 1. Subdivision a, g, h, and j of section 20 of the New York city charter, subdivisions a, g, and h as amended by local law number 84 for the year 2013 and subdivision j as added by local law number 133 for the year 2013, are amended to read as follows:

                     a. The mayor shall establish an office of long-term planning and sustainability. Such office may, but need not, be established in the executive office of the mayor and may be established as a separate office or within any other office of the mayor or within any department the head of which is appointed by the mayor. Such office shall be headed by a director who shall be appointed by the mayor or by the head of such department. [For the purposes of this section only, "director" shall mean the director of long-term planning and sustainability.]

g. Sustainability advisory board. There shall be a sustainability advisory board whose members, including, at a minimum, representatives from environmental, environmental justice, urban planning, architecture, engineering, coastal protection, construction, critical infrastructure, labor, business, energy, and academic sectors, shall be appointed by the mayor. The advisory board shall also include the speaker of the city council or a designee and the chairperson of the council committee on environmental protection or a designee. The advisory board shall meet, at a minimum, twice per year and shall provide advice and recommendations to the director regarding [the provisions] subdivisions b, c, e, f, k, and l of this section and any other topic at the request of the director.

h. Website and reporting. The director shall post on the city's website[,] a copy of each sustainability plan required by subdivision e of this section, and all reports prepared pursuant to this section, within ten days of their completion.

j. Food security indicators. The director or the director's designee, in consultation with the commissioner of the department of health and mental hygiene, the commissioner of the department of social services/human resources administration, or their respective designees, and community based organizations and service providers with relevant expertise and such other individuals as the director shall designate, shall establish a set of indicators to measure food security. Such indicators shall include but need not be limited to an analysis of existing federal data on food security and the use and impact of governmental nutrition assistance programs. The director, or the director's designee, shall prepare and present a report on such indicators to be included in the annual city food system metrics report required pursuant to section 3-120 of the code.

§ 2. Section 20 of the New York city charter is amended by adding new subdivisions a-1, k, and l to read as follows:

a-1. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Climate hazard. The term "climate hazard" means a physical process or event related to the climate that can harm human health, livelihoods, property or natural resources, including but not limited to:

1. an extreme storm, such as a hurricane, nor'easter, or blizzard;

2. sea level rise;

3. tidal flooding;

4. extreme heat;

5. extreme precipitation;

6. extreme wind;

7. a wild fire; or

8. a flooding surge event that may be associated with a storm.                     

Director. The term “director” means the director of long-term planning and sustainability.

Energy supply. The term “energy supply” means: (i) power plants, renewable energy facilities, and any other facilities that generate energy that is used in the city; (ii) infrastructure that transmits or distributes energy that is used in the city; (iii) any fuels that are used in buildings or facilities in the city; and (iv) distributed generation sources of electricity, including cogeneration and energy storage facilities that are used in the city.

Environmental justice area. The term "environmental justice area" has the same meaning as such term is defined in section 3-1001 <https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/newyorkcity/latest/NYCadmin/0-0-0-1690> of the administrative code.

Non-structural risk reduction approach. The term "non-structural risk reduction approach" means a program, policy, process, or incentive to safeguard communities from climate hazards or to remove a structure from a location at risk of a climate hazard, including wetlands preservation, creation, and restoration, densification in areas that are not prone to flooding, or other similar concepts.

Renewable energy. The term "renewable energy" means energy generated from: (i) hydropower, municipal solid waste, marine and hydrokinetic, wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and biogas; (ii) any source that the director determines is renewable; or (iii) any source that is determined by the director to have a positive environmental impact or a substantially lower negative environmental impact than other sources of energy.

Resiliency and adaptation measure. The term "resiliency and adaptation measure" means a measure to enable a community or structure to withstand or avoid a climate hazard, including but not limited to a rip rap, groin, breakwater, levee, floodwall, marsh, wetland, erosion control method, natural resource beach nourishment and restoration, floodproofing, weatherization, cooling measure, rain garden, drainage improvement, water detention structure, permeable pavement, tree planting and urban forest maintenance and expansion, reflective roof, shade structure, building retrofit, or green roof.

k. Long-term energy plan. No later than April 22, 2027, the director shall publish a long-term energy plan. No later than April 22, 2029 and no later than every 4 years thereafter, the director shall include any subsequent long-term energy plan in the report on the city’s long-term planning and sustainability efforts for that year, as required by subdivision f of this section. Such long-term energy plan shall include, but not be limited to:

                     1. a review of the current energy supply and capacity;

                     2. a summary of the current citywide energy demand and a projection of the future citywide energy demand over the next four years, or such longer period as the director may deem appropriate, including:

                     i. an identification of factors that may affect demand;

                     ii. specific recommendations regarding the capacity that could be added to the current energy supply to meet such projected demand after consideration of such factors; and

                     iii. actions the city could take in connection with such recommendations;

                     3. a list of each governmental entity that regulates or exercises any authority over the energy supply, in whole or in part, and, for each such entity, a description of its role with respect to the energy supply;

                     4. an estimate of the renewable energy sources within or directly connected to zone J plus an accounting of energy efficiency measures and distributed generation that have been deployed in the city;                     

5. an assessment of energy costs, energy cost burden, and energy insecurity of low and moderate income households, the impacts that energy insecurity has on such households, and specific recommendations for reducing energy costs and energy insecurity;

6. specific recommendations for developing and integrating additional renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures to the maximum extent possible;

                     7. an assessment of the feasibility of replacing in-city gas-fired power plants associated with the bulk power system with battery storage powered by renewable energy sources in a manner that is consistent with the New York state public service commission energy storage deployment policy developed pursuant to section 74 of the public service law, and an assessment of when such replacement, if feasible, can take place; and

                     8. a review of potential technologies for battery storage of energy.

l. Climate adaptation plan. No later than April 22, 2028 and no later than April 22 every four years thereafter, the director shall include a climate adaptation plan in the report on the city’s long-term planning and sustainability efforts for that year, as required by subdivision f of this section. Such plan shall not constitute a long-term sustainability plan for the purposes of subdivision e of this section, a plan for the purposes of section 197-a, or a comprehensive waterfront plan for the purposes of section 205. Such plan shall:

                     1. be developed in consultation with the department of city planning, the department of environmental protection, the department of transportation, the department of housing preservation and development, the department of education, the department of citywide administrative services, the department of buildings, and the department of parks and recreation; 

                     2. consider and evaluate a range of climate hazards impacting the city, including its shoreline, and identify and recommend resiliency and adaptation measures, including any updates to the zoning resolution and the New York city construction codes, and non-structural risk reduction approaches to protect and prepare the city’s residents, property, and infrastructure, including telecommunications infrastructure;

                     3. identify areas of the city that the director determines are highly vulnerable to climate hazards and evaluate whether such areas should be prioritized for resiliency and adaptation measures and non-structural risk reduction approaches;

                     4. consider the potential impact of identified resiliency and adaptation measures and non-structural risk reduction approaches on environmental justice areas;

                     5. take into account recommendations contained in the assessment reports, technical reports, and working group reports issued by the intergovernmental panel on climate change and the New York city panel on climate change or any successor entities and recommendations included in the comprehensive waterfront plan, prepared pursuant to section 205; and

                     6. propose additional strategies to address climate hazards.

                     § 3. Subdivisions a, b, and c of section 3-122 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law number 42 for the year 2012, are amended to read as follows:

                     a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section [and section 3-123 of this subchapter], the following terms [shall mean] have the following meanings:

                     [1. "Vulnerable populations" means persons or communities at increased risk of harm as a direct or indirect consequence of climate change based on one or more of the following risk factors: (i) proximity to disproportionally impacted areas; (ii) age, including senior citizen or minor status; (iii) income level; (iv) disability; (v) chronic or mental illness; and (vi) language.

                     2.   "Public health" means impacts on physical health, mental health and social well-being and public or private services that treat and prevent disease, prolong life and promote health.

                     3.   "Natural systems" means ecosystems and assets that provide ecologic benefits, including but not limited to waterbodies, trees, wetlands and parks.

                     4.   "Critical infrastructure" means systems and assets, with the exception of residential and commercial buildings, that support vital city activities and for which the diminished functioning or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on public safety and/or economic security.]

Critical infrastructure. The term “critical infrastructure” means systems and assets, including telecommunication infrastructure, with the exception of residential and commercial buildings, that support vital city activities and for which the diminished functioning or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on public safety or economic security.

                     Natural systems. The term “natural systems” means ecosystems and assets that provide ecologic benefits, including but not limited to waterbodies, trees, wetlands, and parks.

                     Public health. The term “public health” means impacts on physical health, mental health, and social well-being, and public or private services that treat and prevent disease, prolong life, and promote health.

                     Vulnerable populations. The term “vulnerable populations” means persons or communities at increased risk of harm as a direct or indirect consequence of climate change based on one or more of the following risk factors: (i) proximity to disproportionally impacted areas; (ii) age, including senior citizen or minor status; (iii) income level; (iv) disability; (v) chronic or mental illness; and (vi) language.

                     b. There shall be a New York city panel on climate change whose members shall [serve without compensation from the city. Members shall] include, but not be limited to, climate change and climate impact scientists who shall be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the mayor.

                     c. 1. The panel shall meet at least twice a year for the purpose of (i) reviewing the most recent scientific data related to climate change and its potential impacts on the city's communities, vulnerable populations, public health, natural systems, critical infrastructure, buildings, and economy; and (ii) advising the office of long-term planning and sustainability [and the New York city climate change adaptation task force established pursuant to section 3-123 of this subchapter].

                     2. The panel shall make recommendations regarding (i) the near-, [intermediate] intermediate-, and long-term quantitative and qualitative climate change projections for the city of New York within [one] 1 year of the release of an assessment report by the intergovernmental panel on climate change, but not less than once every [three] 7 years; and (ii) a framework for stakeholders to incorporate climate change projections into their planning processes.

                     3. Within 3 years after making recommendations pursuant to paragraph 2 of this subdivision, the panel shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council, and make publicly available online, a report concerning climate change issues, such as the abatement of greenhouse gas emissions, climate resiliency, and environmental health and conservation.

                     § 4. Section 3-123 of the administrative code of the city of New York is REPEALED.

                     § 5. Section 3-126 of the administrative code of the city of New York is REPEALED.

                     § 6. Section 24-806 of the administrative code of the city of New York is REPEALED.

                     § 7. Section 24-808 of the administrative code of the city of New York is REPEALED.

                     § 8. This local law takes effect immediately.

AGB/AS/NNB

LS #17894

9/17/2025 6:40 PM