Int. No. 1960-A

By Council Members Salamanca, Ampry-Samuel, Kallos, Chin, Koslowitz, Constantinides, Ayala, Vallone, Louis, Barron and Rivera

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to a comprehensive cooling and communication plan

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 30 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 30-116 to read as follows:

§ 30-116 Comprehensive cooling and communication plan. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Cooling center. The term “cooling center” means any facility that is designated by the city to provide air-conditioned relief to the public whenever a National Weather Service heat advisory triggers a citywide emergency response.

Heat index. The term “heat index” means a measurement of the combined air temperature and relative humidity that estimates the human-perceived equivalent temperature.

Heat-related emergency. The term “heat-related emergency” means a circumstance during which the National Weather Service issues its heat advisory products, or during which the level of the heat index is deemed to be unsafe or unhealthy for vulnerable populations, as determined by the commissioner of health and mental hygiene.

Urban heat island effect. The term “urban heat island effect” means the increase in urban air temperature as compared to surrounding suburban and rural temperature.

Vulnerable population. The term “vulnerable population” means any group of persons  at a greater risk of harm from a heat-related emergency than a person in the general population, as determined by the department of health and mental hygiene.

b. On or before every May 15, beginning in 2021, the commissioner of emergency management in consultation with the commissioner of health and mental hygiene, the director of long-term planning and sustainability and any other office or agency they deem relevant, shall submit to the council and make available to the public on the city’s website a plan  describing how the city will provide individuals with information on the dangers of heat exposure, access to cooling, including the city’s cooling centers, and how vulnerable populations can stay cool during heat-related emergencies. Such plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. a mechanism to assess the city’s cooling needs generally and the cooling needs of vulnerable populations during heat-related emergencies;

2. a description of how the commissioner of emergency management and the commissioner of health and mental hygiene will communicate to residents the dangers of heat exposure, including information about the urban heat island effect, the heat index, heat-related emergencies and other relevant information pursuant to this section;

3. a description of the temperature, heat index and other conditions under which the city will make cooling centers and other heat relief mechanisms available to the public;

4. information regarding access to cooling centers and other heat relief mechanisms  including: (a) whether such cooling centers can be safely opened; (b) the feasibility of infection and disease control in such centers, including a description of any necessary procedures to promote infection and disease control and any appropriate cleaning, if applicable; (c) a list of potential locations of cooling centers by street address, cross streets, and ZIP code; (d) the potential hours of operations, maximum capacity, and accessibility for individuals with disabilities for each such center; (e) the link to the cooling center finder which also includes notation of which cooling centers are accessible; and (f) other citywide operational strategies for cooling such as spray caps and homeless outreach;

5. a description of how the commissioner of emergency management and the commissioner of health and mental hygiene will communicate the information in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this subdivision to residents on or before June 1 of each year;

6. if cooling centers are not expected to be open or if they will be insufficient to serve the needs of vulnerable populations, a description of how the city will provide such vulnerable populations with cooling during a heat-related emergency, including but not limited to the direct provision of, and support for, residential cooling mechanisms, and a description of how the commissioner of emergency management will communicate this information to vulnerable populations;

7. a description of how the commissioner of emergency management and the commissioner of health and mental hygiene, or any other office or agency they deem relevant, will provide public communications, written or otherwise, in the designated citywide languages, as defined in section 23-1101, and whether communications in any additional languages are needed based on the demographics of current or anticipated vulnerable populations;

8. an evaluation of the measures taken to reduce the impact of heat-related emergencies and the number of heat-related deaths during the previous summer seasons and a description of the measures the commissioner of emergency management and the commissioner of health and mental hygiene will take to further reduce the impact of heat-related emergencies and the number of heat-related deaths in the upcoming summer season; and

9. a plan for office buildings to set thermostats at or above a specific temperature to reduce stress on the electric grid, including a description of the heat conditions during which such a plan would be recommended, a recommendation on the temperature or temperatures to which such thermostats should be set, and a description of how to promote compliance with such plan when recommended.

c. The commissioner of emergency management and the commissioner of health and mental hygiene shall update the plan described in subdivision b of this section by May 15 of each year.

§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.

JSA/SIL

LS #13899

07/20/20 9:10 pm