Climate Change Superfund Act awaits Gov. Hochul’s signature

NY bill to make big polluters pay for emissions passes legislature

By Gwendolyn Craig

A bill that would require large greenhouse gas emitters to pay for their pollution, creating a new fund for climate mitigation projects across New York, is now before Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The measure passed the state Assembly Saturday morning after passing the Senate on May 7.

The Climate Change Superfund Act, sponsored by Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, is similar to a bill the Vermont State Legislature passed. It creates the climate change adaptation cost recovery program, requiring greenhouse gas polluting companies to pay for their emissions. It would create a $3 billion annual fund for repairs and resiliency projects related to climate change, including $1 billion specifically for disadvantaged communities.

The New York Public Interest Research Group released a report showing how much areas in the state could expect to receive annually from the fund. The state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Region 5, which includes much of the Adirondacks including Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties, could receive $6.3 million for climate-related projects annually.

RELATED READING: Climate disasters in the Adirondacks: Who will pay?

“Finally some justice for the taxpayers of New York, and finally a past due invoice for the Exxon shareholders who have been profiting off the damage to roads, bridges and homes across the Empire State,” said Bill McKibben, an environmental activist and founder of Third Act and 350.org, and a Vermonter who also lives in the Adirondacks part time.

The Assembly’s passage was a pleasant surprise to environmental organizations after Hochul made a “shocking reversal” on congestion pricing at the end of the legislative session. The program was to implement fees on driving into Manhattan, and was praised for raising funds for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Foes of the climate superfund bill say it would cause costs to consumers to rise. Adirondack Park lawmakers were not in favor of the bill.

State Assemblyman Matthew Simpson, R-Lake George, said he questioned its constitutionality.

Other legislation

“We did pretty well in terms of the whole legislative session,” said John Sheehan, communications director of the Adirondack Council. 

He pointed to some Adirondack Park budget wins, and the executive chamber’s change in the eligibility rate for state clean water project grants from 25% to 50% of the total cost. “Session was pretty good for the park, even if we didn’t get everything we were hoping to get done.”

In addition to the constitutional amendments, other legislation bogged down and either didn’t pass in the Assembly or in the Senate.

Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, was disappointed that the Legislature did not pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, nor the Bigger, Better Bottle Bill. Both bills addressed solid waste and “are two important components toward reducing trash that is filling up the state’s landfills,” he said.

A bill that would have allowed the state Attorney General’s Office to purchase title insurance passed the Senate, but not the Assembly. A Frontier Town Campground and Day Use Area conservation easement on hold in North Hudson due to an approximately century-old title issue was the poster child for the bill. 

The conservation easement between the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the town of North Hudson remains in limbo.

Only the Assembly passed a bill that would have required the state to consider preservation of historic sites when making unit management plans for forest preserve lands.

And just the Senate passed a bill that would have established the road salt reduction advisory committee and road salt reduction council. Sheehan said the road salt bill passed quickly, and he hopes if lawmakers come back to Albany this year they will do the same in the Assembly.

Top photo: Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Helene E. Weinstein preside over a budget hearing on the environment on Feb. 14 at the New York State Capitol in Albany. Krueger’s climate superfund bill passed the state Legislature this session. Photo by Gwendolyn Craig