In this episode of Greenberg Traurig’s E2 Law Podcast, attorneys Steven Russo, Zackary Knaub, and Jane McLaughlin discuss New York State’s cap-and-invest program to limit greenhouse gas emissions
Continue Reading E2 Law Podcast: Episode 20 | Empire Environmental – Review of New York’s Cap-and-Invest Program to Reduce Emissions and Achieve Climate GoalsClimate Leadership and Community Protection Act
New York Adopts New Environmental Justice Law That Requires Consideration of ‘Disproportionate Impacts’ on Disadvantaged Communities for Permit Issuance and Renewal
Continuing the trend toward protecting environmental justice communities, New York Gov. Hochul is expected to sign a chapter amendment to a recently passed bill that would have established new standards…
Continue Reading New York Adopts New Environmental Justice Law That Requires Consideration of ‘Disproportionate Impacts’ on Disadvantaged Communities for Permit Issuance and RenewalE2 Law Podcast: Episode 19 | Empire Environmental – New York State Climate Action Council Plan to Reduce Carbon Emissions
Greenberg Traurig’s Steven Russo, Co-Chair of the Environmental Practice and the firm’s New York Environmental Practice, is joined by Shareholder Todd Kaminsky and Of Counsel Jane McLaughlin in the…
Continue Reading E2 Law Podcast: Episode 19 | Empire Environmental – New York State Climate Action Council Plan to Reduce Carbon EmissionsNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo Proposes Radical Reshaping of Siting Process for Renewable Projects
In his annual budget address on Jan. 21, 2020, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo proposed a complete overhaul to New York’s siting of renewable energy projects. Noting that siting a project under the current Article 10 process takes 5-10 years to begin construction, the governor found that the current process simply does not work. In a reference to the renewable energy generation goals set forth in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), the governor called setting goals without the means to achieve them “baloney” and went on to propose “flip[ping] the whole model” of renewable siting by having the state acquire potential sites for renewable energy generation, permitting the projects, and delivering shovel-ready sites to developers.
Article 10, signed by Governor Cuomo in 2011, was intended to streamline the siting of large-scale renewable and other major energy generating facilities of 25 megawatts or more. The original generation siting law had a higher threshold that omitted most renewable projects from its scope. Article 10 was meant to be a one-stop shop for environmental, health, and public safety reviews and permitting, allowing for an override of local laws that would unnecessarily impede siting and providing a strong mechanism to counterbalance knee-jerk NIMBYism, thereby allowing siting of needed electrical generation to help ensure safe and reliable service to ratepayers. It established a Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment, commonly referred to as the “siting board,” to accomplish that goal, and provided for the appointment of ad hoc members of the municipality where a project is proposed to be sited, giving a voice to residents.Continue Reading New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Proposes Radical Reshaping of Siting Process for Renewable Projects