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Albany, NY — New York lawmakers and the public were given their first look at the Transportation and Economic Development (TED) section of NY’s $268.5 billion state budget, mere hours before voting, concluding a secretive and one-sided negotiation process that delayed the State’s fiscal plan by nearly two months. Among the dozens of Article VII bills within the TED are provisions that dramatically weaken New York’s landmark 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and language to exempt most housing construction from the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Both foundational environmental laws took years to enact, and were shaped by the input of tens of thousands of New Yorkers, significant case law, and deliberate, transparent legislative actions. Despite public outcry and initial resistance from the legislature, the governor used her significant leverage in negotiations to undermine both laws that she asserted could negatively contribute to future energy and housing affordability issues.
Gutting the CLCPA
Following the Climate Action Council’s development of a comprehensive scoping plan to achieve the emission requirements of the CLCPA, the law required DEC to finalize implementing regulations by January 1, 2024. In 2025, after it was clear Governor Hochul had no intention of releasing any regulations, including a much anticipated cap and invest program that was to finance an affordable transition to a zero emissions future, with mandated emissions reductions from the state’s worst polluters, Sierra Club and allies sued the state, and won. But instead of following a judicial order to release the regulations, Governor Hochul used the budget process to not only moot the court decision, but substantially weaken the law.
