§ 75-0111 — Climate justice working group

§ 75-0111. Climate justice working group.\n 1. There is hereby created within the department, no later than six\nmonths after the effective date of this article, a "climate justice\nworking group". Such working group will be comprised of representatives\nfrom: environmental justice communities, the department, the department\nof health, the New York state energy and research development authority,\nand the department of labor.\n a. Environmental justice community representatives shall be members of\ncommunities of color, low-income communities, and communities bearing\ndisproportionate pollution and climate change burdens, or shall be\nrepresentatives of community-based organizations with experience and a\nhistory of advocacy on environmental justice issues, and shall include\nat least three representatives from New York city communities, three\nrepresentatives from rural communities, and three representatives from\nupstate urban communities.\n b. The working group, in consultation with the department, the\ndepartments of health and labor, the New York state energy and research\ndevelopment authority, and the environmental justice advisory group,\nwill establish criteria to identify disadvantaged communities for the\npurposes of co-pollutant reductions, greenhouse gas emissions\nreductions, regulatory impact statements, and the allocation of\ninvestments related to this article.\n c. Disadvantaged communities shall be identified based on geographic,\npublic health, environmental hazard, and socioeconomic criteria, which\nshall include but are not limited to:\n i. areas burdened by cumulative environmental pollution and other\nhazards that can lead to negative public health effects;\n ii. areas with concentrations of people that are of low income, high\nunemployment, high rent burden, low levels of home ownership, low levels\nof educational attainment, or members of groups that have historically\nexperienced discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity; and\n iii. areas vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as\nflooding, storm surges, and urban heat island effects.\n 2. Before finalizing the criteria for identifying disadvantaged\ncommunities and identifying disadvantaged communities pursuant to\nsubdivision one of this section, the department shall publish draft\ncriteria and a draft list of disadvantaged communities and make such\ninformation available on its website.\n a. The council shall hold at least six regional public hearings on the\ndraft criteria and the draft list of disadvantaged communities,\nincluding three meetings in the upstate region and three meetings in the\ndownstate region, and shall allow at least one hundred twenty days for\nthe submission of public comment.\n b. The council shall also ensure that there are meaningful\nopportunities for public comment for all segments of the population that\nwill be impacted by the criteria, including persons living in areas that\nmay be identified as disadvantaged communities under the proposed\ncriteria.\n 3. The group will meet no less than annually to review the criteria\nand methods used to identify disadvantaged communities and may modify\nsuch methods to incorporate new data and scientific findings. The\nclimate justice working group shall review identities of disadvantaged\ncommunities and modify such identities as needed.\n