§ 76-0101 — Definitions

§ 76-0101. Definitions.\n For the purposes of this article the following terms shall have the\nfollowing meanings:\n 1. "Affiliate" means, with respect to any specified entity, an entity\nthat directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries,\ncontrols or is controlled by, or is under common control with, the\nentity specified.\n 2. "Applicable payment date" means December thirty-first of the fourth\ncalendar year following the year in which this article is enacted into\nlaw.\n 3. "Climate change adaptive infrastructure project" means an\ninfrastructure project for purposes of climate change adaptation that:\n a. includes but is not limited to projects designed to avoid,\nmoderate, repair, or adapt to negative impacts caused by climate change,\nand to assist communities, households, and businesses in preparing for\nfuture climate change-driven disruptions. Such project types include but\nare not limited to restoring coastal wetlands and developing other\nnature-based solutions and coastal protections; upgrading storm water\ndrainage systems; making defensive upgrades to roads, bridges, subways,\nand transit systems; preparing for and recovering from hurricanes and\nother extreme weather events; undertaking preventive health care\nprograms and providing medical care to treat illness or injury caused by\nthe effects of climate change; relocating, elevating, or retrofitting\nwastewater treatment plants vulnerable to flooding; installing energy\nefficient cooling systems and other weatherization and energy efficiency\nupgrades and retrofits in public and private buildings, including\nschools and public housing; upgrading parts of the electrical grid to\nincrease stability and resilience, including supporting the creation of\nself-sufficient clean energy microgrids; addressing urban heat island\neffects through green spaces, urban forestry, and other interventions;\nand responding to harmful algal blooms, loss of agricultural topsoil,\nand other climate-driven ecosystem threats to forests, farms, fisheries,\nand food systems; and\n b. is guided by the project criteria identified in the statewide\nclimate change adaptation and resilience plan adopted pursuant to\nsubdivision six of section 76-0103 of this article.\n 4. "Control" (including the terms controlling, controlled by and under\ncommon control with) means the possession, direct or indirect, of the\npower to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of\nan entity, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by\ncontract, or otherwise.\n 5. "Controlled group" means two or more entities that are affiliates\nof each other.\n 6. "Cost recovery amount" means seventy-five billion dollars.\n 7. "Cost recovery demand" means the portion of the cost recovery\namount determined by the department pursuant to the program to be owed\nby a responsible party for payment to the fund.\n 8. "Covered greenhouse gas emissions" means, with respect to any\nentity, the total quantity of greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in\nmetric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, as defined in section 75-0101\nof this chapter, attributable to the total amount of fossil fuels\nextracted by that entity during the covered period, as well as the total\namount of crude oil refined by that entity during the covered period.\nFor the purposes of this article, covered greenhouse gas emissions\ninclude those emissions attributable to all fossil fuel extraction and\nrefining worldwide by such entity and are not limited to such emissions\nwithin the state.\n 9. "Covered period" means the period that began January first, two\nthousand and ended on December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-four.\n 10. "Crude oil" means oil or petroleum of any kind and in any form,\nincluding bitumen, oil sands, heavy oil, conventional and unconventional\noil, shale oil, natural gas liquids, condensates, and related fossil\nfuels.\n 11. "Entity" means any individual, trustee, agent, partnership,\nassociation, corporation, company, municipality, political subdivision,\nor other legal organization, that holds or held an ownership interest in\na fossil fuel business during the covered period. For purposes of this\narticle, entities in a controlled group are treated as a single entity\nfor the purposes of meeting the definition of responsible party and\nshall be jointly and severally liable for payment of any cost recovery\ndemand owed by any entity in the controlled group.\n 12. "Fossil fuel" shall have the same definition as in section 1-103\nof the energy law.\n 13. "Fossil fuel business" means a business engaging in the extraction\nof fossil fuels or the refining of petroleum products.\n 14. "Fund" means the climate change adaptation fund established\npursuant to section ninety-seven-m of the state finance law.\n 15. "Greenhouse gas" shall have the same definition as in section\n75-0101 of this chapter.\n 16. "Nature-based solutions" shall mean projects that utilize or mimic\nnature or natural processes and functions and that may also offer\nenvironmental, economic, and social benefits, while increasing\nresilience. Nature-based solutions include both green and natural\ninfrastructure.\n 17. "Notice of cost recovery demand" means the written communication\ninforming an entity that they are a responsible party and of the amount\nof the cost recovery demand payable to the fund.\n 18. "Petroleum products" shall have the same definition as in section\n1-103 of the energy law.\n 19. "Program" means the climate change adaptation cost recovery\nprogram established under section 76-0103 of this article.\n 20. "Qualifying expenditure" means a payment from the fund in support\nof a climate change adaptive infrastructure project, including its\noperation and maintenance, as defined by the department.\n 21. "Responsible party" means any entity (or a successor in interest\nto such entity described herein), which, during any part of the covered\nperiod, was engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel\nor refining crude oil and is determined by the department to be\nresponsible for more than one billion tons of covered greenhouse gas\nemissions. The term responsible party shall not include any person who\nlacks sufficient contacts with the state to satisfy the due process\nclause of the United States Constitution.\n