Climate Action Council Releases Draft Scoping Plan for Public Comment

New York State’s Climate Action Council Co-Chairs, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) President and CEO Doreen M. Harris, today announced the release of the Draft Scoping Plan, which describes recommended policies and actions to help New York meet its ambitious climate directives as part of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). After a unanimous 19-0 vote by the Climate Action Council on Dec. 20, 2021. The Draft Scoping Plan is now available for public review and public comment beginning Jan. 1, 2022.

Climate Action Council Co-Chair and NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, “The Draft Scoping Plan embodies the needed action to address the very real crisis that climate change represents, forging cooperation between wide-ranging perspectives from across the state to meet the weighty challenge ahead of us. Together we will fight climate change and chart a clean energy future that will benefit New Yorkers for generations to come. We look forward to receiving feedback from the public in the coming months to ensure an equitable and just energy transition that builds greater access to clean energy, creates family-sustaining jobs and brings forward public benefits such as improved air quality for all New Yorkers.”

The release of the Draft Scoping Plan, available at the New York State Climate Act website, kicks off a 120-day public comment period beginning Jan. 1, 2022. New Yorkers are encouraged to submit comments via the online public comment form (leaves DEC website), via email at scopingplan@nyserda.ny.gov, and via U.S. mail to Attention: Draft Scoping Plan Comments, NYSERDA, 17 Columbia Circle, Albany, NY 12203-6399. The public comment period will also include at least six public hearings across the State. Details and information about how to participate in the public hearings will be announced in early 2022.

The Climate Action Council’s seven advisory panels - Transportation, Agriculture and Forestry, Land Use and Local Government, Power Generation, Energy Efficiency and Housing, Energy Intensive and Trade Exposed Industries, and Waste - along with the Climate Justice Working Group and Just Transition Working Group, submitted recommendations for the Climate Action Council to consider in the development of the Draft Scoping Plan that will help guide the State in achieving its statutory obligations under the Climate Act to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase renewable energy development, ensure climate justice, and advance the State’s commitment to carbon neutrality economy-wide by 2050. The recommendations from the advisory panels, along with feedback from the Climate Justice Working Group, helped to advance an integration analysis process, which provided a cost-benefit assessment of the strategies under consideration accounting for emissions reductions and health benefits.

The Draft Scoping Plan has now been submitted to the Governor and the Legislature as required pursuant to the Climate Act. Public input received in response to the issuance of the Draft Scoping Plan will be used by the Climate Action Council to help develop the Final Scoping Plan, which will be posted online and delivered to the Governor and the Legislature by Jan.1, 2023, as required under the Climate Act. DEC will release legally binding regulations to ensure the realization of the Climate Act’s required emissions reductions by Jan.1, 2024, as set forth in the Climate Act, informed by the Scoping Plan’s recommended strategies.