Relates to requiring certain distribution centers to be equipped with electric vehicle charging stations

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Andrew Gounardes says this is needed

New York set a statutory goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70% renewable energy generation by 2030, in the historic Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) of 2019. The state legislature later codified in Ch. 423 of 2021 the goal that 100% of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold or leased in New York be zero- emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2045. The CLCPA's Final Scoping Plan, the document which details the strategy by which the state is to achieve the CLCPA's carbon emission goals, calls for an even tighter ZEV timeline of 50% of all medium-duty vehicle sales by 2030 and 80% of all heavy-duty vehicle sales by 2035 (Scoping Plan: Full Report, December 2022, New York State Climate Action Council, p.155.). Heavy distribution warehouses, defined in this act as storage and distribution facilities that are fifty thousand square feet or greater and have as a primary purpose the temporary storage, sorting, and redis- tribution of goods to fulfill e-commerce orders via delivery vehicles, are responsible for a disproportionate amount of medium- and heavy-duty vehicle traffic in disadvantaged communities. These facilities, which are frequently hundreds of thousands of square feet wide, have a much larger environmental footprint in the overnight delivery age than their predecessor sites. Clustered largely in manufacturing "as-of-right" zones, these facilities attract bigger, and thus more polluting, trucks, and at greater volumes, than a traditional parcel hub. It is only appro- priate therefore, that they be subject to some basic code requirements so that the heavily polluting fleets that they attract have a chance of transitioning to 100% ZEV models by 2045. This bill would create the policy, recommended on page 417 of the Final Scoping Plan, that all heavy distribution facilities subject to the State Energy Conservation Construction Code have some kind of ZEV charg- ing infrastructure in place. As prescribed in paragraph (b) of subdivi- sion one of section 11-103 of Article 11 of the Energy Law (also known as the the State Energy Conservation Construction Code Act) , the code applies only to construction of new buildings or additions or alter- ations to existing buildings, meaning that existing warehouses with no plans to retrofit would not need to undergo construction just to comply with the bill. Warehouse operators, or their architects and contractors, who knowingly violate the act and refuse to remedy a violation would be subject to the penalties of § 11-108 of the Energy Law/Code Act. This bill represents a simple step forward on our state's path to a zero-emission electricity sector. In providing that all new or retrofit- ted warehouses have ZEV charging infrastructure for their trucking fleets, we can help ease the trucking industry's transition away from fossil fuels while ensuring that New York is able to meet the carbon neutrality goals of the landmark CLCPA.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.