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Extension Builds on More Than 18,000 Comments Received Following 11 Public Hearings and Answers the Call for Additional Time to Review Scoping Plan
New York State’s Climate Action Council (CAC) Co-Chairs, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) President and CEO Doreen M. Harris and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos, announced the extension of the public comment period deadline for the Draft Scoping Plan to July 1, 2022. The Draft Scoping Plan, released on December 30, 2021, provides several scenarios informed by proposed policies and actions to help New York meet its ambitious climate directives as part of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). The extension is based on significant feedback following 11 public hearings – nine in-person and two virtual – and builds on the more than 18,000 public comments received to date. The Climate Action Council is working to meet the Climate Act goals and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by the end of the year as part of the Final Scoping Plan. New Yorkers are encouraged to review and comment on the Draft Scoping Plan by July 1, 2022.
To read the Draft Scoping Plan, visit the Climate Act website. New Yorkers are encouraged to submit comments via the online public comment form, via email at scopingplan@nyserda.ny.gov, and via U.S. mail to Attention: Draft Scoping Plan Comments, NYSERDA, at 17 Columbia Circle, Albany, NY 12203-6399. Comments on the Draft Scoping Plan can be submitted through Friday, July 1, 2022.
Additionally, the public is also encouraged to participate in public hearings being held by DEC, in partnership with NYSERDA to receive input on the Draft Disadvantaged Communities Criteria and advance the finalization of the criteria to help guide the implementation of the State’s Climate Act. New York’s Climate Justice Working Group (CJWG), which consists of representatives from environmental justice groups from across the State and representatives of several State agencies, developed the draft criteria for identifying disadvantaged communities and voted to release it for public review. All persons, organizations, corporations, and government agencies are encouraged to attend the public hearings and to submit oral or written comments. More information on the public comment process and the full hearing schedule can be found on DEC’s website.
The Draft Scoping Plan was released for public comment on December 30, 2021 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 January 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 January 1, 2024, as set forth in the Climate Act, informed by the Scoping Plan’s recommended strategies.
For more information on the Draft Scoping Plan, please visit the Climate Act website.
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Probably the biggest boondoggle in the history of NYS
A waste of time hey Pat? Time always reveals the truth. Always! I heard a report on non-corporate radio this morning, that they’re predicting all of the arctic ice might be disappeared by the year 2050, which is less than 30 years away if my math is correct. How much longer do we stick our heads in the sand? Not we as in all of us…we as in the unenlightened among us! The problem with ignorance is we are all affected by it’s throes which, more soon than late, is going to come to the fore…..unfortunately.
Charlie, I am not against green energy. It is the way our state is implementing these programs. Instead of huge incentives to here today gone tomorrow developers why not use these monies to install solar panels on private homes and businesses. If you research an existing solar facility you will see the potential megawatts it could produce and then you can also see its average generation output. Most barely average 12% output. So when our governor touts a 130 megawatt facility that will cover nearly 1000 acres, not to mention the loss of farmland, wood lots and grassland habitats, how far do you think that 15+- megawatts will go?
I misread you Pat. You are very correct in your analysis. Government, on both sides of the aisle, as has been revealed these years of late, is oftentimes part of the problem. What you say makes much sense and oftentimes I wonder….what goes through our leaders heads? Maybe you, we, should show face at a public hearing and give them an earful, or submit a comment. Your suggestion has much merit!
Thank you Charlie for the constructive dialogue. I am involved at the local level. The state has made it quite daunting for small municipalities to have some say in where these massive solar facilities can be sited. Of particular concern is the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) They have basically given developers ”diplomatic immunity”. At any time these huge companies can go to ORES and cry that the local municipality is creating a hardship for them by way of local zoning laws. With thoughtful siting we can all benefit from solar without destroy ing valuable habitat and farmland.