Originally posted in The Legislative Gazette by Jessica Piccinini
Sept. 29, 2014
In conjunction with Climate Week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Community Risk and Resiliency Act which requires state agencies to consider the likelihood of extreme weather when planning projects and issuing permits.
The new law will strengthen response measures outlined by the NYS 2100 Commission, created by Cuomo in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 to help infrastructure bounce back after severe weather phenomena.
Under the new law, sponsored by Senator Diane Savino, D-Staten Island, and Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, D-Lindenhurst, chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee, state agencies will be required to assess potential future climate risks related to storm surges, rising sea levels and any other conditions when making certain permitting, funding and regulatory decisions.
The law also requires agencies such as the Department of Environmental Conservation to create official projections of climate risk every five years on January 1, starting in 2016, and both the DEC and the Department of State to be directly involved in helping local communities implement better pre-emptive defense against extreme weather.
"Audubon New York applauds Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for enacting the Community Risk Reduction and Resiliency Act," said Erin Crotty, executive director of Audubon New York.
According to a report released by Audubon, more than half of North American birds will be negatively impacted by climate change, a startling piece of data that demonstrates the urgency of the issue.
"This law will help us reach these goals by ensuring future climate risk is part of public infrastructure financing and permitting programs and that sea level rise projects are developed," Crotty said. "We look forward to working with the Administration to support this important law's swift implementation."
On September 21, nearly 400,000 people marched down 6th Avenue in New York City to spread awareness on environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Last Tuesday, the United Nations held a Climate Summit to advance climate action.
According to the Governor's Office, since 1990, New York's coastline has risen by 13 inches and total precipitation during heavy rainfalls has increased significantly, placing more people, businesses and public infrastructure in positions of potential harm.
