By Dan Clark, Albany Times Union
ALBANY – A judge on Friday ordered New York to produce by February a long-awaited set of regulations intended to drive the state’s mandates for reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
The state’s excuse that doing so would force extraordinary costs on New Yorkers isn’t enough to justify the continued delay of those regulations, state Supreme Court Justice Julian Schreibman wrote.
“Whether (the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s) conclusion is right or wrong, making this judgment is beyond the scope of its authority under the Climate Act,” Schreibman wrote.
The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of advocacy groups, including Citizen Action and Earthjustice, against the agency earlier this year.
“The decision confirms what we have stated over and over: the governor must comply with the climate law,” said Bob Cohen, policy director at Citizen Action of New York. “We are glad to see Judge Schreibman decisively reject Gov. (Kathy) Hochul and DEC’s excuses for delay and their ongoing attempts to derail climate action.”
The regulations targeted by the lawsuit were due from the agency on Jan. 1, 2024. Since that time, one set of regulations out of the three expected from the agency has been drafted and proposed for public comment.
All of them will now be due from the agency by Feb. 6 under the order from Schreibman, who chose the date to give Hochul and the Legislature time to consider a change in the statute that requires the regulations.
The state has argued that the regulations would place a heavy burden on households at a time when the cost of living is already a challenge.
Schreibman wrote that, because the regulations are required by a law approved by the Legislature, the decision to delay their implementation is out of the agency’s hands. That could change with approval from state lawmakers.
“lf legislative action modifies DEC’s obligations under the Climate Act, DEC will act in accordance therewith,” Schreibman wrote.
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