Bill Text: NY A05681 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Establishes the electric landscaping equipment rebate program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and reduce noise pollution by promoting the adoption of quieter, zero-emission landscaping equipment; provides for rebates at the point of sale for applicants purchasing or leasing certain equipment; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to ways and means [A05681 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A05681-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5681

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 20, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. OTIS -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions

        AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to  establishing
          the  electric  landscaping equipment rebate program; and providing for
          the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The  public  authorities  law  is amended by adding a new
     2  section 1885 to read as follows:
     3    § 1885. Electric landscaping equipment rebate  program.  1.  There  is
     4  hereby  created  within  the authority an electric landscaping equipment
     5  rebate program. The purpose of the program is to reduce  greenhouse  gas
     6  emissions,  improve air quality, and reduce noise pollution by promoting
     7  the adoption of quieter, zero-emission landscaping equipment.
     8    2. As used in this section:
     9    (a) "Commercial landscaping business" shall  mean  a  sole-proprietor-
    10  ship, firm, limited liability company, partnership, corporation or other
    11  business  entity whose primary concern involves the care and maintenance
    12  of yards, gardens, or other outdoor landscapes for  clients,  including,
    13  but  not limited to, lawn care, gardening, and the removal or pruning of
    14  trees or shrubs.
    15    (b) "Institutional or commercial applicant" shall  mean  a  commercial
    16  landscaping business, or a state agency, state authority, local authori-
    17  ty,  town, county, village, school district, private school, university,
    18  not-for-profit corporation, or other nonprofit organization.
    19    (c) "Eligible lawn care device" shall mean a battery-powered  electric
    20  lawn care device that is new, has not been used or previously owned, and
    21  is  purchased  or  leased from a storefront or online retailer. Eligible
    22  lawn care device shall  not  include  corded  electric  equipment,  reel
    23  mowers, or tractors used to pull other lawn care devices.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04841-02-3
        A. 5681                             2

     1    (d)  "Lawn  care  device"  shall mean any device powered mechanically,
     2  which is intended to be used or is  actually  used  for  the  mowing  of
     3  grass, the cutting or chipping of trees, tree roots or tree branches, or
     4  the clearing of leaves or other vegetation from lawns, sidewalks, public
     5  streets  or  public  highways  and shall include, but not be limited to,
     6  such devices as lawn mowers and lawn mower attachments, lawn edgers  and
     7  trimmers,  hedge  trimmers,  leaf blowers, leaf vacuums, mulchers, chip-
     8  pers, chainsaws, and pole saws, as  well  as  batteries,  chargers,  and
     9  power management equipment for such devices.
    10    (e)  "Local  authority"  shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
    11  two of section two of this chapter.
    12    (f) "State agency" shall mean all state departments,  boards,  commis-
    13  sions, offices or institutions.
    14    (g)  "State  authority"  shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
    15  one of section two of this chapter.
    16    3. The authority shall create a  program,  within  existing  appropri-
    17  ations,  to  award  rebates  at  the  point  of sale to institutional or
    18  commercial applicants for eligible lawn care devices in  amounts  deter-
    19  mined by the authority.
    20    4. The authority shall determine the rebate eligibility of each appli-
    21  cant  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of this section and rules
    22  promulgated by the authority. The total amount of rebates  allocated  to
    23  certified  applicants in each fiscal year shall not exceed the amount of
    24  funds available for the program in such fiscal year.  Rebates  shall  be
    25  allocated  to applicants on a first-come, first-served basis, determined
    26  by the date the application is received, until  all  appropriated  funds
    27  for  the  fiscal  year are expended or the program ends, whichever comes
    28  first. The authority shall have authority to reduce eligible  lawn  care
    29  device  rebate  amounts  if  the  authority  determines that funds would
    30  otherwise be exhausted prior to the end of a fiscal year.
    31    5. The authority shall promulgate rules and regulations  to  implement
    32  and  administer the provisions of this section no later than two hundred
    33  seventy days after the effective date of this section,  including  rules
    34  and  regulations  relating  to the types of equipment covered under this
    35  section and rebate amounts for each equipment type, the  forms  required
    36  to claim a rebate, the required documentation and basis for establishing
    37  eligibility  for  a  rebate,  procedures  and  guidelines for claiming a
    38  rebate, the collection of economic impact data from applicants, and  any
    39  other  requirements  the  authority deems necessary. The authority shall
    40  conduct education and outreach, with informational materials made avail-
    41  able in at least English and the three most common non-English languages
    42  spoken by individuals with limited-English proficiency in the  state  of
    43  New  York,  based on   United States census data, as necessary to inform
    44  potential applicants and manufacturers and retailers  of  eligible  lawn
    45  care devices about the electric landscaping equipment rebate program.
    46    6.  The  authority  shall  determine  and publish on its website on an
    47  ongoing basis the amount of available funding for rebates  remaining  in
    48  each fiscal year.
    49    7.  No  later than two years after the effective date of this section,
    50  and annually thereafter on the first of  January,  the  authority  shall
    51  issue  a report to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of
    52  the assembly, the chair of the senate committee on energy and telecommu-
    53  nications and the chair of the assembly committee  on  energy  detailing
    54  the  status  of  the electric landscaping equipment rebate program. Such
    55  report shall include:
        A. 5681                             3

     1    (a) the amount of funding dedicated by the authority for  the  program
     2  in the preceding year;
     3    (b) the amount of eligible purchases for which a rebate was awarded;
     4    (c) the amount and geographic distribution of rebates; and
     5    (d) any other information the authority deems necessary.
     6    §  2.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
     7  deemed repealed January 1, 2035.