Bill Text: NY A10001 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Assembly Bill 10001 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Directs the department of environmental conservation, in consultation with the environmental justice interagency coordinating council and the climate justice working group, to conduct a study on the impacts of the urban heat island effect on disadvantaged communities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-09-23 - signed chap.563 [A10001 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A10001-Introduced.html




                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10001

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     April 29, 2022
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  CUNNINGHAM  -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Environmental Conservation

        AN ACT in relation to directing the department of environmental  conser-
          vation in conjunction with the environmental justice interagency coor-
          dinating  council to conduct a study on the disproportionate impact of
          increased heat in primarily Black and Latino neighborhoods

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

     1    Section  1. The department of environmental conservation, in consulta-
     2  tion with the environmental justice  interagency  coordinating  council,
     3  shall  conduct a study on the effects of the urban heat island effect on
     4  majority Black and Latino neighborhoods in  urban  settings  within  the
     5  state that fit the description of heat islands.
     6    § 2. For the purposes of this study:
     7    (a)  Black  and  Latino  neighborhoods shall be characterized as those
     8  comprised of fifty-one percent or more of Black residents, Latino  resi-
     9  dents  or  a  combination  of  both.  The study shall analyze the health
    10  impacts of increased heat in these neighborhoods in comparison to  those
    11  of White neighborhoods.
    12    (b)  "urban heat island effect" means the phenomenon when pavement and
    13  other infrastructure absorbs and stores large quantities of solar  radi-
    14  ation during the day and releases it during the nighttime, leading to an
    15  increase in the surface temperatures of the immediate area.
    16    (c)  "heat  islands"  means  urbanized  areas  that  experience higher
    17  temperatures than outlying areas due to structures  such  as  buildings,
    18  roads,  and other infrastructure absorbing and reemitting the sun's heat
    19  more than natural landscapes such as forests  and  water  bodies.  Urban
    20  areas,  where  these  structures are highly concentrated and greenery is
    21  limited, become "islands" of higher temperatures  relative  to  outlying
    22  areas.
    23    § 3. The department of environmental conservation shall deliver to the
    24  governor,  the legislature, and make available to the public a report of
    25  its findings no later than eighteen months after the effective  date  of
    26  this act.
    27    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14866-01-2