Bill Text: NY S07453 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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

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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 12-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2022-12-28 - VETOED MEMO.184 [S07453 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S07453-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7453

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    October 20, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. KRUEGER, GAUGHRAN, KAPLAN, MAY, MAYER, RAMOS -- read
          twice  and  ordered  printed,  and when printed to be committed to the
          Committee on Rules

        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 1884 to read as follows:
     3    § 1884. 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) "Individual applicant" shall mean a person, who is not an institu-
    20  tional or commercial applicant, and who intends to use an eligible  lawn
    21  care device for private home use and not for any commercial purposes.
    22    (d)  "Eligible lawn care device" shall mean a battery-powered electric
    23  lawn care device that is new, has not been used or previously owned, and

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13058-05-1
        S. 7453                             2

     1  is purchased or leased from a storefront or  online  retailer.  Eligible
     2  lawn  care  device  shall  not  include  corded electric equipment, reel
     3  mowers, or tractors used to pull other lawn care devices.
     4    (e)  "Lawn  care  device"  shall mean any device powered mechanically,
     5  which is intended to be used or is  actually  used  for  the  mowing  of
     6  grass, the cutting or chipping of trees, tree roots or tree branches, or
     7  the clearing of leaves or other vegetation from lawns, sidewalks, public
     8  streets  or  public  highways  and shall include, but not be limited to,
     9  such devices as lawn mowers and lawn mower attachments, lawn edgers  and
    10  trimmers, leaf blowers, leaf vacuums, mulchers, chippers, chainsaws, and
    11  pole saws, as well as batteries and chargers for such devices.
    12    (f)  "Local  authority"  shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
    13  two of section two of this chapter.
    14    (g) "State agency" shall mean all state departments,  boards,  commis-
    15  sions, offices or institutions.
    16    (h)  "State  authority"  shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
    17  one of section two of this chapter.
    18    3. The authority shall award rebates at the point of sale for eligible
    19  lawn care devices in amounts as determined by this section. An  institu-
    20  tional  or commercial applicant shall receive no more than fifteen thou-
    21  sand dollars in  rebates  through  the  electric  landscaping  equipment
    22  rebate  program per year.  An individual applicant shall receive no more
    23  than three hundred dollars in rebates through the  electric  landscaping
    24  equipment rebate program per year.
    25    4. The authority shall determine the rebate eligibility of each appli-
    26  cant  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of this section and rules
    27  promulgated by the authority. The total amount of rebates  allocated  to
    28  certified  applicants in each fiscal year shall not exceed the amount of
    29  funds available for the program in such fiscal year.  Rebates  shall  be
    30  allocated  to applicants on a first-come, first-served basis, determined
    31  by the date the application is received, until  all  appropriated  funds
    32  for  the  fiscal  year are expended or the program ends, whichever comes
    33  first. The authority shall have authority to reduce eligible  lawn  care
    34  device rebate amounts from the amounts specified in subdivision seven of
    35  this  section.  Such  reduction shall occur only if the authority deter-
    36  mines that funds would otherwise be exhausted prior  to  the  end  of  a
    37  fiscal year.
    38    5.  The  authority shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement
    39  and administer the provisions of this section no  later  than  one  year
    40  after  the  effective  date  of  this section, including rules and regu-
    41  lations relating to the forms required to  claim  a  rebate  under  this
    42  section, the required documentation and basis for establishing eligibil-
    43  ity  for  a rebate, procedures and guidelines for claiming a rebate, the
    44  collection of economic  impact  data  from  applicants,  and  any  other
    45  requirements  the authority deems necessary. The authority shall conduct
    46  education and outreach, with informational materials made  available  in
    47  at  least English and the three most common non-English languages spoken
    48  by individuals with limited-English proficiency  in  the  state  of  New
    49  York, based on  United States census data, as necessary to inform poten-
    50  tial  applicants  and  manufacturers and retailers of eligible lawn care
    51  devices about the electric landscaping equipment rebate program.
    52    6. The authority shall determine and publish  on  its  website  on  an
    53  ongoing  basis  the amount of available funding for rebates remaining in
    54  each fiscal year.
    55    7. (a) The purchaser or lessee of an eligible lawn care device may  be
    56  eligible for the following rebates:
        S. 7453                             3

     1    (i)  an applicant who purchases or leases a new edger, trimmer, chain-
     2  saw, or pole saw may receive a rebate of up to seventy  percent  of  the
     3  purchase price, but no more than two hundred dollars per device.
     4    (ii)  an  applicant  who purchases or leases a new leaf blower or leaf
     5  vacuum may receive a rebate of up to seventy  percent  of  the  purchase
     6  price, but no more than two hundred dollars per device.
     7    (iii) an applicant who purchases or leases a new walk-behind mower may
     8  receive  a rebate of up to seventy percent of the purchase price, but no
     9  more than five hundred dollars per device.
    10    (iv) an applicant who purchases or leases a new ride-on or  stand-ride
    11  mower  may  receive  a  rebate  of up to seventy percent of the purchase
    12  price, but no more than five thousand dollars per device.
    13    (v) an applicant who purchases  or  leases  additional  batteries  and
    14  chargers  for  an  eligible lawn care device may receive a rebate of one
    15  hundred percent of the purchase price for up to two  batteries  and  one
    16  charger per eligible lawn care device purchased.
    17    (b) The calculation of the purchase price shall not include additional
    18  costs such as taxes, fees, accessories, or delivery charges.
    19    8.  No  later than two years after the effective date of this section,
    20  and annually thereafter on the first of  January,  the  authority  shall
    21  issue  a report to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of
    22  the assembly, the chair of the senate committee on energy and telecommu-
    23  nications and the chair of the assembly committee  on  energy  detailing
    24  the  status  of  the electric landscaping equipment rebate program. Such
    25  report shall include:
    26    (a) the amount of funding dedicated by the authority for  the  program
    27  in the preceding year;
    28    (b) the amount of eligible purchases for which a rebate was awarded;
    29    (c) the amount and geographic distribution of rebates; and
    30    (d) any other information the authority deems necessary.
    31    §  2.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
    32  deemed repealed January 1, 2030.