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NY Renews
50 Broadway, 29th Floor
New York, NY 10004 

July 16, 2020

Dear Governor Cuomo, Comptroller DiNapoli, DEC Commissioner Segos, Acting NYSERDA President Harris, and Climate Action Council Members, 

It has been one year since the Climate and Community Protection Act was signed into law. The CLCPA positioned New York as a national climate leader. Our greenhouse gas and pollution emission standards are the strongest in the country, providing a road map and benchmark to other states seeking to combat climate change.  

The CLCPA also includes equally critical and nation-leading equity provisions, including the Disadvantaged Community Investment Mandate (DCIM), as well as the climate and equity screens. 

The DCIM requires state agencies, authorities and entities to invest or direct their resources in a manner so that disadvantaged communities “receive forty percent of the overall benefits of spending on clean energy and energy efficiency programs, projects or investments in the areas of housing, workforce development, pollution reduction, low-income energy assistance, energy, transportation and economic development.” At a minimum, the DCIM provides that “no less than thirty-five percent of the overall benefits from spending on clean energy projects and energy efficiency programs, projects or investments” shall go to disadvantaged communities. 

Let us be clear: the 40% mandate is a floor on investment, not a ceiling. California set a similar mandate of 25% of its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and found, in practice, that 51% of funds were spent in frontline communities. 

Now, one year since the law's passage, we’re concerned that the DCIM mandate has not been fulfilled. We’re calling on New York State to publicly audit all state agencies for compliance with the DCIM mandate. In addition, we are requesting a public accounting of climate and clean energy investment activities undertaken as a result of or during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and New Yorkers of color are disproportionately impacted by the ill effects of pollution and climate change. The same systems subjecting communities to the worst effects of emissions, heat waves, floods, and storms are those that have made Black and Brown New Yorkers more vulnerable to the Covid-19 pandemic. The devastation our state is seeing today is the result of ongoing and systematic exclusion of communities of color from access to health care, housing, clean air and water, and jobs. It is more critical than ever that we meet the 40% funding standard required by the CLCPA. 

Audit Covid-19 Investment Spending

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent Depression-era economic dislocations and disruptions, NYSERDA has taken leadership within state government to use climate and clean energy spending as a form of economic stimulus. Over the last several months, NYSERDA has announced changes to a host of climate and clean energy programs in order to improve access to energy, health, and safety benefits to residents, provide immediate and lasting financial relief to poor and working class households, and stabilize the renewable energy and energy efficiency industry during the public health and economic crises.

For example, NYSERDA has:

  • Allocated $20 million to a temporary 0% interest residential financing offer for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy systems. This offer was opened on June 1st and closed on June 15th;

  • Dramatically increased the percentage of health and safety costs (from 15% to up to 50% of total project costs) eligible for low-interest project financing offered by NYSERDA;

  • Expand the grant-based incentive structure for energy efficiency improvements to cover households with incomes between 80% and 120% of Area Median Income;

  • Piloted a geo-eligibility strategy to pre-approve all households within income-designated geography for a 50% grant-based incentive for energy efficiency improvements. 

As NYSERDA and other agencies continue to create programs and investments to tackle the Covid-19 depression, it is imperative that this spending is allocated in line with the DCIM mandate, and publicly accounted for. In the spirit of compliance with this mandate of the CLCPA, we demand a public accounting of climate and energy investment activities undertaken as a result of or during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

Audit All Agency Spending

An audit of the urgent Covid-19 spending programs does not replace the need for a state-wide accounting of all agency spending to ensure it is in compliance with the DCIM. 

The CLCPA has now been in effect for over six months, a more than ample amount of time for agencies to review their programs to make sure the 40% investment floor is met. We are reiterating our previous demand that all agencies complete an initial audit of their spending by December 31, 2020, and a yearly audit thereafter. If agencies do not meet the 40% threshold, then their spending plans must change. All state agencies should publicly release the results of their internal audits, as well as a plan to ensure compliance if the 40% standard is not currently met. 

In addition, it will take communication and coordination between agencies to achieve the 40% investment standard. Complying with the CLCPA will require New York State to fundamentally reorient its spending priorities. By October 1, 2020, agencies should draft and release an inter-agency plan to meet the DCIM. 

Both the pandemic spending audit and the all-agency audit should include an explicit accounting of investments by race, and specifically investments made in majority Black communities and/or to Black households.

 

Additional Guidance

We are eager to work with New York State and the Climate Action Council to ensure the DCIM is fully realized, and have provided additional guidance to help the state create clear, consistent, and equitable standards for frontline community investment. Those detailed guidelines are enclosed here.  

The CLCPA is clear that investing in frontline communities is a fundamental component of the law. We believe that our state can meet and exceed the goals of the CLCPA, and lead the nation in transitioning to a just and equitable renewable economy. Please do not hesitate to contact us at info@nyrenews.org for additional guidance and collaboration. 

Sincerely, 

NY Renews

Encl: CLCPA Community Investment Guidance Letter