Bill Text: NY S02490 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs the levy of an efficiency fee or an efficiency rebate based on the MPG or MPGe rating of medium and heavy duty vehicles.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-21 - REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION [S02490 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S02490-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2490 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 21, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. GOUNARDES, COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to a feebate program for medium and heavy duty vehicles The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new 2 article 17-D to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 17-D 4 FEEBATE PROGRAM FOR MEDIUM AND HEAVY DUTY VEHICLES 5 Section 499-e. Purpose of article. 6 499-f. Definitions. 7 499-g. Application. 8 499-h. Creation of feebate program. 9 499-i. Public awareness campaign. 10 499-j. Annual report. 11 § 499-e. Purpose of article. There is hereby created a feebate program 12 in which all covered vehicles are subject to either an efficiency fee or 13 an efficiency rebate, based upon such covered vehicle's fuel economy. 14 Such program shall be designed to be revenue neutral and to respond 15 dynamically to market trends, zero emission or near zero emissions model 16 availability, actual and projected covered motor vehicle registration 17 data, and any other such factor the commissioner deems relevant. 18 § 499-f. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms 19 shall have the following meanings: 20 1. "Covered vehicle" or "covered motor vehicle" shall mean all medium 21 and heavy duty vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of greater 22 than ten thousand pounds registered on or after the effective date of 23 this section. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00519-01-5S. 2490 2 1 2. "Efficiency fee" shall mean a fee levied upon the owner of a 2 covered vehicle based on such vehicle's fuel economy pursuant to subdi- 3 vision two of section four hundred ninety-nine-h of this article. 4 3. "Efficiency rebate" shall mean a rebate given to the owner of a 5 covered vehicle based on such vehicle's fuel economy pursuant to subdi- 6 vision three of section four hundred ninety-nine-h of this article. 7 4. "Feebate program" shall refer to the system of efficiency fees and 8 efficiency rebates created in this article. 9 5. "Fuel economy" shall refer to the number of miles a covered vehicle 10 can travel using a specific amount of fuel or a combination of fuels, as 11 reflected in such vehicle's miles per gallon or miles per gallon equiv- 12 alent. 13 6. "Gross vehicle weight rating" shall mean the weight of a vehicle 14 consisting of the unladen weight and the maximum carrying capacity 15 recommended by the manufacturer of such vehicle. 16 7. "Miles per gallon" or "MPG" shall refer to the measure of distance 17 that a covered vehicle running on gasoline or diesel fuel can travel per 18 gallon of such fuel as rated by the Environmental Protection Agency. 19 8. "Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent" or "MPGe" shall refer to the 20 measure of distance that a covered vehicle running on non-liquid fuels 21 can travel per unit of energy as rated by the Environmental Protection 22 Agency. 23 9. "Revenue neutrality" or "revenue neutral" shall mean a goal that 24 the efficiency fees described in subdivision two of section four hundred 25 ninety-nine-h of this article cover the cost of the efficiency rebates 26 described in subdivision three of such section. 27 10. "Near zero emissions" shall mean a vehicle that uses zero emission 28 technologies or technologies that provide a pathway to zero emission 29 operations or that incorporates other technologies that significantly 30 reduce exhaust emissions of any greenhouse gas, criteria pollutant, or 31 precursor pollutant under any and all possible operational modes and 32 conditions. 33 11. "Zero emission" shall mean a vehicle powered by means of a battery 34 or fuel cell or a combination thereof, or another source of power, that 35 produces zero exhaust emissions of any greenhouse gas, criteria pollu- 36 tant or precursor pollutant under any and all possible operational modes 37 and conditions. 38 § 499-g. Application. This article shall apply to all covered vehicles 39 registered on or after the effective date of this section. 40 § 499-h. Creation of feebate program. 1. The commissioner shall either 41 levy an efficiency fee, at the dollar amount described in subdivision 42 two of this section, or furnish an efficiency rebate, at the dollar 43 amount described in subdivision three of this section, upon or to the 44 owner of each covered vehicle required to register in this state pursu- 45 ant to section four hundred one of this title at the time of such regis- 46 tration. 47 2. Efficiency fees. The commissioner shall levy an efficiency fee on 48 every covered vehicle that receives less than 10 MPG or MPGe in accord- 49 ance with the following table: 50 Fuel economy in MPG or MPGe: Dollar amount of efficiency fee: 51 Fewer than 3 $45,000 52 At least 3 but less than 5 $30,000 53 At least 5 but less than 7 $20,000 54 At least 7 but less than 10 $10,000S. 2490 3 1 3. Efficiency rebates. The commissioner shall furnish an efficiency 2 rebate to every covered vehicle that receives at least 10 MPG or MPGe in 3 accordance with the following table: 4 Fuel economy in MPG or MPGe: Dollar amount of efficiency rebate: 5 At least 10 but less than 20 $45,000 6 At least 20 but less than 30 $100,000 7 At least 30 $150,000 8 4. (a) The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of 9 environmental conservation and the president of the New York state ener- 10 gy research and development authority, shall annually review and recom- 11 mend adjustments to the efficiency fees and rebates provided in subdivi- 12 sions two and three of this section, respectively, as needed, to the 13 legislature with the goal of maintaining revenue neutrality for the 14 program. 15 (b) The commissioner may examine actual covered motor vehicle regis- 16 tration data for the prior fiscal year, market availability and price 17 points of covered vehicles which are zero emission or near zero emis- 18 sions models, actual and projected fuel economies of covered vehicles, 19 and any other factors the commissioner deems relevant for the adjustment 20 of the dollar amounts of the efficiency fees and rebates set forth in 21 this subdivision. 22 (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivi- 23 sion, the commissioner may use the revenues collected from the efficien- 24 cy fees described in subdivision two of this section to cover the costs 25 of administration of the feebate program and may incorporate such admin- 26 istrative costs into the design of the program when recommending adjust- 27 ments to the efficiency fee and rebate dollar amounts. 28 5. (a) The commissioner shall prominently display the dollar amounts 29 of efficiency fees and efficiency rebates and corresponding fuel econo- 30 mies described in this article on the department's website and shall 31 post a clear and conspicuous notice whenever such dollar amounts or fuel 32 economies are changed. 33 (b) The commissioner shall require that all dealers required to regis- 34 ter with the department under the provisions of section four hundred 35 fifteen of this title prominently display the dollar amounts of effi- 36 ciency fees and efficiency rebates and corresponding fuel economies 37 described herein at such dealers' places of business and on such deal- 38 ers' websites and shall promulgate regulations to effectuate the same. 39 § 499-i. Public awareness campaign. The commissioner shall conduct an 40 educational campaign to make covered vehicle manufacturers, dealers, 41 fleet purchasers, and the general public aware of the provisions of this 42 article. Such campaign may include public service announcements, adver- 43 tisements, media campaigns, mass mailings, conferences, presentations, 44 informational materials in print, electronic, or other media, or any 45 other strategy the commissioner deems fit to inform the public of the 46 feebate program created by this article. Such campaign must include 47 assistance by a natural person by phone and/or email in order to field 48 inquiries about such program. 49 § 499-j. Annual report. 1. No later than one year after the effective 50 date of this section, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall 51 prepare a report on the feebate program established by this article. 52 Such report shall include: 53 (a) the dollar amounts and thresholds of the efficiency fees and effi- 54 ciency rebates of the prior year;S. 2490 4 1 (b) the amount of revenues collected by the department from efficiency 2 fees; 3 (c) the costs of complying with the provisions of this article; 4 (d) the amount of efficiency rebates disbursed to owners of covered 5 vehicles after accounting for the costs described in paragraph (c) of 6 this subdivision; 7 (e) an aggregate description of the number and types of registrations 8 of covered vehicles and the fuel economies in MPG or MPGe of such vehi- 9 cles; 10 (f) recommendations for any legislative changes to this article; and 11 (g) any other information the commissioner deems necessary to include 12 as a description and review of the feebate program. 13 2. Such report shall be delivered to the temporary president of the 14 senate, the speaker of the assembly, and the governor. Such report 15 shall also be posted for public review in a clear and conspicuous manner 16 on the department's website. 17 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that sections 18 499-e, 499-f, 499-g, 499-h and 499-j of the vehicle and traffic law, as 19 added by section one of this act shall take effect three years after 20 they shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, 21 amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the 22 implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be 23 made and completed on or before such effective date.
