Bill Text: NY S08060 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs regulation of closed-loop boreholes installed for the purpose of facilitating a geothermal heating or cooling system by December 31, 2024.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-02-13 - SIGNED CHAP.87 [S08060 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S08060-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8060

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 5, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

        AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law and a chapter of  the
          laws  of  2023 amending the environmental conservation law relating to
          exempting certain geothermal boreholes at depths beyond  five  hundred
          feet  from  certain  requirements,  as  proposed  in legislative bills
          numbers S. 6604 and A. 6949, in  relation  to  regulation  of  certain
          closed-loop  boreholes  installed  for  the  purpose of facilitating a
          geothermal heating or cooling system

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

     1    Section  1. Subdivisions 4 and 5 of section 1 of a chapter of the laws
     2  of 2023 amending the environmental conservation law relating to  exempt-
     3  ing certain geothermal boreholes at depths beyond five hundred feet from
     4  certain  requirements,  as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 6604
     5  and A. 6949, are amended to read as follows:
     6    4. [Extension of the] Appropriate permitting rules [currently  applied
     7  to  closed-loop  geothermal systems less than five hundred feet deep to]
     8  for closed-loop geothermal boreholes deeper than five hundred feet  will
     9  reduce  the  cost  of  meeting New York state's building decarbonization
    10  requirements by nearly $9.9 billion by 2050; reduce the cost of  meeting
    11  the  state's  goal of electrifying one million homes by 2030 by approxi-
    12  mately $900 million; and reduce the cost  of  electrifying  85%  of  the
    13  state's  building  stock  by  approximately  $9 billion between 2030 and
    14  2050, in 2023 dollars.  In  nominal  dollars,  the  total  cost  savings
    15  increase to $16.3 billion by 2050.
    16    5.  [Extension of the] Appropriate permitting rules [currently applied
    17  to closed-loop geothermal systems less than five hundred  feet  deep  to
    18  such] for facilitating closed-loop geothermal boreholes deeper than five
    19  hundred feet will obviate unnecessary technical and permitting barriers,
    20  open  new  markets  to clean heating and cooling technologies in densely
    21  populated regions, and enable drastically increased leverage of  federal
    22  funding to meet New York state's emissions reductions targets.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10951-03-4
        S. 8060                             2

     1    §  2. Section 23-0305 of the environmental conservation law is amended
     2  by adding a new subdivision 15 to read as follows:
     3    15.  The  department  is  authorized  to  regulate for the purposes of
     4  protecting natural resources and the environment or  public  health  and
     5  safety,  closed-loop  boreholes  deeper than five hundred feet below the
     6  earth's surface installed for the purpose of facilitating  a  geothermal
     7  heating  or  cooling system and no later than December thirty-first, two
     8  thousand twenty-four shall promulgate regulations relating to such bore-
     9  holes, and may update such regulations from time to time. When  regulat-
    10  ing  such  closed-loop boreholes, the department shall consider relevant
    11  prevailing industry standards.
    12    § 3. Section 23-1903 of the environmental conservation law is  amended
    13  by adding a new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
    14    3.  The  department  shall  have the authority to establish reasonable
    15  fees by rule for closed-loop boreholes deeper  than  five  hundred  feet
    16  below  the  earth's  surface  pursuant to subdivision fifteen of section
    17  23-0305 of this article to be credited to the oil and gas account estab-
    18  lished under chapter fifty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred  eight-
    19  y-two  for  the  purposes  of environmental protection or greenhouse gas
    20  emission reduction.
    21    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately, provided however  section
    22  one  of  this  act  shall  take  effect on the same date and in the same
    23  manner as a chapter of the  laws  of  2023  amending  the  environmental
    24  conservation  law  relating to exempting certain geothermal boreholes at
    25  depths beyond five hundred feet from certain requirements,  as  proposed
    26  in legislative bills numbers S. 6604 and A. 6949, takes effect.