New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos today announced three actions to support the State’s ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as required by the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). DEC is filing draft regulations to reduce emissions of two potent greenhouse gases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆). In addition, DEC released the 2023 annual “Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report,” which tracks trends of these and other emissions as part of the state’s implementation of the Climate Act.

“New York State continues to advance efforts to help reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions and bolster community resilience,” Commissioner Seggos said. “HFCs, SF₆, and other greenhouse gases are accelerating the costly economic, public health, and environmental impacts of climate change in New York State and across the globe. The draft regulations filed today help bring New York closer to realizing the Climate Act’s ambitious emission reduction requirements.”

HFCs are extremely potent greenhouse gases (GHGs) often used in refrigeration and cooling that have hundreds to thousands of times higher global warming potential than natural refrigerants. DEC filed proposed amendments to 6 NYCRR Part 494, to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerants, foams, and aerosol propellants. The draft regulation includes prohibitions, reporting, and other requirements regarding the sale, use, and supply of HFCs and new products and systems that contain HFCs to help achieve the required statewide greenhouse gas emission limits.

SF₆ is the most potent greenhouse gas and in New York State is used in electric power transmission and distribution equipment. DEC also filed a new draft regulation, 6 NYCRR Part 495, which includes a program to phase down the use of SF₆ in gas-insulated equipment (GIE) used by the electricity sector. The proposed regulation includes a phase out of the installation of new SF₆ GIE, an emissions limit for GIE owners, limitations on the use of SF₆, and reporting requirements for certain users and suppliers of SF₆ and other fluorinated greenhouse gases.

The draft regulations would implement recommendations from the Climate Action Council’s Scoping Plan to help meet the statewide emissions limits of the Climate Act. In addition, as estimated by DEC’s Value of Carbon Guidance under the Climate Act, both HFCs and SF₆ are among the highest value in terms of the cost in dollars of each additional ton of emissions. The draft regulations will help guide a statewide transition away from HFCs and SF₆ while informing policy development and programming.

The draft regulations will be published in the State Register and available for public comment on Jan. 10, 2024 at https://dec.ny.gov/regulatory/regulations/proposed-emergency-recently-adopted-regulations/climate-change. DEC is holding public hearings on the proposed regulations on March 13, 2024 for HFCs/Part 494 and March 14, 2024, for SF₆/Part 495. The public comment deadline for HFCs/Part 494 will be March 19, 2024, and for SF₆/Part 495 will be March 21, 2024.

DEC’s 2023 Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report describes statewide GHG emissions from 1990 to 2021, expressed in tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, from all sources in the state. Release of the report prior to the end of the year marks a milestone in implementation of the Climate Act by measuring the annual progress in reducing GHG emissions and providing information on trends in GHG emissions across various economic sectors. The report also provides more detailed information about sources of GHG emissions and emission factors associated with different types of fuels.

The comprehensive report utilizes best available science and data to describe GHG emissions statewide, including those from electricity, industry, and agriculture. As required by the Climate Act, the Statewide GHG Emissions Report uses the 20-year Global Warming Potential metric for providing GHG emissions, and tracks greenhouse gas emissions directly within New York State, as well as those associated with the generation of imported electricity and the extraction and transmission of fossil fuels imported into the state. The 2023 report also describes the emission contributions of the state’s forests and natural lands that will help the state reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The annual emission totals provided will help track progress to achieve emissions limits as codified in DEC’s Part 496 regulation adopted in 2020. Overall, the 2023 report shows statewide GHG emissions reductions from 1990 levels through 2021. It also reflects broader trends, including GHG emission reductions from 2019 to 2021 following the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on emissions, which was most profound in 2020.

The report is available on DEC’s website at https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions-report. The complete, detailed dataset of emissions totals used to inform the report is available via Open NY at: https://data.ny.gov/Energy-Environment/Statewide-Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions-Beginning-1990/5i6e-asw6/about_data.

The 2019 Climate Act requires the State to achieve a carbon-free electricity system by 2040 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050, setting a standard for states and the nation to expedite the transition to a clean energy economy. The law drives investment in clean energy solutions such as wind, solar, energy efficiency and energy storage and requires that 35 percent, with at least 40 percent, of the clean energy investments benefit disadvantaged and low-to-moderate income communities across New York State. 

The issuance of the annual report and draft regulations are the latest of many regulatory and policy steps taken to implement the Climate Act, including the pre-proposal of a Cap-and-Invest Program to achieve a declining cap on emissions, the finalization of disadvantaged communities criteria by New York's Climate Justice Working Group, and the finalization of Commissioner's Policy 49, "Climate Change and DEC Action," and Division of Air Resources Policy 21, "CLCPA and Air Permit Applications," last year.

In 2022, Governor Hochul announced finalized regulations that require significant reductions in methane and other harmful emissions from any oil and natural gas infrastructure, reducing methane emissions by more than 14,000 metric tons per year and volatile organic compound emissions by more than 2,000 tons per year. Additional steps to implement the Climate Act include adopting limits on the statewide emissions of greenhouse gases of 40 percent by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050, the Advanced Clean Car and Clean Truck regulations to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles, and completing the Value of Carbon guidance and updates, as well as DEC’s well plugging programs to address climate change by locating abandoned oil and gas wells, among other measures.