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New and Notable Additions

LPDD April Newsletter

New LPDD Model Laws

Last month, the LPDD team republished a model law on Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Research, originally drafted by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Ocean CDR targets in-ocean or coastal activities that remove and durably store carbon dioxide either directly from the atmosphere or from surface ocean waters in a manner that leads to a reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.This model legislation would create a new legal framework specifically for ocean CDR research, designed to achieve the dual goals of facilitating needed ocean CDR research, while also ensuring that research occurs in a scientifically sound, safe, and responsible manner. To that end, the model legislation addresses issues including:

  • Distinguishing ocean CDR research from deployment.
  • Giving a lead federal agency sole responsibility for permitting.
  • Developing and updating a national plan for ocean CDR research.
  • Designating Regional Research Councils to develop research programs to regionally implement the national plan.
  • Designating preferred zones for ocean CDR research.
  • Requiring a permit from the lead federal agency for CDR research.
  • Requiring a bond or other financial assurance to ensure that funds are available for the cleanup of environmental harms caused by a research project.

Development of the model law was informed by a series of stakeholder workshops and interviews conducted in the fall of 2022, including two workshops in which over forty-five scientists, policy-makers, lawyers, and others with expertise in ocean CDR participated. We are proud to include the Sabin Center's work as part of our implementation project.

New External Resources

modelclimatelaws.org is being continually updated with new, external legal resources. Below is a selection of recently added resources.

  • White House Ocean Climate Action Plan: Complementing the Ocean-Based CDR model law above, in March, the White House released an Ocean Climate Action Plan (OCAP). The OCAP surveys the state of science for oceans to help regulate the climate, and issues recommendations for further regulatory or agency action addressing issues including: the expansion of offshore wind and marine energy; greening maritime shipping; seafloor CO2 sequestration; marine Carbon Dioxide Removal; the preservation of "blue carbon," or marine habitats that naturally store carbon; and more.
  • Boston Adopts New Electrification Stretch Code: In April, the Boston City Council voted to adopt Massachusetts' new energy stretch code, which the Dept. of Energy Resources had finalized late last year. Compliance pathways under the Stretch Code are designed to ensure new construction is consistent with a net-zero Massachusetts economy in 2050, primarily through deep energy efficiency, reduced heating loads, and efficient electrification. The Stretch Code requires all new buildings to be designed with electric service and wiring sufficient for future electrification of space and water heating as well as any combustion equipment appliance loads.
  • Pathway Highlight: Solar Mandates on New Buildings: Following California's lead, several states have seen recent proposed legislation to require solar energy on certain types of new construction. We highlight pending 2023 bills out of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Mexico.
  • Minnesota's Efficiency Cost-Effectiveness Test: In March, Minnesota's  Department of Commerce adopted a new cost-effectiveness test that will be used to assess future utility energy efficiency programs in the state. New features of the cost test, including a quantified value for avoided greenhouse gas emissions and greater recognition of efficiency’s utility system and non-energy benefits, should help spur greater investment in energy efficiency.
  • San Francisco Bay Area Ban on New Gas Water Heaters and Furnaces: In March, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District board banned the sale of gas water heaters in the Bay Area starting in 2027, and new gas furnaces in 2029. Officials emphasized the rules only apply to new water heaters and furnace purchases, and won't require the immediate replacement of existing appliances.
  • North Carolina Switches to Time of Use-Based Net Metering: In March, the North Carolina PUC approved a section of a stakeholder agreement that will replace Net Energy Metering (NEM) credits with a time of use rate by 2027. This Order, and the settlement that informed it, represents a compromise between advocates for cutting NEM and the solar industry, in the midst of a nationwide trend that has seen states reduce NEM compensation generally. The new rates will be variable, based on demand on the utility system. Though the ruling likely represents a diminution in rooftop solar compensation overall, it has been met with some positive reviews from solar developers, as it does not go as far as other states recently have in diminishing NEM compensation, and includes a Bridge Rate for customers who grandfather in. The Commission did reject other proposals in the stakeholder agreement, including a smart thermostat demand response program. The NEM proceeding was pursuant to two recent laws requiring North Carolina's PUC to revisit net metering by 2027.
  • NYC Legislative Package on E-Bikes: In March, NYC published a Micromobility Action Plan, and five complementary pieces of legislation aimed at promoting E-Bike safety. As fire risks from improper battery use threaten the momentum of the growing E-Bike sector, this package aims to manage the risks associated with the growing E-bike fleet while promoting the safe expansion of micromobility options.
  • EPA Finalizes Good Neighbor Rule: In March, EPA finalized it's "Good Neighbor" Rule, under which power plant owners in 22 states will face tighter nitrogen oxides emissions requirements. Power plants without NOx emissions reduction equipment will have to install such equipment and power plants with the pollution control equipment will be required to run it all the time during the ozone season to protect downwind areas.
  • Colorado Order on Nitrous Oxide Regulation: In March, Colorado's Governor Polis promulgated an executive order requiring state agencies to develop regulations for cutting emissions of nitrogen oxides by 30 percent by the 2025 summertime ozone season and 50 percent by 2030.

Spotlight on Equity: The Connecticut Legislature is currently considering a bill backed by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection which would give that agency, as well as the Connecticut Siting Council, the authority to deny or place conditions on a permit for polluting facilities in environmental justice communities if the cumulative environmental and health impacts there exceed a threshold higher than impacts borne by other communities.

As negotiations continue, debate surrounds whether the agency should be authorized to deny or place conditions on a permit in such situations, or whether it should be required to do so.

Get Involved!

Not sure how to support our work? Check out our Get Involved page to see the many avenues by which lawyers can join us, and get in contact!

This update highlights and summarizes recent additions to the Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization (LPDD) website, which houses actual and model laws addressing the causes of climate change in the United States.

The Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization Model Law Project (LPDD-MLP) is a pro bono effort to draft model laws for use by legislators at the federal, state and local levels to support their efforts to achieve deep reductions in fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. The project is based on recommendations from the groundbreaking book Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States (Michael Gerrard and John C. Dernbach, eds., 2019). The work is supported by Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Widener University Commonwealth Law School’s Environmental Law and Sustainability Center. Dozens of law firms and individual lawyers are contributing to this pro-bono effort as drafters, peer reviewers or in reaching out to policymakers.

Our website, modelclimatelaws.org, contains over 70 model laws that are a starting place for discussion and collaboration among elected officials, non-profit groups, and the private sector for enabling the U.S. to address climate change by reducing U.S. GHG emissions to zero by 2050 or earlier. The site includes several Top 10 lists for some of the key categories, like electric vehicles, PUC’s, buildings and other topics as a short-hand introduction. In addition, the site references hundreds of other actions that states and other governmental bodies have taken to move towards decarbonization more rapidly. By providing policymakers the tools to achieve deep decarbonization, the Project will help achieve a restructuring of the energy economy, thus alleviating the worst effects of climate change, which are disproportionately suffered by marginalized communities, while providing such positive benefits as economic security, social equity, and environmental justice (EJ).

Please contact us to talk about getting involved in drafting and peer reviewing legislation, to provide suggestions and feedback on the drafts and to talk about how we can help you support your climate change efforts.

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