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New and Notable Additions

LPDD November Newsletter

Fifth National Assessment Released

This week, we're excited for the release of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, the US Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses. It is a congressionally mandated interagency effort that provides the scientific foundation to support informed decision-making across the United States. The report characterizes the nation's climate action to date as “incremental” instead of “transformative”, but points towards already existing, cost-effective tools and technologies to significantly reduce America’s contribution to global warming.

We'll be looking to this welcome report to bolster the case to address climate action at every legislative level, and spur the adoption of our model laws and resources.

New External Resources

modelclimatelaws.org is being continually updated with new, external legal resources. Below is a selection of recently added resources, particularly highlighting a flurry of legislation recently passed in Michigan:

  • Republican Border Carbon Adjustment Bill Introduced: The proposed Foreign Pollution Fee Act, introduced in November, marks a rare Republican proposal to price carbon pollution -- from foreign imports. The new bill would impose a fee on certain industrial and manufacturing imports, like steel, aluminum, and cement, that are “dirtier” than their U.S.-produced counterparts. The fee -- to be calculated by the national laboratories -- would increase as the difference in pollution widens between a foreign country and the U.S., and would be eliminated for products within 50 percent of the pollution intensity of comparable domestic products. The proposal would complement recent developments in the E.U., which has implemented its own border carbon adjustment mechanism. An early analysis from Resources for the Future is catalogued with the bill draft at our site.
  • Pathway Highlight: Reducing Parking: In November, Austin became the largest city in the U.S. to drop parking requirements for new development, including single-family homes, apartment buildings, offices and shopping malls. The ordinance puts Austin at the vanguard of a movement to reduce parking in major cities, which eats up valuable real estate and reduces walkability, often forcing residents to rely on automobiles. Austin joins Portland, Minneapolis, and San Jose in dropping parking requirements at the city level, while California has passed state legislation barring all local governments from imposing parking requirements near public transit hubs. Along with these laws, we also highlight the Parking Reform Network, which tracks parking-related legislation across the United States and provides valuable resources for advocates.
  • Michigan to Increase RPS Targets: Recently, both houses of Michigan's legislature approved SB 271, which will increase targets under the state's renewable portfolio standard. SB 271 requires an electric provider to achieve a renewable energy credit portfolio of at least 15% through 2027, 50% in 2030 through 2034, and 60% in 2035 and after. The legislation also requires an electric provider to achieve a clean energy portfolio of 80% in 2035 through 2039, and 100% in 2040 and after, where "clean" energy also includes sources such as nuclear and fossil fuels with 90% carbon capture. To complement the expansion of renewable energy, electric providers will be required to submit plans to construct or acquire eligible energy storage systems. The legislation also provides additional requirements and enforcement mechanisms for municipally owned electric providers. At the time of this writing, the legislation awaits the governor's signature.
  • Michigan Consolidates Permitting of Large Renewable Projects: Michigan's HB 5120 would shift some power over clean-energy project siting and permitting from local government entities to the Michigan Public Service Commission. The bill would give the commission permitting authority for all solar projects and battery projects over 50 megawatts and wind projects over 100 megawatts. This bill is also pending the governor's signature at the time of this writing.
  • Colorado Partially Adopts California Clean Car Standard: In October, Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission renewed and expanded its mandate for electric vehicles to take over the state new car market in coming years, passing a requirement for EVs to make up 82% of dealer lots by 2032. The Commission approved a staff recommendation for a “Colorado Clean Cars Standard,” which largely adopts California’s rules requiring auto manufacturers to sharply ramp up their offerings of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles starting in model year 2027.

Spotlight on Equity: Also among the legislation recently passed in Michigan, SB 502 makes changes to the enabling act for Michigan's Public Service Commission to enhance its oversight over environmental and equity related matters. The bill requires that utilities' integrated resource plans include a review of environmental justice impacts for each new natural-gas-fired generation facility, including impacts to the environment, human health, and economic and social impacts. Under the legislation, integrated resource plans must also account for recently-passed requirements addressing renewable energy, clean energy, energy waste reduction, and an energy storage target, and must further offer projections on the long-term forecast of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from power generated or purchased by the electric utility. The legislation awaits the governor's signature.

Project Profiles

Every other month, we like to highlight attorneys working on this project, to recognize their service, and call attention to the quality of expertise and scholarship behind LPDD.

This month, we're highlighting frequent project contributor Kevin Healy, Senior Counsel at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLC and member of that firm's Energy, Environment and Infrastructure Practice Group. Mr. Healy has drafted, peer reviewed, and overseen numerous LPDD model laws on topics ranging from the adoption of electric vehicles to federal permitting requirements for renewable energy projects. We are deeply grateful for his wide-ranging expertise and devoted attention to our project.

Mr. Healy has practiced environmental and land use law for 50 years, including twelve years in the public service. Among other positions, he served as General Counsel to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and was one of two lead negotiators for New York City in the resolution of a multi-state dispute over the allocation of the waters of the Delaware River during times of drought. In private practice, Mr. Healy has represented a wide range of clients, including industrial and commercial corporations, major New York utilities, railroads, public authorities and municipalities. He has served as environmental counsel on numerous major infrastructure projects, including the East Side Access Project, the Moynihan Station Project, the East River Repowering Project, and installation of electronic toll collection at the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority’s New York City facilities.

Mr. Healy served on the New York State Climate Change Task Force that led to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.  He co-chairs the Global Climate Change subcommittee of the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and has lectured and written extensively on the subject of climate change over many years. He is a past co-chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association and an elected fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers.

We are grateful for Mr. Healy’s extensive contributions to our project, and look forward to advancing the laws he has contributed to, in furthering the long impact of a distinguished career.

In the News

Sometimes, we come across news stories that highlight the value of the resources we already promote at modelclimatelaws.org. Here are a few from the last month:

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 75 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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