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A NYC LOCAL LAW REQUIRING REDUCTIONS IN GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM LARGE BUILDINGS IS NOT PREEMPTED BY THE STATE’S CLIMATE LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY PROTECTION ACT (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, reversing the Appellate Division, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Cannataro, determined the NYC Local Law requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from large buildings was not preempted the the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act:

The State Constitution grants local governments the power to enact “local laws not inconsistent with the provisions of th[e] constitution or any general law” relating to certain specified subjects, including the “safety, health and well-being of [the locality’s] persons or property” (NY Const, art IX, § 2 [c] [ii] [10]; see also Municipal Home Rule Law § 10 [1] [ii] [a] [12]). State law can preempt local law in one of two ways: either through conflict preemption, which occurs when the local and State laws directly conflict, or field preemption, which occurs “when a local government legislates in a field for which the State Legislature has assumed full regulatory responsibility” … . Plaintiffs have not argued conflict preemption; their sole claim before us is that the State has preempted the field of regulating greenhouse gas emissions. * * *

Rather than demonstrating an intent to preempt the field of regulating greenhouse gas emissions, the Climate Act recognizes that local government plays an important role in this area. The Act does not expressly prohibit local regulation of emissions. To the contrary, the Act’s legislative findings evince a sense of urgency concerning the implementation of mitigation measures in general and further express the legislature’s intent to “encourage other jurisdictions to implement complementary greenhouse gas reduction strategies” … . The Act also directs the Climate Action Council to identify and consider measures taken by other jurisdictions, including localities, when developing the Scoping Plan … . The absence of any statement that local efforts would be superseded is particularly significant here given that Local Law No. 97 was enacted before the Climate Act, as well as the recognized and longstanding involvement of localities in regulating matters of environmental concern affecting the health and safety of the community, such as air pollution … . Further reflecting the Act’s embrace of complementary local action, as noted above, it contains a savings clause stating that it does not relieve any entity from, as relevant here, compliance with other applicable local laws and regulations … . Glen Oaks Vil. Owners, Inc. v City of New York, 2025 NY Slip Op 03101, CtApp 5-22-25

Practice Point: Consult this opinion for insight into the criteria for “field preemption,” i.e., the state’s intention to regulate an area exclusively to the exclusion of any local laws or regulations. Here a NYC Local Law regulating greenhouse gas emissions from buildings was not preempted by the state’s Climate Act.

 

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