The DOB will hold a hearing on October 24th at 11am on the new regulations for Local Law 97. It will be a virtual hearing only.
- If you want to speak at the virtual hearing on this issue on October 24th at 11am, sign up by Tuesday, 10/17 by emailing dobrules@buildings.nyc.gov and including your name and affiliation. State that your testimony is for the new Dept of Buildings (NYC) Regulations issued on September 12th amending the Administrative Code Article 320 that includes rules for non-compliance with annual greenhouse gas emissions limits for buildings over 25,000 sq ft. as stated in Local Law 97.
- If you want to submit a comment only, do this by Tuesday, 10/24: submit Annual Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Limits for Buildings – NYC Rules (cityofnewyork.us) it only needs to be a short statement and including personal experiences is suggested. You can upload a separate document. Start the comment by indicating this is for the new Dept of Buildings Regulations amending the Administrative Code requiring annual greenhouse gas emissions limits for buildings over 25,000 sq ft. AS stated in Local Law 97
- If you want to attend the virtual hearing but not speak: Join the DOB virtual public hearing at 11am. Link to hearing: https://tinyurl.com/
LL97Art320Meeting (This link will only be active on October 24th).
Why is this important?
NYC is proud of the landmark climate law Local Law 97, the first in the world to limit buildings emissions. But right now, the Department of Buildings is considering weakening LL97. We have to act now!
Tell the DOB not to cave to the real estate industry’s calls to backtrack this groundbreaking law!
Greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in NYC must be reduced by 40% by 2030. New DOB regulations are proposing giving building owners not in compliance with LL97 an additional two years to delay action. This would provide a loophole to the dirty buildings which account for 30% of emissions from large buildings across NYC and make it harder to meet our climate goals.
Tips and Talking points for submitting a comment
You can write your own comment which we encourage or you can personalize the sample comment below. More background information about Local Law 97 and why this matters is below.
What’s in the 2023 proposed rules for LL97? – Urban Green Council
There are 4 new rules as per this article, but the one that is of most concern is the first one which gives building owners not in compliance as of 2024 a 2 year delay IF they have initiated a “good faith effort” to comply.
- Personal experiences relevant to the rapid acceleration of climate change are always persuasive:
Additional talking points:
- The urgency of NYC in responding to the climate crisis cannot be underestimated
- Local Law 97 is a landmark climate law, the first city in the world to enact a law that limits buildings emissions and we must be an example to other mega cities.
- We are in a climate emergency, now, this is not an event that will happen in some distant future
- NYC itself is very vulnerable to extreme weather and our infrastructure will obviously be unable to deal with the increasing number of climate events.
- Greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in NYC must be reduced by 40% by 2030.
- The proposed rule would provide a loophole to the dirty buildings which account for 30% of emissions from large buildings in NYC.
Sample Comment: Don’t Weaken LL97
I oppose extending the timeline for compliance with Local Law 97 by 2 years.
The climate crisis is urgent and NYC demonstrated significant leadership by passing Local Law 97 to regulate building emissions. Currently, there are about 3,000 buildings that emit greenhouse gas over the 2024 limit. Although they represent a relatively small percentage of all buildings (roughly 11%), combined they account for about 30% of emissions from large buildings.
LL97 was enacted in April of 2019. The buildings will have had over five years to start preparing for the energy upgrades they must make. By allowing these buildings to delay compliance for another two years, you would be creating an unjustified loophole that will make it harder for NYC to achieve its target emissions reduction of 40% by 2030. Implementation of this law is challenging but it’s crucial that we not break the momentum it at this late date.
Join the 350NYC Building and Energy Working Group: https://350nyc.org/local-issues/
