New York City Local Law 97 and How Do I Avoid Fines?

In April 2019, New York City passed the Climate Mobilization Local Law 97 Act (CMA), a legislative package aimed at reducing carbon emissions in buildings by as much as 80 percent by the year 2050. 

New York City Local Law 97

The legislation stipulates specific deadlines for compliance, benchmarking for energy use, energy efficiency scores, and fines for non-compliant properties. The Cotocon Group is ready to help multifamily building owners navigate the new CMA regulations and avoid hefty fines. 

Back in 2019, New York City Council passed the Climate Mobilization Act (CMA), which is an ambitious legislative package aligned with the City’s commitment to the carbon reduction targets set out in the Paris Agreement. It requires the economy-wide Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to be lower by 40% before 2030 and 80% lower by 2050. As the centerpiece of CMA, Local law 97 regulates Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from buildings larger than 25,000 square feet. The law sets GHG emission limits based on occupancy groups, which becomes effective in 2025.

Our team of certified sustainability experts will help you identify and implement sustainable technology to help you meet your goals and avoid expensive penalties.

How Do I Avoid Fines

New carbon emissions

To avoid fines, make sure you meet or exceed the new carbon emissions limits. For a 58,400 square-foot residential property, you must reduce carbon emissions by 6.75 kg/sq-inch and produce 392 tons of carbon per year. 

The limit

But if your building is just five hundred square feet, the limit is 772 kg/sq-inches, which is equal to 451 tons of carbon. If you exceed the limit by more than 56 tons, the fine is $268 per ton. During this time, you will be hit with a $15,276 fine.

Need to comply

To avoid fines, you need to comply with the new Local Law 97. This law targets the carbon emissions from large and medium buildings. Any building that is over 25,000 square-feet will be affected. 

Required to decrease their emissions

In addition, over 57,000 buildings will be required to decrease their emissions by 40% by 2030, and eighty percent by 2050. To stay in compliance, you will need to submit a report each year. Failure to submit a report will result in a fine per month.

The new law

In the meantime, you need to comply with the rules that are required by the new law. In Chicago, it is illegal to operate without compliance, and this law will increase the fines and penalties. 

Hiring a certified building professional

As a result, you should consider hiring a certified building professional to assess the fines and avoid them. There are three stages in implementing the new legislation: the first phase is about twenty percent of existing buildings will be subject to fines, and the second phase will affect twenty-four percent of buildings.

Conclusion:

Despite its new legislation, New York City’s emissions cap is not yet mandatory, but it will require a holistic approach to meet the regulations. To be compliant, you must examine each system of your building to ensure that it is energy efficient. 

One important step in this process is to conduct a carbon study. The carbon study will determine how much energy your building is emitting per square foot.