USA – NEW YORK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Marius Griskonis, Lauren Bachtel, Michael Rodgers and Diana Jeschke, Linklaters
production for facilities beginning construction in 2028 or thereafter. The Climate Act’s implementation The Action Plan The State’s 2023 cornerstone commitment toward achieving the Climate Act’s goals, the 10-Point Action Plan (the “Action Plan”), outlines comprehensive actions to expand the State’s renewable energy sector and foundational initiatives for combatting macroeco- nomic and inflationary pressures affecting the renew- able energy industry. Components of the Action Plan include NYSERDA awards for offshore and onshore renewable energy projects along with supply chain ecosystem investments; launching an accelerated renewable energy procurement process for both off- shore wind and onshore renewables; and engaging in a historic development of transmission infrastructure across the State. After the State’s May 2026 budget signing, the deadline for the CAC to update the Action Plan has been extended to 2028. New York Department of Environmental Conservation Regulations In 2025, a coalition of environmental advocacy groups sued the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for missing its 2024 deadline to draft and prom- ulgate enforceable regulations to ensure the State meets the Climate Act Scoping Plan’s State-wide GHG emission limits. In October 2025, the Albany County Supreme Court ordered the Hochul adminis- tration to release the rules by 6 February 2026, which the Hochul administration appealed. Also in February 2026, NYSERDA released a memo projecting significant consumer energy cost increases if the State implemented a cap-and-invest programme to meet the 2030 emissions goals. Environmental groups disputed the memo’s cost projections with analyses suggesting that a well-designed programme would deliver net savings for the majority of house- holds. Cap - and - Invest Program and Mandatory GHG Reporting Programs In May 2026, Hochul passed a new State budget amending the Climate Act by pushing the deadline for issuing mandatory emissions regulations to 2030
and changing the GHG accounting methodology from a 20-year to a 100-year global warming potential peri- od. The budget also moved the DEC and NYSERDA’s Cap-and-Invest Program (NYCI) deadline to 2028 and established a target to reduce emissions by 60% by 2040, while maintaining the existing 2050 target. Under the NYCI, the State will set a cap on the total, annually declining amount of GHG emissions allowed across the economy, and businesses will be required to purchase allowances at auction based on their GHG emissions. The regulations implementing the NYCI are currently being shaped by ongoing public feedback. In addition, the DEC and NYSERDA contemplate a forthcoming Auction Rule, which would describe the operation of the allowance auctions and mechanisms to protect the overall integrity of the allowance market, prevent market manipulation, and provide cost con- tainment and programme stability. The DEC issued final Mandatory GHG Reporting Program regulations under 6 NYCRR Part 253 (“Part 253”), establishing a mandatory GHG emissions reporting programme that requires emitters of GHGs – including facilities, fuel suppliers, waste haulers, electric power entities, and others – to report annual emissions to the DEC start- ing in 2026, with the first annual emissions report due on 1 June 2027. Notably, Part 253 applies not only to facilities located in the State but also to upstream electricity and fuel suppliers that provide electricity or fuel into the State. Reporting is required from facilities emitting 10,000 metric tonnes or more of CO2 equiva- lents per year, as well as fuel suppliers, waste haulers and transporters, electric power entities, agricultural suppliers, and anaerobic digestion and liquid storage waste facilities exceeding specified thresholds. Furthermore, the State legislature is considering corporate-level climate disclosure legislation. The proposed Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (introduced on 28 January 2026) (CCDAA) would man- date climate disclosures from large companies doing business in New York. The proposed CCDAA would require companies doing business in New York with total revenues exceeding USD1 billion in the preced- ing fiscal year to disclose annually Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 GHG emissions to an emissions reporting organisation. If enacted, the DEC would be required to adopt implementing regulations on or
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