Increasing Resilience
New Yorkers are at increased risk from the effects of climate change and extreme-weather events.
Recognizing this risk, the Department of State worked with the Department of Environmental Conservation and other partners to create model local laws to help local governments be more resilient to sea-level rise, storm surge, and flooding.
Cities, towns, and villages are invited to adapt model local laws to meet the resilience needs of the community with the assistance of their municipal attorneys.
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Sustainable Procurement
The National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) developed a Green Purchasing Guide as a comprehensive one-stop-shop to provide you with a basic understanding of the concept and benefits of green purchasing, recommended steps and proven strategies to enable the implementation of a green purchasing program, and links to other resources offering detailed information on specific elements of the process.
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Green Building
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School has developed a model green building ordinance that is the product of empirical analysis of common practices in existing municipal green building regulation and research on possible legal impediments. The ordinance linked below regulates new construction and major modifications of municipal buildings, commercial buildings, and residential buildings by mandating that these buildings be constructed to a specific green building standard.
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Renewable Energy: Wind Siting
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School has developed a model wind siting ordinance and framework for the adoption, implementation, and enforcement of standards to promote the effective and efficient use of wind energy resources. The ordinance includes provisions concerning permits, approvals, operation, and oversight of wind energy conversion systems, and allows for flexibility in adoption within each municipality by including a number of optional add-ons.
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Renewable Energy: Small Scale Solar Siting
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School has developed a model ordinance and framework that can enable municipalities to implement and enforce the effective and efficient use of solar energy resources. The ordinance would govern all new solar energy systems of up to 10 kilowatts, and includes provisions regarding permits, appeals, safety, and zoning for future solar access.
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Trees and Forests
The Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) offers guidelines for protecting individual trees and improving urban forest management. Read about twenty-two success stories and find out how communities across the country are protecting their forests. According to ACT, tree ordinances are about many things other than simply protection. They can help a community achieve specific goals such as job attraction, higher-density development patterns, increased small business revenue, and offering quality-of-life amenities provided by parks, recreation, and open space.
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Stormwater
From the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Many communities across the nation are facing challenges associated with natural resource degradation due to rapid growth and development. Local governments need to have legal authorities in place to shape development and to protect resources. This web site helps local governments by providing the necessary information needed to develop effective ordinances that prevent and control nonpoint source pollution.
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Riparian Buffer
Via Tompkins County:
The purpose of this ordinance (article) is to establish requirements for creating and maintaining buffers to protect the water quality in the streams of the jurisdiction.
This page is still under construction and is subject to frequent updates. Please check back soon for more information!