ESFPA E-News

Happy Holidays From ESFPA

As 2023 wraps up, all of us at the Empire State Forest Products Association send our best wishes to you and your loved ones. We are deeply thankful for everyone's dedicated support of our mission. We are proud to be a part of the forest and wood products community in New York as we work to improve the business conditions and sustainability of our forests and supply chains for future generations to enjoy.

Happy Holidays and wishing you a blessed New Year!

New York Unveils Cap & Invest

New Yorkers on Thursday got their first glimpse of what the state’s Cap and Invest program to reduce carbon emissions will look like, with release of a “Pre-Proposal” plan from the Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Energy Research and Development Agency. The pre-proposal, which will now be subject to a series of meetings as well as lobbying, stems from the landmark 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which calls for greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions from all phases of the state’s economy in the coming years.

As it became clear that this task, which calls for switching energy sources from fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives such as solar and wind would be costly, policy makers began moving toward the Cap and Invest model to help pay for the changes.

It’s similar to a carbon tax in that it places a price on emissions, but the proceeds are dedicated to specific uses such as consumer tax rebates and further development of green energy sources. The Cap and Invest program also will require entities, ranging from businesses to institutions like hospitals and schools to report on how much carbon they are emitting each year through factory smokestacks, heating boilers, or other sources. Even facilities like landfills or agricultural manure piles will likely have to make annual reports if their emissions are high enough.

The biggest emitters, such as large factories or power plants, will likely have to purchase emission credits through an auction, which makes up the tax-like part of the plan.

Thursday’s report contemplates starting the program as early as 2025, with the amount that businesses and other entities are allowed to emit based on historic levels from 1990 through 2021. There would be allowances, or eased guidelines for “trade exposed” industries, or those businesses that face stiff foreign competition. The carbon auctions would also be sold with a reserve price, or a floor which would rise 8 percent annually to cover inflation. Conversely, there would be a trigger for allowances if the auction prices rise too high, according to the preliminary plan.

The program would not include offsets or credits for participating in activities that reduce the carbon load, such as protecting forest land as a way to absorb carbon. Such credits have been criticized since they don’t necessarily lead to a net reduction in carbon emissions by the person or organization engaging in the offset.

The state has said they intend to launch a public engagement process in January and expect to issue a formal regulatory proposal in mid 2024 with implementation in 2025. ESFPA will be reviewing the proposal over the next few weeks and providing comments for our members and in the informal comment process.

Wagner Lumber to Host Penn-York Lumbermen’s Club

Monday, January 15, 2024, in Watkins Glen, NY

More details will be posted soon at the link below:

ESFPA Advocates for Executive Budget Requests in 2024

ESFPA has been advocating for several Executive Budget requests in the 2024 budget proposals. Here are a few that we have been active on:

• Last week we submitted a letter encouraging the Governor to include EPF funding for the Wood Products Development Council, Climate & Applied Forestry Research Institute and the Bioeconomy Development Institute.
• We joined over 20 business community organizations in asking Governor Hochul to address COVID Sick Leave, Unemployment Insurance costs, and frequency of pay claims.
• We joined several manufacturers associations in supporting the Governor to introduce tax parity legislation for manufacturers.

These are just a few of the legislative budget proposals we will start working on come January 2^nd.  For now, we will enjoy the holiday week.