Community Risk And Resiliency Act (CRRA)

Mainstreaming Consideration of Climate Change

CRRA Provisions

The Community Risk and Resiliency Act (CRRA), as enacted in 2014 and amended by the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) includes several major provisions:

• Official Sea-level Rise Projections - CRRA required the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to adopt science-based sea-level rise projections by regulation.
• Consideration of future physical climate risk – CRRA requires applicants for permits for major projects in programs regulated by the Uniform Procedures Act (ECL Article 70) and applicants for funding in several specified programs to demonstrate consideration of future physical risk due climate change. CRRA requires DEC to consider incorporating consideration of future physical risk due to sea level rise, storm surge and flooding in certain facility-siting regulatory programs, and these hazards must be considered in issuance of oil and gas well siting permits. Importantly, CRRA authorizes DEC to require mitigation of “significant risks to public infrastructure and/or services, private property not owned by the applicant, adverse impacts on disadvantaged communities, and/or natural resources in the vicinity of the project” in the course of its review of permit applications.
• Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act Criteria - CRRA added mitigation of risk due to sea-level rise, storm surge, and flooding to the list of smart-growth criteria to be considered by state public-infrastructure agencies.
• Implementation Guidance - CRRA required DEC, in consultation with the Department of State, to develop guidance for implementation of the statute including guidance on the use of natural resources and natural processes to enhance community resilience.
• Model Local Laws Concerning Climate Risk - CRRA required DOS, in cooperation with DEC, to develop model local laws to increase community resilience.

Implementation Status

Commissioner’s Policy 49

DEC updated Commissioner’s Policy 49 (CP-49), “Climate Change and DEC Action” in 2022 to provide guidance to agency staff regarding consideration of climate change in agency activities, including permit decisions. CP-49 reiterates the CRRA requirements and obligates the DEC Executive Deputy Commissioner, and Deputy Commissioner for Climate, Air and Energy to provide guidance on implementation of CLCPA § 9, which amended CRRA, with the assistance of the DEC Division of Environmental Permits (DEP), and obligates DEP to establish permit application review procedures to ensure compliance with CRRA, in consultation with the Office of Climate Change, Office of General Counsel and program divisions

Sea-level Rise Projections

In 2024, DEC updated the sea level rise projections included in 6 NYCRR Part 490, Projected Sea-level Rise, originally adopted in 2017. This regulation establishes projected sea-level rise for three geographic regions of the state, relative to a year 1995-to-year-2014 baseline. The projections are summarized in the table below. Note, however, 6 NYCRR Part 490 only establishes projected sea-level rise; it does not establish new standards or criteria for permit issuance or funding eligibility. 

The updated projections are drawn from the New York Climate Impacts Assessment. See New York State Climate Change Projections Methodology Report for discussion of the methods used to develop the projections. Consult the express terms of the adopted regulation for definitions.

6 NYCRR Part 490, Projected Sea-level Rise. Inches of rise relative to 1995-2014 baseline.

Implementation Guidance

CRRA requires DEC, in consultation with DOS, to prepare guidance on implementation of the statute, including use of natural resources and natural processes to enhance community resilience, commonly known as natural resilience measures.

Natural resilience measures are actions that conserve, restore or mimic natural landforms and processes to reduce climatic risks. DEC and DOS have prepared Using Natural Measures to Reduce the Risk of Flooding (PDF) to serve as a guide to selection and planning of natural resilience measures.

DEC has prepared, in consultation with DOS, State Flood Risk Management Guidance (SFRMG) (PDF). The SFRMG recommends flood-risk management guideline elevations that incorporate possible future conditions, including the greater risks of coastal flooding presented by sea-level rise and enhanced storm surge, and of inland flooding expected to result from increasingly frequent extreme-precipitation events. The SFRMG informs DEC regulatory programs and other state agencies as they develop program-specific guidance to require that applicants demonstrate consideration of sea-level rise, storm surge and flooding, and incorporate such requirements into operating regulations, permit conditions, etc.

As a companion to the SFRMG, DEC has developed a quick guide on Estimating Guideline Elevations (PDF).

DEC has also prepared Guidance for Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Assessment (PDF). This document is intended to guide state agencies as they assess mitigation of sea-level rise, storm surge and flooding in siting and design of public-infrastructure projects.

Model Local Laws

The New York State Department of State (DOS) has released Model Local Laws to Increase Resilience. These model laws, which local governments may adopt voluntarily to be more resilient to sea-level rise, storm surge, flooding and erosion cover five general topics:

• Basic Land Use Tools for Resiliency
• Wetland and Watercourse Protection Measures
• Coastal Shoreline Protection Measures
• Management of Floodplain Development
• Stormwater Control Measures