S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7389--C
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
May 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KELLES, LUPARDO, ENGLEBRIGHT, THIELE, GLICK,
MAGNARELLI, EPSTEIN, BURDICK, STECK, J. D. RIVERA, CLARK, NIOU, FAHY,
WALLACE, BARRETT, CARROLL, L. ROSENTHAL, SEAWRIGHT, GALLAGHER, GONZA-
LEZ-ROJAS, BURKE, STIRPE, MAMDANI, SIMON, GRIFFIN, ANDERSON, McMAHON,
MITAYNES, OTIS, McDONALD, GOTTFRIED, GALEF, DINOWITZ, PRETLOW, PAULIN,
FORREST, ZINERMAN, SILLITTI, ZEBROWSKI, QUART, BURGOS, BICHOTTE HERME-
LYN, ABINANTI, JACOBSON, LAVINE, SAYEGH -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Banks -- reference changed to the Committee on Envi-
ronmental Conservation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again
reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the
Committee on Environmental Conservation in accordance with Assembly
Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
establishing a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining operations that use
proof-of-work authentication methods to validate blockchain trans-
actions; and to require a comprehensive generic environmental impact
statement review
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds and
declares that:
(a) Climate change threatens the health, welfare, and economy of the
state with increasingly severe and widespread impacts to our communities
due to flooding, sea level rise, heat waves, coastal erosion, erratic
and unpredictable weather patterns, shifting climatic zones, loss of
wildlife, increased harmful algal blooms and invasive species, and
increased risk of disease, in part, which leads directly to loss of
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11081-19-2
A. 7389--C 2
life, property damage and reduction in value, ecological damage, and
increased infrastructure costs;
(b) It is the policy of the State of New York to conserve, improve and
protect its natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and
control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health,
safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic
and social well-being;
(c) To mitigate the current and future effects of climate change, the
State of New York implemented the Climate Leadership and Community
Protection Act, requiring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions be
reduced eighty-five percent by 2050 and that the state has net zero
emissions in all sectors of the economy by that time;
(d) Cryptocurrency mining operations running proof-of-work authentica-
tion methods to validate blockchain transactions are an expanding indus-
try in the State of New York; and
(e) The continued and expanded operation of cryptocurrency mining
operations running proof-of-work authentication methods to validate
blockchain transactions will greatly increase the amount of energy usage
in the state of New York, and impact compliance with the Climate Leader-
ship and Community Protection Act.
§ 2. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new
section 19-0331 to read as follows:
§ 19-0331. MORATORIUM ON AIR PERMIT ISSUANCE AND RENEWAL.
1. FOR THE PERIOD COMMENCING ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION AND
ENDING TWO YEARS AFTER SUCH DATE, THE DEPARTMENT, AFTER CONSULTATION
WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE, SHALL NOT APPROVE A NEW APPLICA-
TION FOR OR ISSUE A NEW PERMIT PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE, OR ARTICLE
SEVENTY OF THIS CHAPTER, FOR AN ELECTRIC GENERATING FACILITY THAT
UTILIZES A CARBON-BASED FUEL AND THAT PROVIDES, IN WHOLE OR IN PART,
BEHIND-THE-METER ELECTRIC ENERGY CONSUMED OR UTILIZED BY CRYPTOCURRENCY
MINING OPERATIONS THAT USE PROOF-OF-WORK AUTHENTICATION METHODS TO VALI-
DATE BLOCKCHAIN TRANSACTIONS.
2. FOR THE PERIOD COMMENCING ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION
AND ENDING TWO YEARS AFTER SUCH DATE, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOT APPROVE
AN APPLICATION TO RENEW AN EXISTING PERMIT OR ISSUE A RENEWAL PERMIT
PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE FOR AN ELECTRIC GENERATING FACILITY THAT
UTILIZES A CARBON-BASED FUEL AND THAT PROVIDES, IN WHOLE OR IN PART,
BEHIND-THE-METER ELECTRIC ENERGY CONSUMED OR UTILIZED BY A CRYPTOCURREN-
CY MINING OPERATION THAT USES PROOF-OF-WORK AUTHENTICATION METHODS TO
VALIDATE BLOCKCHAIN TRANSACTIONS IF THE RENEWAL APPLICATION SEEKS TO
INCREASE OR WILL ALLOW OR RESULT IN AN INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF ELEC-
TRIC ENERGY CONSUMED OR UTILIZED BY A CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING OPERATION
THAT USES PROOF-OF-WORK AUTHENTICATION METHODS TO VALIDATE BLOCKCHAIN
TRANSACTIONS.
§ 3. Generic environmental impact statement. (a) The department of
environmental conservation, in consultation with the department of
public service, shall prepare, pursuant to article eight of the environ-
mental conservation law, a generic environmental impact statement on
cryptocurrency mining operations that use proof-of-work authentication
methods to validate blockchain transactions.
(b) The generic environmental impact statement shall address, at a
minimum:
(i) the number and location of existing cryptocurrency mining oper-
ations that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate block-
chain transactions in the state;
A. 7389--C 3
(ii) the amount of electric energy consumed by each cryptocurrency
mining operation that uses proof-of-work authentication methods to vali-
date blockchain transactions;
(iii) the sources of electric energy consumed by each cryptocurrency
mining operation that uses proof-of-work authentication methods to vali-
date blockchain transactions and the type of fuel used by each energy
source;
(iv) the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutants released
by each energy source attributable to providing electric energy to cryp-
tocurrency mining operations that use proof-of-work authentication meth-
ods to validate blockchain transactions;
(v) the anticipated increase, if any, of cryptocurrency mining oper-
ations that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate block-
chain transactions in the state and the anticipated expansion, if any,
of existing operations;
(vi) the potential impacts of electric energy consumption by crypto-
currency mining operations that use proof-of-work authentication methods
to validate blockchain transactions on the state's ability to meet the
greenhouse gas emission reduction goals set forth in article seventy-
five of the environmental conservation law;
(vii) the amount of water usage, water quality and other ecological
impacts, if any, of cooling water use by cryptocurrency mining oper-
ations that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate block-
chain transactions;
(viii) the potential public health impacts, if any, due to reduced air
and water quality in communities near cryptocurrency mining operations
that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate blockchain
transactions;
(ix) the potential statewide public health impacts, if any, from
increased greenhouse gas emissions released by cryptocurrency mining
operations that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate
blockchain transactions; and
(x) the social and economic costs and benefits, if any, of cryptocur-
rency mining operations that use proof-of-work authentication methods to
validate blockchain transactions.
§ 4. Any generic environmental impact statement draft shall be posted
on the department of environmental conservation's website and be subject
to 120 days of public comment from the date of issuance. The department
of environmental conservation shall conduct at least one public hearing
in each of the following regions of the state: western New York, the
finger lakes, the southern tier, central New York, the Mohawk valley,
the north country, the capital region/Hudson valley, and the City of New
York/Long Island, as defined by the Empire State Development Corpo-
ration, and provide meaningful opportunity for comment.
§ 5. The department shall issue a final generic environmental impact
statement after close of the public comment and public hearing period
and no later than one year after the effective date of this act.
§ 6. For the purposes of this act:
(a) "Cryptocurrency mining operations that use proof-of-work authenti-
cation methods" shall mean the use of a consensus algorithm in a block-
chain network used to confirm and produce new blocks to the chain to
validate a cryptocurrency transaction, where competitors complete new
blocks and where the algorithm changes the complexity of the competition
in a manner that is designed to and/or results in increased energy usage
for each competitor when the complexity is increased; and
A. 7389--C 4
(b) "blockchain" shall mean a digital ledger in which transactions are
recorded chronologically and publicly.
§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
permits or renewal applications filed after such date.