NY State Senate Bill 2025-S5056

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 18, 2025	referred to health

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A755
Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Add §212, Pub Health L

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the department of health examine heat-related deaths in the state of New York; requires the department to issue a report to the temporary president of the senate and speaker of the assembly.

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5056

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring the
department of health examine heat vulnerability and heat-related deaths

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Requires the Department of Health (DOH) to examine heat-related deaths
in the state of New York.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the public health law by adding a new section 212
defining the terms "heat-exacerbated death," "heat stress death," and
"heat vulnerability," and requiring that DOH utilize certain statistical
methods to assess daily temperature in relation to daily mortality to
estimate heat-exacerbated deaths.

The bill would require DOH to issue an annual report examining heat

vulnerability and heat-related deaths in the State, and that such report
be submitted to the Legislature no later than June 15th, 2026, and annu-
ally thereafter. Such report is required to be conspicuously posted on
DOH's website as well.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

According to official data from the New York City government, each
summer, an estimated 350 New Yorkers die prematurely due to hot weather
in New York City (NYC). These heat-related deaths account for approxi-
mately 2% of all deaths during the warm months of May through September.
This has prompted the city to adopt measures to monitor and collect data
on this issue, aiming to make better-informed decisions to save lives.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, and
Copernicus-the EU's meteorological association-announced in their latest
report released in January 2025 that 2024 was the hottest year in
recorded human history. In light of the global climate crisis, which
continues to grow more alarming, the State of New York must be adequate-
ly prepared to address these challenges.

High temperatures significantly impact people's lives differently.  Data
collected in NYC reveals that vulnerable populations face greater risks
of heat-related deaths, particularly Black individuals, who are twice as
likely to die from heat-exacerbated conditions compared to White indi-
viduals. Additionally, those without air conditioning in their homes are
at considerable risk, as most heat-related deaths occur in residential
settings.

This bill expands the definitions of heat-related deaths, to include
both heat-exacerbated and heat-stress deaths, to raise awareness of the
issue, it would mandate the implementation of statistical models to
monitor temperatures and heat-related deaths, and requires the
collection of complementary data on vulnerability contexts and demo-
graphics. Furthermore, it directs the preparation of an annual report to
be submitted to the Senate and Assembly and made publicly available on
the department's website.

These measures would enable the Senate and Assembly to make informed
legislative decisions based on the collected data. Additionally, New
York State would be better positioned to develop plans to mitigate the
risks posed by extreme heat.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5056
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 18, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law,  in  relation  to  requiring  the
   department  of  health  examine  heat  vulnerability  and heat-related
   deaths

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new section
 212 to read as follows:
   § 212. HEAT VULNERABILITY AND HEAT-RELATED DEATHS. 1. FOR THE PURPOSES
 OF THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A) "HEAT-EXACERBATED DEATH" MEANS A DEATH CAUSED  BY  NATURAL  CAUSES
 ESTIMATED  BY  THE  DEPARTMENT  TO HAVE RESULTED FROM AN EXISTING HEALTH
 CONDITION EXACERBATED BY EXTREME, OR NEAR EXTREME, HEAT.
   (I) SUCH ESTIMATION SHALL BE DETERMINED USING ONE OR MORE  STATISTICAL
 MODELS BY THE DEPARTMENT.
   (II)  AT  LEAST  ONE  SUCH  MODEL USED BY THE DEPARTMENT SHALL UTILIZE
 SENSITIVE STATISTICAL METHODS THAT ASSESS DAILY TEMPERATURE AS A CONTIN-
 UOUS VARIABLE IN RELATION TO DAILY MORTALITY TO ESTIMATE HEAT-EXACERBAT-
 ED DEATHS, WITHOUT THE USE OF A QUALIFYING TEMPERATURE THRESHOLD.
   (III) ONE SUCH MODEL SHALL UTILIZE SENSITIVE STATISTICAL METHODS  THAT
 ASSESS  DAILY  TEMPERATURE AS A CONTINUOUS VARIABLE IN RELATION TO DAILY
 MORTALITY TO ESTIMATE HEAT-EXACERBATED DEATHS,  WITHOUT  THE  USE  OF  A
 QUALIFYING TEMPERATURE THRESHOLD.
   (B) "HEAT STRESS DEATH" MEANS A DEATH DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO HEAT ON A
 DEATH  CERTIFICATE,  OR  WITH AN UNDERLYING OR CONTRIBUTING CAUSE OF (I)
 EXCESSIVE NATURAL HEAT OR (II) THE EFFECTS OF HEAT AND  LIGHT,  AS  SUCH
 CONDITIONS  ARE  DEFINED IN THE MOST RECENT EDITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
 CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES, PUBLISHED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00862-01-5
 S. 5056                             2

   (C) "HEAT VULNERABILITY" MEANS  THE  ESTIMATED  RISK  OF  HEAT  STRESS
 DEATHS  AND  HEAT  EXACERBATED  DEATHS  OCCURRING IN A GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
 BASED ON SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IDENTIFIED BY THE DEPARTMENT.
   2. THE DEPARTMENT IS HEREBY AUTHORIZED AND DIRECTED TO ISSUE AN ANNUAL
 REPORT  EXAMINING  HEAT  VULNERABILITY  AND  HEAT-RELATED  DEATHS IN THE
 STATE.  SUCH REPORT SHALL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
   (A) THE NUMBER OF HEAT STRESS DEATHS IN THE MOST  RECENT  YEAR  AVAIL-
 ABLE;
   (B)  THE  ESTIMATION OF PAST HEAT-EXACERBATED DEATHS BASED ON THE MOST
 RECENT AVAILABLE YEARS OF DATA AND THE SMALLEST INTERVAL  OF  TIME  THAT
 YIELDS A RELIABLE ESTIMATE;
   (C)  A  DESCRIPTION  OF THE RELATIVE HEAT VULNERABILITY OF EACH CENSUS
 TRACT;
   (D) A DESCRIPTION OF REPORTED DATA;
   (E) A DESCRIPTION OF SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ASSESSED BY  THE
 DEPARTMENT TO DETERMINE HEAT VULNERABILITY;
   (F)  A  DESCRIPTION  OF  METHODS USED TO DERIVE HEAT VULNERABILITY AND
 ESTIMATE HEAT-EXACERBATED DEATHS; AND
   (G) THE AGGREGATE  DEMOGRAPHIC  INFORMATION  OF  HEAT  STRESS  DEATHS,
 INCLUDING,  BUT  NOT  LIMITED  TO, THE AGE, GENDER, CENSUS TRACT AND THE
 RACE OR ETHNICITY OF THE DECEDENTS.
   3. NO REPORT REQUIRED BY THIS SECTION SHALL CONTAIN PERSONAL IDENTIFY-
 ING INFORMATION.
   4. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS AS  MAY  BE
 NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
   5.  SUCH  REPORT  SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE
 SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY NO LATER THAN JUNE FIFTEENTH, TWO
 THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX  AND  ANNUALLY  THEREAFTER.  SUCH  REPORT  SHALL  BE
 CONSPICUOUSLY POSTED ON THE DEPARTMENT'S WEBSITE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S5056

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S5056

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Sponsored By

Gustavo Rivera

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S5056 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments