On Thursday, September 19, NYSEIA submitted comments jointly with the Coalition for Community Solar Access in response to the Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) proposed rules for expanded freshwater wetlands protection, which are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2025.

NYSEIA's comments voice concern that the DEC's significant (and as-of-yet unmapped) jurisdictional expansion, paired with the DEC's de facto prohibition against distributed solar on and adjacent to wetlands, will have a major damaging impact on solar deployment in New York State and on the solar workforce. Barring mitigation, NYSEIA expects the DEC's jurisdictional expansion will cause significant job losses in the solar industry. NYSEIA asserts that the DEC is in violation of the State Administrative Procedures Act (SAPA) for not filing the required Jobs Impact Statement quantifying expected job losses in the solar industry and other impacted industries.

NYSEIA notes that the DEC's mission and legislative mandates include both freshwater protection and climate change mitigation. The proposed regulations prioritize freshwater protection while imperiling clean energy deployment and climate change mitigation. NYSEIA encourages the DEC to take urgent action to achieve more appropriate balance between these two important environmental priorities.

NYSEIA's comments specifically request that the DEC delay the implementation of its expanded jurisdiction by at least one year and that the DEC consult with NYSERDA and solar industry stakeholders to develop rules for installing distributed solar on and adjacent to wetlands, including feasible mitigation options. NYSEIA's comments note that New York's Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) has already created certain allowances for solar on wetlands for utility-scale projects in 94-C (Article VIII), establishing local precedent, however no similar accommodations are available for smaller community solar projects. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has also created guidelines for deploying renewable energy facilities on and adjacent to jurisdictional wetlands at the federal level via Nationwide Permit 51. NYSEIA asserts that USACE has adopted a smart model that balances the environmental priorities of environmental conservation and clean energy deployment, and urges the DEC to adopt similar guidleines for New York.