A landmark decision by the Albany County Supreme Court on October 24, 2025, ruled against New York state and in favor of environmental groups when it found New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) violated the law when it failed to issue binding regulations legislated by the state to begin January 1, 2024.

In the lawsuit, Citizen Action of New York, People United for Sustainable Housing Buffalo, Sierra Club, and We Act for Environmental Justice v. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the environmental groups sued the NYSDEC because it failed to issue regulations required by the state’s 2019 Climate Act, which calls for greenhouse gases (GHGs) across the state to be reduced by 40% by 2030 and by 85% by 2050 compared with its 1990 levels.

The case was brought by the climate groups after New York Governor Kathy Hochul abruptly “slammed the brakes on what was expected to be her signature policy to implement the climate law: an emissions pricing program known as cap and invest,” reports New York Focus. “Internal emails reported by Politico show that DEC and the state energy authority NYSERDA had completed draft cap and invest rules at the beginning of this year, before Hochul’s abrupt about-face.”

“NYSDEC has taken some steps to implement the law—such as identifying disadvantaged communities and issuing guidance on its application to permitting decisions,” states law firm Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. “In its defense, NYSDEC submitted a letter arguing that meeting the Climate Act’s goals was ‘currently infeasible.’ Pointing to a U.S. [EPA] proposal to rescind the endangerment finding for GHG and other recent federal actions, NYSDEC warned that implementing the required regulations would ‘damage the public interest’ by raising energy costs and causing significant economic impacts to New Yorkers. The court, however, rejected these arguments, holding that NYSDEC has no discretion to disregard a statutory mandate unless and until the State amends the Climate Act.”

On October 24, 2025, the NYSDEC was ordered to promulgate the regulations no later than February 6, 2026, by the Albany County Supreme Court.

In his ruling, the judge wrote, “It is undoubtedly true that the task placed before the DEC is very complicated indeed. But as a legal argument, this is unavailing.”

The court’s decision upholds the principle that the executive branch of a government can’t simply ignore legislated mandates.

As New York Focus notes, the judge found that the state doesn’t get a pass because implementation of the law is “complicated.”

The 2019 Climate Act, also known as the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), directs the NYSDEC “to develop and issue regulations that will reduce [GHGs] and air pollution across the state,” according to Earthjustice. “In 2023, DEC started the process of developing draft emission reduction regulations to launch a cap-and-Invest program intended to reduce New York’s statewide [GHG] emissions to meet the CLCPA’s mandates and raise revenue to invest in clean energy and climate mitigation. The state projected that these regulations would also reduce air pollution and have significant health benefits, slashing asthma incidences and emergency room visits across the state, especially in communities that are the most overburdened by pollution.

“In late 2023 and throughout 2024, DEC represented to the public that the draft regulations would come out in 2024, and the regulations would be finalized and in effect by 2025. However, in January 2025, DEC abruptly reversed course and announced that the draft regulations would not be released this year and has not provided a date by which they will be released.”

When announced, the New York State Cap-and-Invest (NYCI) program was planned to set declining limits on annual permitted amounts of GHG emissions within the state’s borders. Large emitters would be allowed to purchase allowance credits from the state for excess emissions. New York stated it would use funds generated from those purchases to invest in emissions-reduction programs the state believes will reduce future compliance costs.

Reported data under the planned Mandatory GHG Reporting program would be used to determine which sources qualify as “obligated entities” under the NYCI. Those identified would be required to purchase allowances in the NYCI.

In January 2025, Hochul announced plans to delay acting on the NYCI.

“Instead, the governor … directed state agencies to develop requirements for companies and polluters to report on their emissions,” according to Politico Pro. “The delay suggests the governor is still wary of the potential consumer impacts and political consequences of a charge on emissions, which would raise upfront prices at the pump. But she could face backlash from environmental advocates for the delay.

“State agencies will propose ‘new reporting regulations by the end of this year to gather information on emissions sources, while creating more space and time for public transparency and a robust investment planning process,’ the governor’s State of the State policy book notes.”

While the ruling doesn’t require the state to move forward with the NYCI program because the policy isn’t named within the Climate Act, “the law does require the regulations to reflect the findings of its 2022 scoping plan, which envisioned cap and invest as its core measure to achieve the emissions targets. State agencies spent two years working on the rules to establish that program before Hochul put them on ice. It’s not yet clear whether DEC could find a substitute by February,” the New York Focus article says.

Climate groups support the cap-and-invest program.

“The Clean Air Initiative, New York’s cap-and-invest program, is the best tool available to deliver pollution cuts that support a healthy future in line with the Climate Act’s requirements,” says Kate Courtin, senior manager for state climate policy and strategy at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), in an EDF press release. “New York can establish a strong program that will clean our air, lower our bills, and generate new economic opportunities across the state. The New York legislature passed nation-leading requirements for tackling climate change and protecting our communities from pollution; the Hochul administration has an opportunity to deliver on that leadership promise.”

According to the EDF, benefits of the clean air initiative include:

“Over $3 billion per year of new investments in New York families and communities. This includes over $1 billion annually in direct rebates to consumers and small businesses to reduce energy costs.

With targeted rebate investments, nearly all households earning under $200,000-per-year see net cost savings under cap-and-invest.

Savings of up to $1,000 per year on energy bills for the average family, through deployment of new clean energy technologies and efficiency programs, such as robust heat pump incentives.

Supporting the creation of over 28,000 jobs by 2030, representing continued growth of New York’s clean energy workforce, which already employs 178,000 New Yorkers.

Significant investments in community-directed grant programs that drive local economic development, cleaner air and affordability in disadvantaged communities.

Preventing an estimated 1,800 asthma-related ER visits annually and delivering $7-16 billion in annual health savings through reduced air pollution.”

Governor’s response to ruling

According to Beveridge & Diamond, Hochul released a written statement disagreeing with the ruling: “My job is to ensure we have enough power to keep the lights on, keep rates affordable and attract major economic development projects. New York has been, and will continue to be, a leader in climate action, but the judge’s decision fails to factor in the realities of today that include a federal government hostile to clean energy projects, the continuing impacts of post-COVID high inflation and potential energy shortages expected downstate as soon as next year. We plan to review all our options, including working with the Legislature to modify the [Climate Act] and appeal, in order to protect New Yorkers from higher costs.”

Nobody is arguing for higher utility costs.

“[We] have seen even the head of the governor’s own [Public Service Commission] recently say that the reason for higher energy costs and things are not due to the provisions of the climate law. It is not due to certain difficult circumstances with renewable energy,” says Vanessa Fajans-Turner, executive director of Environmental Advocates NY, according to CBS 6 Albany.

Climate groups are obviously pleased with the verdict.

“Friday’s decision is a major victory for the climate movement. The decision confirms what we have stated over and over. The Governor must comply with the crystal clear words of the climate law stating that the Department of Environmental Conservation must issue regulations ensuring that New York dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions. We’re encouraged that Judge Schreibman saw through Governor Hochul’s and DEC’s excuses for delay. We hope the administration hears the message and acts rather than continues to stonewall by appealing,” says Bob Cohen, policy and research director of Citizen Action of New York, in the Earthjustice press release.

“Now more than ever, in the throes of federal attacks on the rule of law and our climate crisis, we need the State to uphold the law and to take fearless action to protect New Yorkers,” Caroline Chen, director of environmental justice at the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, says in Earthjustice’s release. “The Court’s decision here affirms the duty that the New York legislature placed on DEC more than six years ago. We urge DEC to comply with the law — and the Court’s decision — by issuing regulations no later than February 6, 2026. Only then can we proudly call New York the climate champion it claims to be.”

“Folks are suffering and dying every day from NYS’s inaction. Of course, we must invest in edgy affordability, we also must invest an urgency for a holistic solution to the Climate Crisis and its direct and residual impacts to frontline communities. Everyday working-class people are not intimidated by the struggle for justice. Likewise, we need our elected to stand firm on the law, the People’s Law,” said Dawn Wells-Clyburn, executive director at People United for Sustainable Housing, in the Earthjustice release.