New York’s 2026 Legislative Session: Wins, Unfinished Fights, and Troubling Rollbacks

Advocates in New York were under no delusions regarding how challenging the 2026 legislative session would be for environmental priorities. Election years are always a challenge for passing transformative policies as lawmakers shy away from voting on policies that are even remotely controversial. That was proven true this year as key foundational environmental laws, such as the state’s climate and environmental review laws, were rolled back and important commonsense public health policies on plastics and PFAS chemicals were sidestepped. Industry-manufactured affordability arguments provided cover to justify backsliding and inaction. Despite these disappointments, the session produced some important public and environmental health wins. 

Wins 

Clean water and environmental funding 

The final budget included $525 million for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act (CWIA), a welcome increase after several years of level funding at $500 million. The increase brings total CWIA funding to $6.5 billion since 2017. This year, the final budget also included new water infrastructure funding tied to housing with an additional $175 million statewide and $50 million for rural areas. Although advocates did not secure all the guardrails desired to help prevent against sprawl, the final language outlines the need for these housing-specific funds to be tied to public health benefits; for attention to be paid to disadvantaged communities; and for prioritizing repair and improvements to existing wastewater, drinking water, and stormwater systems. 

The session also delivered a historic $425 million to the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). Since 1993, the EPF has supported land conservation, clean water protection, parks, invasive species response, environmental justice, and local economies across every county in the state. Reaching this new high watermark for EPF funding is a significant accomplishment and reflects years of sustained advocacy. 

Climate and clean energy 

Last year’s enacted budget established the Sustainable Future Fund as a $1 billion investment in climate action, creating a dedicated funding stream for building and transportation decarbonization and clean energy programs. The governor’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal did not repeat that full investment, but the Senate and Assembly’s proposals did. As a result of environmental advocacy, the final budget preserved a continued $1 billion investment, with an emphasis on environmental justice programs.  

The legislature also passed several notable climate and energy measures. The Healthy Homes Right to Know Act was passed, which requires warning labels on gas stoves sold in New York to inform consumers about emissions, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and benzene. Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing was expanded to cover water efficiency and resilience measures as well as lower embodied carbon building materials. And in the final days of session, the legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act, a modest one-year pause on new data center development while regulatory safeguards are implemented and broader environmental impacts are assessed. 

PFAS and food policy 

The legislature advanced several key public health measures related to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). The PFAS Discharge Disclosure Act is an important policy that will require the monitoring of these toxic "forever chemicals" from entities permitted under state laws to release discharges into New York waters (such permitted facilities, for example, could include paper mills, car washes, and landfills). This is a critical downstream measure to achieve a clear picture of the scale of PFAS contamination entering our waters.  

Lawmakers also passed a bill that establishes maximum contamination levels for five PFAS (PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, and GenX) by codifying federal standards that were adopted under the Biden administration but subsequently rolled back under the current Trump administration. The estimated health-care costs to New Yorkers from PFAS exposures are massive, with studies estimating $2.7 billion to $4.4 billion in statewide health costs per year. This bill increases health protections to New Yorkers by lowering and expanding current drinking water standards, gives certainty to water utilities on compliance obligations, and insulates the state from Trump’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rollbacks. 

Lawmakers also moved forward on food policy. The Food Safety and Quality Date Labeling Requirements Act would standardize date labels on packaging and reduce the confusion that contributes to food waste while also saving families money and reducing methane emissions. And both houses of the Legislature passed the “Good Food NY Bill,” a first-in-the-nation piece of legislation that could help cities and towns across New York to buy more local, sustainable, healthy, and equitable food by updating outdated state procurement laws. A previous version of the bill also passed the Legislature in 2024 and was vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul. 

Missed opportunities 

For all of the session wins, several high-priority reforms failed to make it across the finish line. Bills to eliminate PFAS from consumer and household products—along with the Beauty Justice Act, which would ban PFAS and other toxic chemicals from personal care and cosmetics—passed the Senate with bipartisan support but were never brought to a vote in the Assembly. The result was a significant missed opportunity to tackle PFAS contamination at its source by limiting upstream manufacture and use. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act was another major disappointment. The bill was not brought to a vote in either house, despite substantial amendments adopted to accommodate industry concerns while maintaining its integrity to cut unnecessary packaging, phase out toxic chemicals, and save money for municipalities. All three policies faced strong opposition from industry lobbyists, who succeeded in influencing Assembly leadership in not advancing bills for a vote. 

The Lead Service Line Replacement Act (LSLRA) also did not make it over the finish line. An NRDC priority, the LSLRA would’ve established a statewide plan to replace all of New York’s lead service lines within 10 years, aligning with the EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements. Failure to pass this bill leaves millions of New Yorkers at risk of lead exposure through their drinking water. 

Rollbacks 

The session also included serious setbacks during the state budget process. Specifically, environmental advocates fought hard against proposed rollbacks to New York’s landmark climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The finalized budget removes the compliance obligation for the 2030 emissions target, delays regulations to ensure compliance with emission limits, and changes emissions accounting standards, while adding a 2040 target and keeping the overall 2050 target to reduce emissions 85 percent from 1990 levels. New York must now implement strong regulations to launch a cap-and-invest program as soon as possible that is designed to deliver robust emissions reductions and cleaner air and is grounded in affordability and equity. 

Lastly, environmental advocates opposed troubling changes to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), a foundational environmental law, to fast-track housing development under the governor’s Let Them Build agenda. Despite the opposition, the statutory changes to SEQRA in the final budget remain open-ended and ambiguous, creating uncertainty for regulators, local agencies, communities, and developers. Ultimately, these changes fail to secure the strong safeguards needed to prevent unchecked housing development. 

Although the session ended with mixed results, our advocacy work is far from over, and we will prepare for the 2027 legislative session, when newly elected members will need education and engagement.