Environment

Enacts the "sustainable affordable housing and sprawl prevention act"; exempts or limits environmental review under SEQR for the construction of certain new residential units to avoid creating unnecessary housing sprawl; limits certain rights to action under SEQR; makes related provisions.

This bill prohibits government incentives for commercial renewable energy projects like solar farms in sensitive environmental areas and on active farmland, with specific exceptions for agrivoltaic systems that combine solar power with agriculture. It removes eligibility for financial assistance, zero emission credits, and tax exemptions for such projects located in critical environmental areas, bird conservation zones, grassland bird centers, and wildlife management areas. The legislation also formally defines agrivoltaics as solar systems that simultaneously produce energy and agricultural products without displacing farming activities, while excluding certain practices like sole reliance on pollinator habitats or sheep grazing. These changes directly affect developers proposing renewable energy projects and government agencies administering agricultural and environmental programs.

Establishes the "clean fuel standard of 2026"; provides such standard is intended to reduce greenhouse gas intensity from the on-road transportation sector, with further reductions to be implemented based upon advances in technology.