New YorkS 30082025-2026 Regular SessionSenateWALLET

Enacts into law major components of legislation necessary to implement the state transportation, economic development and environmental conservation budget for the 2025-2026 state fiscal year

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

80 provisions identified: 43 benefits, 16 costs, 21 mixed.

More state borrowing for toxic cleanup

The state can issue up to $3.45 billion in bonds for hazardous-waste cleanup and environmental restoration, up from $2.2 billion. The law removes the $100 million annual appropriation limit. These bonds cannot repay a new appropriation enacted after March 31, 2036. This is public project financing, not a household payment.

State and city fund transit upgrades

New York State and New York City must each provide $3 billion toward the MTA’s 2025–2029 capital program. Payments must be concurrent and proportional to funding needs, on a schedule set by the state budget director. Operating assistance cannot replace either commitment, and the city must certify each payment within seven days. If the city fails to certify full payment, the budget director must direct transfers of eligible unpaid state aid and/or collections of city revenue, including sales tax, up to the unpaid balance. A written plan must be filed with the comptroller and legislative finance chairs; debt-service, fiduciary, and federal appropriations are excluded. Transfers occur within three days after the plan is sent, and the MTA receives funds within five days after the full balance is deposited. Deposits count toward the city’s share, while diverted state aid reduces the state’s funding obligation to the programs losing that aid.

AI companion users gain safety protections

AI companions provided for personal use in New York must reasonably detect and address suicidal thoughts or self-harm messages. When detected, they must share crisis-service information, such as 9-8-8. Operators must clearly identify the companion as nonhuman at the start of interactions, no more than once daily, and every three hours during continuing chats. The Attorney General can seek injunctions and penalties of up to $15,000 per day. Penalties go to a Suicide Prevention Fund.

Installment borrowers gain lending safeguards

Buy-now-pay-later lenders must disclose costs, interest, fees, payment dates, dispute methods, and whether loans are reported to credit agencies. Before lending, they must reasonably assess the borrower’s own repayment risk and explain the factors used. They cannot substitute social-network members’ creditworthiness or a group score for the borrower’s own creditworthiness. Using, selling, or sharing data beyond making the loan requires informed consent and withdrawal instructions, while permitted federal credit-reporting uses remain allowed. Lenders cannot deceive borrowers, misuse payments, supply inaccurate credit information, make false government filings, or obtain authority to admit a judgment or appear in court for borrowers.

New fee limits for installment borrowers

The new buy-now-pay-later framework requires state-set limits on total charges, including origination, late-payment, and default fees. A lender can collect a fee for a single late payment, default, or other agreement violation only once. Interest must be allowed, clearly disclosed, agreed to, and within both the regulator’s maximum and New York’s legal limit. Covered loans from lenders lacking required licenses or approval are void: those lenders cannot collect principal, interest, or charges. Exempt lenders are excluded from that rule; implementation depends on rulemaking, and the supplied text does not state the actual rate or fee caps.

Displaced workers keep continuation assistance

The law continues the assistance program for qualifying displaced workers through July 1, 2026. Eligibility for continuation assistance reaches back to July 1, 2004. The provision does not state a benefit amount.

New financing program for eligible businesses

The law creates the Excelsior linked deposit program for eligible New York businesses. Projects must materially improve business performance and competitiveness. Up to $1 billion in authorized state investment money and $100 million from the program fund can be on deposit at once. These are program-wide limits, not awards to individual businesses. The provision does not set deposit terms or each business’s assistance amount.

State Sets PFAS Testing And Cleanup Goals

By January 1, 2027, the environmental department must establish interim PFAS soil and groundwater testing guidance while state health levels remain pending. Within two years after the health department issues a maximum contaminant level for a PFAS substance, cleanup goals must include it. The environmental department must also develop chemical-specific goals when the specified health levels are established.

Firefighters gain safer gear and recalls

Manufacturers that ever made or sold prohibited class B firefighting foam must recall it and reimburse retailers or other purchasers. They must arrange collection, transport, treatment, storage, and safe disposal of its PFAS chemicals. Beginning January 1, 2028, New York bans manufacture and covered sales or distribution of firefighting gear with intentionally added PFAS or levels at or above state limits. Safety and commercial-availability exceptions apply to the gear ban. Sellers must notify buyers when firefighting protective gear contains PFAS.

City funding rules for paratransit continue

From July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027, New York City must fund 80% of net MTA paratransit operating costs. For each 12-month period ending June 30, payment is capped at the lower of two amounts: 80% of net costs, or 50% of net costs plus $165 million. Net costs are calculated monthly after subtracting the dedicated 6% urban tax contribution and passenger fares. This assigns costs to the city, not directly to riders. Separately, the law removes a June 30, 2030 expiration date for specified MTA funding and paratransit assistance provisions; it does not extend the temporary 80% formula beyond June 2027.

Longer property powers for transit projects

Through December 31, 2030, the MTA and New York City retain special authority for transfers or acquisitions of certain city-owned property. Eligible projects fall under approved 2015–2019, 2020–2024, or 2025–2029 capital programs. Covered work includes the Second Avenue Subway, Interborough Express, and signal or communication systems. Property must be vacant, undeveloped, underused but replaceable, or below ground. Transactions require MTA board approval, suitable notice to the city, and city consent; dedicated parkland still needs separate legislative approval.

Drivers face broader work-zone camera enforcement

Speed-camera rules now cover qualifying construction and maintenance areas on the Thruway and facilities run by two bridge authorities. Enforcement requires an adopted program and applies to the listed work-area speeding violations. The specified camera-liability rules last 10 years after the 2021 law's effective date, instead of five. New York City's Parking Violations Bureau hears covered cases for violations alleged within the city.

More vehicle owners face weight enforcement

Weight-monitoring enforcement now covers programs adopted by the Thruway, bridge, tunnel, and Port authorities at covered locations. The expansion covers total vehicle weight and axle weight violations, along with notices, hearings, decisions, and defaults. Authorized local traffic bureaus and agencies can also hear cases imposing owner liability through local laws. Registration or renewal denial requires at least three qualifying summonses within 18 months and failure to appear or comply. The law also extends stated surcharge exclusions to these cases.

Unpaid Cleanup Debts Can Encumber Property

New York can place an environmental lien on New York property where hazardous-waste disposal occurred and the owner is liable. The lien covers state cleanup costs unpaid 90 days after written demand, or court-determined natural-resource damages unpaid 90 days after judgment. The department must file and serve notice within 30 days. Previously perfected property interests keep priority. The lien remains until the claim is paid or unenforceable, or the lien is released, discharged, or vacated by a court.

Higher penalties for hazardous-waste violations

Covered hazardous-waste violations carry higher civil and criminal fines. A first civil violation carries up to $65,000, plus up to $65,000 for each continuing day. A second or later civil violation carries up to $125,000 for each violation and each continuing day. Criminal fines reach $65,000 per day for a first conviction and $125,000 per day for an offense after a prior conviction. Criminal offenses require a legally defined culpable mental state; prison limits remain one year for a first conviction and two years for a later conviction. These rules cover specified hazardous-waste laws, rules, permits, certificates, and agency orders or determinations.

More work-zone speed cameras for drivers

The law raises speed-camera limits from 20 to 40 state transportation department work areas and from 10 to 20 Thruway work areas. These cover controlled-access highways under the department and work areas on the Thruway. Owners can face liability when cameras record speeds more than 10 mph over the limit while work is underway. Owners are not liable if the driver is convicted of the underlying speeding offense. Establishing the Thruway program requires a public hearing and approval by a majority of its full board.

Responsible Parties Face Full Cleanup Liability

Responsible parties can each be held liable for all covered cleanup costs and natural-resource damages, even without proof of fault. They include specified current and former owners, operators, waste generators, transporters, disposers, and people who arranged disposal. Fully compliant brownfield cleanup volunteers acting in good faith are excluded from one current-owner category. New York can pursue costs, damages, and civil penalties together. The commissioner’s damage assessment is presumed correct in court when it follows applicable rules, unless rebutted with evidence.

Installment lenders need state approval

The law requires state licenses for covered buy-now-pay-later lenders and platforms serving New York residents; certain financial institutions need written approval. Covered loans finance specific purchases, excluding motor vehicles, occasional transactions, exempt lenders, and most seller-provided credit. Seller credit remains covered when the lender buys an item at the consumer’s request and resells it on credit. Lenders may offer only approved loan categories, though one approval can cover several categories; only licensed lenders can claim that license. Implementation depends on financial-regulator rulemaking, with some provisions starting 180 days after rules are issued.

Drivers Face More Work-Zone Speed Cameras

The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority can establish speed cameras in up to nine work areas; the Bridge Authority can cover five. Each program requires a public hearing and majority approval of the authority’s full board. Owners face liability for vehicles used with their permission traveling more than 10 mph over the posted limit while work occurs. Owners are not liable when the driver is convicted of the underlying speeding offense. For the first 30 days of covered camera operation, authorities must send warnings instead of liability notices.

Overweight Vehicle Owners Face New Fines

Owners face liability when vehicles used with their permission exceed gross weight limits by at least 10%, or axle limits by 20%. At least two independent system readings must show the excess. Penalties reach $1,200 per violation, plus up to $25 for failing to answer a notice on time. Owner liability does not apply when the driver was convicted of the underlying offense or followed a valid overweight permit. Another defense applies after two other violations by the same vehicle within 24 hours, with notices received, liability found, and all fines paid.

Rental violations can shift to renters

Rental and leasing companies can transfer covered weight-monitoring or speed-camera liability to the person who had the vehicle. They must provide the required contract or renter information within 37 days after receiving the specified notice information. Companies that meet the requirements avoid liability, and the renter receives the notice as the vehicle owner. Companies that fail the weight-monitoring requirements remain liable. Parking Violations Bureau cases also require the company's required filing before the violation.

Waterfront workers face tighter license oversight

The commission can suspend permits, licenses, or registrations after charges equivalent to a New York felony or punishable by death or over 364 days in prison. It can also suspend security officers it charges with taking another person's property at a pier or waterfront terminal. Suspensions last until the commission orders otherwise or the case reaches final disposition. Revocation grounds now cover current licensees and registrants with specified organized-crime, terrorist, cartel, or racketeering connections. Association alone is not enough: circumstances must support a reasonable belief that their licensed work harms the law's policies.

Cleanup Orders Carry Fines And Appeals

The environmental commissioner can seek court relief and order action against imminent hazardous-waste dangers or threats of irreparable natural-resource damage. Orders require evidence of liability, a reasonable basis to expect compliance, and reasonable efforts to obtain voluntary action. Recipients disputing liability must request a meeting, with reasons and documents, within five business days; the department must try to meet within five business days. Orders can receive court review, and this authority excludes qualifying bona fide prospective purchasers. Ignoring an order without sufficient cause carries fines up to $37,500 per day.

Cleanup order recipients can seek repayment

People who complete a hazardous-waste cleanup order can seek reasonable costs plus interest from the state cleanup fund. They must petition within 60 days after finishing the required work. They must prove they were not liable for cleanup costs and that their costs were reasonable. Alternatively, the administrative record must show that the selected cleanup was arbitrary or unlawful. A court can also award appropriate costs, fees, and expenses.

Drivers gain camera checks and defenses

Speed-camera systems must pass daily tests and annual independent calibration checks; trained operators must sign daily setup logs. When practical, images must avoid identifying people or vehicle contents, and their only use is deciding liability. Images must be destroyed after the case ends or one year after notice, whichever is later. Owners can submit a certified police report to the transportation agency or the body hearing the case. The theft defense requires reporting the vehicle or plate stolen before the violation and no recovery by that time.

Installment buyers gain refund dispute rights

Buy-now-pay-later lenders must provide requested refunds or credits when buyers are already entitled to them. They must explain the process and make it fair, clear, and not overly burdensome. The law does not create a refund right for purchases that otherwise lack one. Lenders must also apply specified federal credit-card protections for disputed and unauthorized charges, even when those rules otherwise exclude these loans. Dispute channels must be easy to find and use.

Online buyers get clearer refund rights

Beginning 180 days after enactment, covered online sellers must clearly show refund conditions and fees near items or before billing information. The rule covers goods sold to New York consumers mainly for personal, family, or household use. If a seller fails to disclose the policy, buyers can choose a cash refund or credit within 30 days after purchase. Goods must be unused and undamaged, and the purchase date must be verifiable. A marketplace is excluded when it was not the seller.

Shoppers must see personalized pricing notices

Beginning 60 days after enactment, businesses showing personalized algorithmic prices to New York consumers must clearly disclose how prices were set. The required notice says: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” Specified insurance and financial entities are excluded. Prices below the existing subscription price for the same good or service are also excluded. Violations carry penalties of up to $1,000 each; the law does not require lower prices.

Subscribers get easier cancellation and refunds

Beginning 180 days after enactment, consumers can cancel recurring services anytime through methods at least as easy as signing up. Businesses must allow cancellation through every signup medium; in-person signup also requires online or phone cancellation and in-person cancellation where practical. Businesses cannot block, ignore, or unreasonably delay cancellation, including through discount offers. For charges above the agreed price, businesses must obtain consent or allow at least 14 days after charging to cancel. The cancellation option requires a refund for the unused service term; businesses need obtain consent only once before charging the increased price.

Subscribers get reminders before new charges

Beginning 180 days after enactment, qualifying recurring services must send advance notices using the consumer’s chosen method, with cancellation instructions. Plans initially paid for at least one year that renew for at least six months require notice 15–45 days before cancellation deadlines. Free gifts or trials lasting more than one month require notice 3–21 days before the first paid period’s cancellation deadline. Material changes, including price increases, require notice at least five business days, but no more than 30 days, before the change.

Subscription buyers get clearer signup terms

Beginning 180 days after enactment, businesses must clearly explain recurring-service terms before consumers agree or provide billing information. Disclosures must cover the service, charge amounts and frequency, cancellation deadline, and cancellation steps. Trials, gifts, and temporary prices must disclose when prices change and the later prices. Businesses need affirmative consent, including agreement to promotional terms, before charging consumers or another account for the initial term. After signup, they must promptly provide a notice consumers can keep with the terms, costs, charge schedule, and cancellation details.

Careful Site Buyers Gain Liability Protection

Buyers who acquired hazardous-waste sites after October 7, 2003, can qualify for protection from specified cleanup liability. They must show disposal occurred before purchase and complete required site inquiries and notices. They must maintain reasonable care, cooperation, access, land-use controls, and responses to information requests. Specified ties to potentially liable parties disqualify buyers. Some leaseholders also qualify when their interests meet ownership-related requirements and are not designed to avoid liability.

Online driver courses continue through 2030

Eligible New York driver-license applicants can complete an approved pre-licensing course online through June 30, 2030. Applicants for class DJ and class MJ licenses remain excluded. The law continues the online pilot but provides no fee reduction or payment.

Certified businesses gain larger purchasing opportunities

State agencies can buy up to $1.5 million in goods or services from covered certified businesses without formal competition. The ceiling rises from $750,000 for certified minority- or women-owned businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. Public authorities can authorize purchases up to $500,000 from small businesses or sellers of recycled or remanufactured goods or technology without formal competition. State authorities can authorize purchases up to $1.5 million from the covered certified businesses. Authority purchases remain subject to procurement guidelines and board waiver procedures; none of these changes guarantees a contract.

Camera Fines Support Work-Zone Safety Projects

Covered camera fines are split 80% to the operating bridge authority and 20% to local government. New York City receives the local share for Triborough programs; the city, town, or village of the violation receives Bridge Authority shares. After necessary program expenses, at least 60% of each authority’s share must fund its work-zone safety projects. That money must add to existing spending, not replace it, and remains subject to comptroller audit and payment approval.

Cleanup Funds Cover Testing And Restoration

The hazardous-waste fund can reimburse agencies for more inspections, sampling, response work, and related administrative expenses. Work must address danger to life or health or a significant environmental threat, including qualifying work before formal findings. Natural-resource damage recoveries must fund reasonable assessment costs and resource restoration, rehabilitation, replacement, or acquisition of equivalent resources. Restoration must prioritize the damaged site’s resources as much as practical. Cleanup-cost lien payments go to the remedial fund; natural-resource damage lien payments go to the damages fund.

Climate agencies gain limited business-tax data

The tax department can share petroleum and fossil-fuel business return data with the environmental department or state energy research authority. Taxpayer identity information is excluded. Agencies can use the data for the Climate Change Superfund Act, state climate-protection law, related rules, or statewide emissions limits.

Communities gain a voice in cleanups

Every New York inactive hazardous-waste cleanup program must include community participation throughout the work, before final agency decisions. Programs need an approved participation plan, public and online document repositories, and notices with comment periods at selected milestones. Plans must account for cleanup size, local interest and history, and whether the site is in a disadvantaged community. The environmental agency reviews the plans, which must be updated during cleanup.

Covered penalties support environmental protection funding

Covered General Business Law penalty recoveries go to the Environmental Protection Fund, including recoveries from Public Service Commission determinations. The fund-deposit amendment takes effect 30 days after enactment and expires October 1, 2025. A separate payment-destination amendment takes effect when and as the referenced statutory reversion takes effect. These changes redirect recovered money rather than create household payments.

Deer hunting pilot runs three years longer

The New York deer hunting pilot continues through December 31, 2028, instead of ending December 31, 2025. Participants and administrators can continue the program until the new expiration date.

Hazardous cleanup priorities consider disadvantaged communities

Counties must consult their cities, towns, and villages when surveying suspected hazardous sites and reviewing the registry. They must also coordinate with local, regional, or state bodies. The environmental department must record disadvantaged-community locations and proximity to daycare, medical, and senior-care facilities. For class 1 or 2 sites posing imminent danger or significant threats, cleanup priorities must account for disadvantaged-community locations. The department must publish priority criteria by January 1, 2026, and review and update them as needed.

Hazardous Cleanups Must Consider Community Needs

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation must prioritize cleanup programs at inactive hazardous-waste sites posing significant environmental threats. Cleanup planning must consider benefits for disadvantaged communities. The department must prioritize recovering cleanup costs and natural-resource damages at class 1 or 2 sites in those communities. It must also consult Indian nation representatives about environmental and cultural concerns when carrying out the hazardous-waste law. These rules do not guarantee a particular cleanup schedule or payment to residents.

Municipal transit authority rules last longer

The specified municipal transit authority rules expire April 1, 2026, instead of April 1, 2025. Contracts entered before April 1, 2026, under the covered contracting provision keep their validity and duration.

Neighbors Get Notice Before Hazardous-Site Removal

Before removing a site from the hazardous-waste registry, the environmental department must give at least 60 days’ public notice. It must allow 30 days for written comments and post a comment summary online. The department must post required hearing and proposed-removal notices on its website. Adjacent property owners must receive notice before a registry hearing.

Penalties Enforce Buy-Now-Pay-Later Lending Rules

Specified buy-now-pay-later lending violations are misdemeanors, including knowingly false material filings and refusal to allow lawful examinations. Convictions carry up to a $500 fine, six months in jail, or both. The financial services superintendent can also impose administrative penalties after notice and a hearing. The law restricts duplicate penalties for the same conduct.

Weight-monitoring systems get stronger safeguards

Weight-monitoring systems must pass daily self-tests and receive calibration every six months. Agencies must investigate major reading changes, keep alert logs, and follow signage and oversight requirements. Images and data have limited uses, including case decisions, owner access, studies, and management, with legal-process exceptions. Records generally must be destroyed after the case ends or one year after notice, whichever is later. New York City must follow required purchasing rules for program equipment through December 1, 2030.

New fund supports suicide prevention

The law creates a suicide prevention fund for New York’s Office of Mental Health. Money supports suicide prevention, education, and awareness initiatives. The fund receives fees, fines, and penalties under the AI companion law. It can also receive authorized appropriations, transfers, grants, gifts, and bequests; no total funding amount is stated.

Municipal clean-vehicle rebates remain available longer

Effective April 1, 2025, the environmental commissioner can issue municipal clean-vehicle rebates until April 1, 2029. The commissioner consults the state energy research authority. Rebates cover eligible clean-vehicle purchases and infrastructure projects only while the annual allocation has money left. The law does not guarantee a rebate or state its amount.

Public ski areas can share passes

The Olympic Regional Development Authority can join shared ski-pass programs with other ski areas. Agreements can require members to defend one another or cover related claims. Authority spending on each claim is capped at $250,000 and must use discretionary funds, lawful appropriations, or other permitted funding.

State construction agreement authority lasts longer

Effective April 1, 2025, the Dormitory Authority's covered design and construction-management agreement authority continues through April 1, 2027. Agreements must be authorized under the referenced 2012 law. The extension does not provide a new funding amount or household payment.

State development lending authority lasts longer

The law extends two Urban Development Corporation authorities through July 1, 2026. One extension moves an expiration date from July 1, 2025; the other continues covered loan-making authority. Loans made before expiration remain unaffected by expiration or repeal. These provisions do not state loan amounts, borrower eligibility, or new funding.

State infrastructure fund rules last longer

Specified New York State Infrastructure Trust Fund rules remain in effect through July 1, 2028. This extension does not name particular projects or provide a funding amount.

Tribes gain more cannabis agreement options

The Cannabis Control Board can make agreements with New York Indian nations and tribes in addition to tribal-state compacts. Agreements can authorize acquiring, making, selling, delivering, transporting, distributing, or dispensing adult-use or medical cannabis. The law does not set the terms of individual agreements. Separately, an acting board chair is no longer expressly deemed a state officer under the specified public-officer ethics provision.

Weight fines support bridges and roads

Covered weight-program fines send 80% to the relevant transportation authority and 20% to local government. New York City receives the local share for Triborough and Port Authority cases; other covered cases support the municipality where they occur. After program costs, authority shares must fund related bridge, tunnel, or Thruway capital projects. Collections go to the State Comptroller within the first 10 days of the following month; these allocations expire December 1, 2030. The Port Authority rule requires New Jersey legislation with an identical effect and applies immediately if that legislation already exists.

Conservation land transfers get tax relief

Qualifying property transfers to tax-exempt nonprofit corporations are exempt from the additional real estate transfer taxes. The property must be transferred for open space, parks, or historic preservation. The receiving nonprofit must operate for conservation, environmental, parks, or historic preservation purposes.

Convention center entities receive tax exemptions

The New York Convention Center Operating Corporation and its statutory subsidiaries are exempt from state and local fees, taxes, and assessments. The law also excludes them from the insurance-corporation definition and the captive-insurance tax. No dollar amount of tax savings is stated.

Cities can claim more abandoned vehicles

Ownership of an abandoned vehicle without plates immediately passes to the local authority if its wholesale value is $2,250 or less. The value reflects the vehicle’s condition; the earlier limit was $1,000. The authority needs no title if it will junk, salvage, destroy, or dismantle the vehicle for non-vehicle use.

New Tire Buyers Pay Recycling Fee

From September 1, 2025, through December 31, 2027, each new tire carries a $2.50 waste-tire management and recycling fee. Buyers pay at installation unless they show they already paid the seller. Recapped tires are excluded.

Tire buyers can face extra charges

Beginning September 1, 2025, tire-service rules cover more new-tire sellers and installers, including vehicle retailers and sellers before the final sale. Listed federal, state, and local government entities are excluded. Through December 31, 2027, tire services can pass along actual recycling costs beyond the fee amounts they may retain. They can include these costs in the published price or impose a separate charge capped at $2.50 per new tire. A separate charge must be itemized and clearly identified as the seller's choice, not a required charge.

Temporarily higher fines for excavation violations

Excavators and operators face higher civil penalties for violating the covered excavation requirements. The maximum is $4,375 for a first violation. Each later violation within 12 months can add up to $17,500. The higher limits take effect 30 days after enactment and expire October 1, 2025.

Firefighting gear buyers get less detail

Sellers must still give written notice at sale when firefighting protective equipment contains PFAS chemicals. They no longer have to explain why PFAS was added. Buyers retain the warning that PFAS is present but receive less required information.

Cannabis organizations face three-location sales limit

Registered cannabis organizations can sell adult-use cannabis at no more than three of their medical dispensing locations. The Cannabis Control Board sets by regulation when and how it grants approval for these locations.

For-hire drivers face flexible insurance increases

Insurers covering vehicles mainly carrying people for hire must submit rates for approval by August 1, 2025, and at least every two years. Beginning December 1, 2025, informational filings allow up to two average rate increases in 12 months without prior approval. Combined increases cannot exceed a state-set limit of 5% or less; this is not a guaranteed individual premium increase. Insurers must give written reasons and 30–60 days’ notice, with increases starting only at a new policy period. Buses and school buses are excluded, and insurers cannot use this option while rate approval is pending or approved rates are being phased in.

Installment lenders face ongoing state checks

License applicants must pay fees, submit financial and lending information, pass a fitness review, and meet state-set capital requirements. Ownership changes need approval and an investigation fee; control is presumed at 10% ownership or voting power. Court-appointed representatives get a six-month exemption, which the regulator can extend. Lenders must show their approval status, keep loan records for six years after the final entry, and file annual and requested reports affirmed under penalties of perjury. The regulator can examine records, compel testimony, and revoke licenses, including temporary suspensions without notice for up to 30 days for good cause; existing lawful contracts remain valid.

Cannabis organizations owe milestone-based license fees

Registered cannabis organizations with the covered combined adult-use license owe special fees totaling up to $15 million. They owe $3 million at license issuance and $4 million within 180 days after opening a second co-located adult-use dispensary. They also owe $4 million within 30 days after each revenue milestone: the first $100 million and the second $100 million. Fees support social and economic equity and incubator assistance. Nonpayment suspends co-located adult-use dispensary operations until payment is acknowledged and may block renewal; no installment becomes due after the license ends. Existing licensees receive credit for prior payments, and the Office determines balances for already-operating co-located dispensaries under a transition rule expiring 270 days after the act takes effect.

Tire buyers get returns plus fees

From September 1, 2025, through December 31, 2027, New York tire shops must accept matching used tires when customers buy or install new ones. Returned tires must be about the same size and equal in number to the new tires. The law allows a $2.50 waste-tire fee per new tire through December 31, 2027. Shops must post fee information, explain discretionary recycling costs, and warn in ads when listed prices leave those costs out. Sellers without a New York store must show the $2.50 fee statement before purchase.

Cannabis Board Members Receive Daily Pay

Beginning June 1, 2025, Cannabis Control Board members, including the chair, receive $260 for each day of board work. Members also receive an allowance for actual and necessary expenses. The law removes the chair’s separate annual salary provision.

Tire Businesses File Returns, Keep Allowance

From September 1, 2025, through December 31, 2027, covered tire services must file waste-tire fee returns and remit fees. Returns follow the same filing dates and periods as their sales-tax returns. Tire services with a physical New York retail location can keep 25 cents per fee collected. Services without a physical New York store cannot keep this allowance.

Cleanup Lawsuits Face Deadlines And Limits

New recovery suits under the hazardous-waste title are barred for sites sued over before this rule took effect. The bar applies regardless of the earlier case’s court, legal basis, recovery amount, or finality. For new initial natural-resource damage claims, the general deadline is three years after discovering the loss and its release connection. At specified listed or scheduled sites, the deadline uses the later of discovery or cleanup completion, excluding ongoing maintenance. Initial removal-cost suits generally have three years after removal ends; qualifying continued-response suits have six years after the continued-response determination. Initial remedial-cost suits have six years after physical on-site construction begins. Later cost suits have three years after all response work ends; contribution suits have three years after judgment or court-approved settlement.

Cleanup spending first seeks responsible-party payments

The hazardous-waste remedial fund includes a cleanup account with a condition on specified cleanup spending. The commissioner generally must find that reasonable efforts were made to obtain voluntary payments from owners, operators, or other responsible parties. This condition does not apply when the commissioner makes the referenced environmental-conservation findings. It also does not apply when the health commissioner declares a danger to life or health and makes the required public-health findings.

Contaminated property owners face cleanup liens

New York’s environmental agency can place a windfall lien on an inactive hazardous-waste site when unpaid cleanup raises its value. The lien is capped at the smaller of cleanup-related value growth at sale or disposal and costs not covered by an ordinary environmental lien. By agreement, the agency can accept a lien on other property or another payment guarantee. Good-faith prospective buyers are excluded when liability comes only from ownership or operation and they do not impede cleanup or restoration.

Local Governments Gain Limited Cleanup Protections

Local governments and public corporations gain protection from certain claims at qualifying airports, fire-training sites, and inactive municipal landfills. Airport and training-site protection covers lawful use of PFAS firefighting foam; landfills must meet design, operating, and permitting or compliance standards. Protection excludes intentional, knowing, reckless, or grossly negligent contributions to releases and specified hazardous-waste activities. Covered entities must report known releases within 10 days, or sooner when another law requires. Missing that deadline ends the exemption.

More Roadside Systems Check Truck Weight

The law authorizes automated weight checks at listed bridges and highways, creating potential liability for vehicle owners. New York City can operate up to 16 systems on I-278 in Kings County and two at each other covered location. Covered authorities generally can operate two per location, after a public hearing and majority approval of their full board. Bridge coverage can extend 2,640 feet beyond either end, or 5,280 feet at the Mid-Hudson Bridge’s west end. Agencies must announce their plans and send warnings instead of liability notices for each location’s first 90 days. The public-notice and warning requirements expire December 1, 2030.

Transit employment rules continue with exclusions

Specified transit public-employment provisions continue through July 1, 2027, instead of ending July 1, 2025. They exclude certified or recognized employee organizations representing the workers identified in the referenced public-authority provision. The law also preserves authority to enforce orders made before its effective date.

Cleanup Plans Need Financial Backing

The environmental department must adopt rules requiring financial backing for inactive hazardous-waste cleanup programs. Rules can allow insurance, guarantees, bonds, letters of credit, self-insurance, or a combination. Covered claimants can pursue guarantors directly when responsible parties enter bankruptcy or qualifying federal reorganization proceedings. Direct claims also apply when reasonable efforts cannot establish court jurisdiction over a responsible party likely to be solvent at judgment. Guarantors retain specified defenses, and liability under this rule is capped at the backing provided, without reducing other liabilities.

Cleanup Settlements Protect Parties, Preserve Claims

Liable parties can seek a share of cleanup costs from others during or after a civil case. Courts can divide those costs using fairness factors. State administrative or court-approved settlements protect settling parties from contribution claims about settled matters. Settlements reduce others’ potential liability by the settlement amount but do not release them unless expressly stated. The state can pursue nonsettling parties for incomplete relief, and its recovery rights come before settling parties’ contribution rights.

Five counties split regional transit costs

Beginning April 1, 2025, five counties have revised shares of matching payments for Central New York regional transit assistance. Onondaga’s share is 74.94%, Oneida’s is 16.02%, and Cayuga’s is 5.05%. Oswego’s share is 2.82%, and Cortland’s is 1.17%. These shares divide county payment duties; the provision specifies no rider fare or benefit change.

Convention center gains guarded insurance option

The Convention Center Operating Corporation can create a subsidiary to form its own captive insurance company. It and its statutory subsidiaries qualify as industrial insureds, but are excluded from industrial insured groups. Before formation, a licensed independent expert must study risks, value, structures, and location, and send the study to state leaders. The expert and related companies cannot manage the insurer for at least five years after the study. The corporation must notify the governor and legislative leaders when applying to form the insurer.

Stronger oversight of installment lenders

New York’s financial services superintendent can examine licensed buy-now-pay-later lenders whenever needed and require special reports. The superintendent sets report timing and can extend deadlines. The law also authorizes orders to explain apparent violations, stop unauthorized or unsafe practices, fix financial problems, and keep required records. Lenders can face penalties after notice and a hearing for covered legal, regulatory, or written supervisory requirements. These order and penalty powers take effect 180 days after the department issues implementing rules.

Utilities pay state energy program costs

Beginning April 1, 2025, qualifying gas and electric companies must cover up to $28.725 million in state energy authority program costs. Companies qualify if prior-calendar-year intrastate utility revenue exceeded $500,000; shares are based on 2023 intrastate gas or electricity revenue. Bills must be issued by August 10, 2025, and payment is due September 10, 2025. Uncommitted money must be refunded in proportion to each company’s share. Separately, from April 1, 2025, until April 1, 2026, specified agency program and participation expenses count as Department of Public Service expenses for assessment review. Covered expenses under sections 1 through 4 cannot be charged through assessments on telephone companies. The law does not specify whether utilities pass these costs to customers.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Budget
Affiliation unavailable

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 159 • No: 75

committee vote • 5/7/2025

Finance Committee Vote

Yes: 16 • No: 6

House vote • 5/7/2025

Assembly floor vote

Yes: 103 • No: 47

Senate vote • 5/7/2025

FLOOR Vote

Yes: 40 • No: 22

Actions Timeline

SIGNED CHAP.58
5/9/2025Senate
DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR
5/8/2025Senate
RETURNED TO SENATE
5/7/2025House
PASSED ASSEMBLY
5/7/2025House
MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
5/7/2025House
ORDERED TO THIRD READING RULES CAL.181
5/7/2025House
SUBSTITUTED FOR A3008C
5/7/2025House
REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS
5/7/2025House
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
5/7/2025Senate
PASSED SENATE
5/7/2025Senate
MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
5/7/2025Senate
ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.967
5/7/2025Senate
PRINT NUMBER 3008C
5/6/2025Senate
AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO FINANCE
5/6/2025Senate
PRINT NUMBER 3008B
3/10/2025Senate
AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO FINANCE
3/10/2025Senate
PRINT NUMBER 3008A
2/21/2025Senate
AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO FINANCE
2/21/2025Senate
REFERRED TO FINANCE
1/22/2025Senate

Bill Text

Amendment C
5/6/2025
PDF
Amendment B
3/10/2025
PDF
Amendment A
2/21/2025
PDF
Original
1/22/2025
PDF

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