Bill > S4227

Introduced Session

This bill requires school districts to include environmental sustainability plans in the long-range facilities plans submitted to the Commissioner of Education. Every five years, each school district submits a long-range facilities plan to the Commissioner which discusses projected enrollment, building capacities, health and safety conditions, and any anticipated facilities projects in the district. Under this bill, the district would also be required to submit an environmental sustainability plan which would consider the environmental impact of district facilities and operations, and set goals for improving sustainability. The environmental sustainability plan would be required to contain information about improvements to facility energy efficiency, including efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase use of renewable energy, and transition to high-performance sustainable buildings. The sustainability plan would also include a commitment to the acquisition of more sustainable school supplies, electronics, and other materials, and to prioritize contracts with vendors focused on sustainability. The district would also be required to include a plan to optimize transportation to reduce carbon emissions and transition the district's school bus fleet to electric vehicles. This bill would require school districts to publish the environmental sustainability plan or a summary of the goals and initiatives in the plan. The district would be required to establish performance measures to monitor progress toward each goal, and each year the district would be required to publish a summary of the progress toward the district's sustainability goals. School districts would be required to amend existing long-range facilities plans to include the environmental sustainability plan no later than the end of the first full year after this bill is enacted.

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Bob Smith (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee (on 12/06/2021)