Pursuant to Executive Order 149 of 2011 and the provisions of Local Law 86 of 2005 (LL86), the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination (MOEC) may grant a project an exemption, in whole or in part, from a LL86 requirement if, in the Director’s determination, full compliance is not in the public interest and if the city funds spent in any given fiscal year on projects receiving an exemption from such requirement are less than 20% of the city funds spent in the same fiscal year (FY) on all projects subject to that same requirement. Note that, when calculating the funds spent in a given FY on a project receiving a partial exemption from a requirement, the amount released from the treasury will be adjusted to reflect the difference between the construction cost of a fully compliant design and the construction cost of the proposed design that will partially comply.
Where an exemption is sought for a project in which construction is being managed by a city agency, the city agencies that must apply for the exemption are those that originally budgeted funds for the project as well as the agency managing construction. In cases where construction is being managed through a non-city entity, the budgeting agency, the non-city entity, and the city agency that manages their funding, lease, or land acquisition agreement for the release of city funds to the project must apply. In all cases, the applicants must complete and execute an Exemption Application Form and submit all supporting materials.
Once the request is received and complete information is provided, the Director of MOEC will inform applicants in writing of his determination within a reasonable period after receipt, usually within 30 days. Note that, in appropriate circumstances, the Director may grant a lesser exemption than that which the agencies may apply for.