New York is requiring state agencies to consider the increasing episodes of extreme weather in public works projects, industrial and commercial permits and issuing regulations. For New York, those calculations include rising sea levels, more flooding and more severe storms.
Governor Andrew Cuomo says Monday the law is intended to create more resilient infrastructure, noting "the new reality of extreme weather" has had painful consequences for New Yorkers.
It requires agencies consider the future risk of storm surges, rising seas and flooding in issuing permits, funding and regulatory decisions.
Standards would apply to siting sewage treatment plants and hazardous waste disposal, designs for chemical and petroleum storage, permits for oil and gas drilling and protecting open space.
Conservation officials are to adopt official projections for rising sea levels by 2016.
© 2014 AP
