N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 9 § 125.1

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 51, December 18, 2024

Section 125.1 - Energy and Environmental Standards

(a) Odor Control Standards.

(1) A licensee shall use acceptable odor mitigation technology in all consumption facilities, exception areas, nursery areas, propagation areas, or canopy areas that are indoors or in mixed light; processing facilities; or storage areas to mitigate odors to minimize impacts off-site. Acceptable odor mitigation technology includes, activated carbon filtration, vapor-phase systems, or other mitigation technology approved by the Office. The Office shall be authorized to identify additional odor mitigation technology.

(b) Horticultural Lighting Equipment Standards.

(1) A nursery, tier 1 cultivator, tier 2 cultivator, cooperative, or microbusiness licensee shall use horticultural lighting equipment with a PPE of at least 1.7 µmol/J measured at the lamp. A nursery, tier 1 cultivator, tier 2 cultivator, cooperative, or microbusiness licensee shall meet applicable horticultural lighting equipment standards prior to the second license renewal.

(2) A tier 3 cultivator, tier 4 cultivator, tier 5 cultivator, ROD, or ROND licensee shall use horticultural lighting equipment with a PPE of at least 2.2 µmol/J measured at the lamp. A tier 3 cultivator, tier 4 cultivator, tier 5 cultivator, ROD, or ROND licensee shall meet applicable lighting standards prior to the first license renewal.

(c) Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Dehumidification Standards.

(1) HVAC Standards. A nursery, cultivator, cooperative, microbusiness, ROD, or ROND licensee authorized to cultivate indoors, cultivate in mixed light, operate a nursery area indoors, or operate a nursery area in mixed light shall, unless the licensee has a written plan for managing refrigerant leaks and disposal that has been approved by the Office, use HVAC and refrigeration equipment which uses a refrigerant with a twenty-year global warming potential of 10 or less.

(2) Dehumidification Standards. A nursery, cultivator, cooperative, microbusiness, ROD, or ROND licensee shall only use dehumidification equipment, including in drying areas, that is one of the following:

(i) stand-alone dehumidifiers that have a minimum integrated energy factor of 1.77 L/kWh for product case volumes of 8.0 cubic feet or less, and a minimum integrated energy factor of 2.41 L/kWh for product case volumes greater than 8.0 cubic feet;

(ii) an integrated HVAC system with on-site heat recovery designed to fulfill at least 75% of the annual energy for dehumidification reheat;

(iii) a chilled water system with on-site heat recovery designed to fulfill at least 75% of the annual energy for dehumidification reheat; or

(iv) a solid or liquid desiccant dehumidification system for system designs that require dewpoint of 50°F or less.

(3) A nursery, tier 1 cultivator, tier 2 cultivator, cooperative, or microbusiness licensee shall meet applicable HVAC and dehumidification standards prior to the second license renewal.

(4) A tier 3 cultivator, tier 4 cultivator, tier 5 cultivator, ROD, or ROND licensee shall meet applicable HVAC and dehumidification standards prior to the first license renewal.

(d) Energy Standards.

(1) A nursery, cultivator, cooperative, microbusiness, ROD, or ROND licensee authorized to cultivate indoors, cultivate in mixed light, operate a nursery area indoors, or operate a nursery area in mixed light shall install and use at least one interval meter sufficient to capture and track the energy usage in all areas where licensed activities are conducted.

(2) A tier 3 cultivator, tier 4 cultivator, tier 5 cultivator, cooperative, ROD, or ROND licensees authorized to cultivate indoors shall use technologies for the primary source of energy that do not involve on-site combustion of fossil fuels. It is acceptable for such licensee's emergency back-up system to be technology that involves the on-site combustion of fossil fuels. Acceptable alternatives to fossil fuel-based systems include, but are not limited to, ground-source (geothermal) systems or air-source heat pump systems. A tier 3 cultivator, tier 4 cultivator, tier 5 cultivator, cooperative, ROD, or ROND shall meet this requirement prior to the first license renewal.

(e) Water Standards. A nursery, cultivator, cooperative, microbusiness, ROD, or ROND licensee authorized to cultivate shall only utilize water for cultivation or in a nursery area, except for water that is used for drip irrigation and subsurface irrigation, that has levels of total coliform present consistent with 10 NYCRR Subpart 5-1 as tested by an environmental laboratory certified by the New York State Department of Health.

(f) Indoor Air Quality Standards. A retail dispensary or microbusiness licensee authorized to operate a consumption facility or an on-site consumption licensee authorized to operate an exception area, shall, unless the indoor area's ventilation system has been approved by the Office to provide sufficient ventilation based on the facility's maximum capacity, during times of smoking and vaping, utilize air quality monitor(s) or particle counter(s) or similar technology sufficiently capable of accurately measuring the real-time number of fine particles in all indoor areas of the premises in which individuals may smoke or vape cannabis products.

(1) Unless approved otherwise by the Office, air quality monitors or particle counters or other similar technology sufficiently capable of accurately measuring the real-time number of fine particles shall be:

(i) capable of measuring concentrations of fine particles up to at least 2,000 micrograms per cubic meter (or µg/m³) within ten percent accuracy;

(ii) used according to the manufacturer's specifications to create a number of measurements that will accurately determine the average daily concentration of fine particles, based on the size of the indoor area(s) and the strength of the monitors or counters; and

(iii) meet any other requirements as determined by the Office; and

(2) In all indoor areas of the consumption facility or exception area in which individuals may smoke or vape, a licensee shall utilize, alone or in combination, physical barriers, ventilation systems, technology, or other methods sufficient to:

(i) prevent the transfer of visible smoke or vapor between the area of the consumption facility or exception area and the indoor area of the same building, indoor area of neighboring buildings, and any outdoor area of nearby businesses-such as restaurant patios-which are available to patrons of such nearby business at the same time that smoking or vaping is occurring at the consumption facility or exception area, provided that such neighboring areas do not also comprise a consumption facility or exception area;

(ii) reduce the presence of fine particles in all indoor areas of the consumption facility or exception area such that, beginning on the sixty-first day after the consumption facility or exception area began operating, the average twenty-four (24) hour concentration of fine particles per cubic meter of air in all indoor areas in which individuals may smoke or vape is less than 500 for at least 90% of the days the consumption facility or exception area operates within a given calendar month, unless the indoor area's ventilation system has been approved by the Office to provide sufficient ventilation based on the maximum capacity of the consumption facility or exception area or the licensee has been otherwise approved in writing by both the Board and the municipality in which the consumption facility or exception area is located to allow greater concentrations of fine particles; and

(iii) measure the concentration of fine particles within all indoor areas of the consumption facility or exception area in which individuals may smoke or vape through one of the following methods:

(a) using technology that automatically calculates the average concentration of fine particles per cubic meter of air measured over a twenty-four (24) hour period;

(b) using technology that measures the concentration of fine particles per cubic meter of air for specific period of time and calculating a twenty-four (24) hour average by measuring the concentration of fine particles per cubic meter of air for a period of no less than five minutes at least once per hour during each of the consumption facility or exception area's hours of operation. A licensee using this method may calculate the twenty-four (24) hour average using reasonable data regarding the typical concentration of fine particles per cubic meter of air when the limited retail consumption facility is not open to consumers and would not be required to measure the concentration of fine particles during each hour the consumption facility is closed to consumers; or

(c) any other method approved by the Office; and

(3) The Office shall have the authority to require a licensee to update, alter, or amend the specific technology used to monitor indoor air quality, or their placement, at any time if it has reason to believe the air quality is being inaccurately measured.

(g) The Office shall have the authority to issue industry advisories pursuant to subdivision 12 of section 11 of the Cannabis Law, pertaining to the energy and environment standards. Such advisories shall be adhered to by the licensee.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 § 125.1

Adopted New York State Register September 27, 2023/Volume XLV, Issue 39, eff. 9/27/2023