Local Law 97 of 2019 · Admin Code 28-320
Carbon Emissions Limits (Local Law 97)
Large buildings now have hard greenhouse-gas caps. Annual reports are due May 1, and emissions over your cap cost $268 per ton — with much tighter caps arriving in 2030.
Who must comply
Generally buildings over 25,000 sq ft (with special rules for rent-regulated housing, houses of worship, and income-restricted co-ops). Roughly 50,000 buildings citywide.
Key deadlines
| Annual emissions report (prior calendar year) | May 1 every year (first was May 1, 2025 for calendar year 2024) |
| Current cap period | 2024–2029 limits now in force |
| Next cap step-down | 2030 — limits tighten sharply; retrofits need lead time now |
What it costs to miss
$268 per metric ton of CO2e over your cap, annually. Failure to file at all: $0.50 per sq ft per month. A 100,000 sq ft building that ignores the filing owes $50,000 a month.
What to actually do
Your LL84 benchmarking data determines your emissions, so start there: verify the usage data is right before it becomes a penalty calculation. Many buildings comfortably under the 2024 cap will blow through the 2030 cap — model both before deciding whether to buy RECs, adjust operations, or plan capital work.
Rent-regulated and income-restricted buildings follow an alternative compliance path (prescriptive measures instead of caps) — confirm which regime each building is actually in before budgeting.
Knowing isn’t the hard part. Doing is.
Parcel reminds you of the May 1 filing per building and keeps your benchmarking and emissions exposure in one place, next to everything else the city knows about the building.
Official source: NYC Sustainable Buildings: LL97
Current as of September 9, 2026 · last reviewed 2026-08-19. This guide is a summary for owners and managers, not legal advice.