Prohibits the New York city water board from enacting any rules and regulations less favorable to the consumer

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Alicia Hyndman

Prohibits NYC Water Board from enacting rules less favorable to consumers, preserving protections, rates, and service for NYC water customers.

REFERRED TO CITIES

Summary of Assembly Bill A 6371

Overview

A6371 is an Assembly bill introduced on March 4, 2025 and currently referred to the Cities Committee. The bill would prohibit the New York City Water Board from enacting any rules or regulations that are less favorable to consumers.

Purpose and intent

To protect consumers of New York City water services from regulatory changes by the NYC Water Board that would weaken protections or services.

The bill signals a legislative preference for maintaining or strengthening, rather than reducing, consumer protections in the board’s regulatory actions.

Key provisions

Prohibition on downgrading consumer protections: The NYC Water Board would be barred from adopting rules or regulations that are less favorable to consumers than existing standards.

Scope: Applies specifically to rules and regulations enacted by the New York City Water Board. It does not address other actions outside the board’s regulatory rulemaking.

Notes: The text provided does not include additional details on definitions (e.g., what constitutes “favorable” or “less favorable”), procedural safeguards, or exceptions. The core mandate is a negative constraint on regulatory action by the Water Board.

Affected parties

Primary: New York City Water Board and, by extension, NYC water customers (residents and businesses) who rely on the board’s regulatory framework for rates, billing, service standards, customer protections, and related practices.

Secondary: Entities interacting with the Water Board’s rules, such as ratepayers, consumer advocacy groups, and industry stakeholders.

Procedural history and timeline

Introduced: March 4, 2025.

Status: Referred to the Cities Committee (indicating the bill will be reviewed by that committee before any potential floor consideration).

Related and companion bills

Senate companion: S 2173 (listed as a companion to this bill).

Several related bills from prior sessions (prior-session numbers include S 2635, S 2697, S 1182, S 2284, S 1980, S 2276, S 5029, S 5429, and A 9978). These references suggest ongoing legislative interest in consumer protections related to the NYC Water Board and may reflect prior iterations or related policy debates.

Potential impact and considerations

Consumer protections: Likely strengthens protections by preventing rollback of consumer-favorable rules, which could help maintain stable or improved service and pricing safeguards for NYC water customers.

Regulatory flexibility: May constrain the Water Board’s ability to modify or streamline regulations, potentially affecting efficiency, modernization efforts, or cost-saving initiatives.

Fiscal and policy implications: Depending on the breadth of “less favorable” interpretations, there could be debates over what constitutes a reduction in protections, and how disputes would be resolved.

This summary provides a high-level view based on the bill’s stated objective. For a complete understanding, the full text and any fiscal notes, amendments, and committee reports should be reviewed once available.