New York A 11423: Relates to prohibiting the use of nondisclosure agreements to prevent disclosure of information relating to environmental and health impacts of certain infrastructure and energy development projects

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A11423 Summary:

BILL NOA11423 

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SAME ASNo Same As

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SPONSORRules (Lavine)

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COSPNSR

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MLTSPNSR

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Add §5-338, Gen Ob L; add §28, Pub Serv L

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Prohibits the use and enforcement of nondisclosure agreements and confidentiality agreements that prevent any person from discussing matters of public concern related to large-scale infrastructure and energy development projects.

Go to top A11423 Actions:

BILL NOA11423 

&nbsp

05/15/2026referred to judiciary

Go to topA11423 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA11423 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA11423 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 11423

 IN ASSEMBLY

 May 15, 2026
 ___________

 Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Lavine) --
 read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary

 AN ACT to amend the general obligation law, in relation to prohibiting
 the use and enforcement of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and confi-
 dentiality provisions that prevent individuals, municipalities, land-
 owners, consultants, contractors, or other parties from discussing
 matters of public concern related to large-scale infrastructure and
 energy development projects; and to amend the public service law, in
 relation to transparency regarding certain projects

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. The general obligation law is amended by adding a new
 2 section 5-338 to read as follows:
 3 § 5-338. Certain nondisclosure and confidentiality provisions void and
 4 unenforceable. 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any
 5 provision in any contract or agreement which prohibits any party to the
 6 contract or agreement from disclosing information relating to environ-
 7 mental impacts, water usage, electrical demand, utility ratepayer
 8 impacts, public infrastructure obligations, tax abatements or subsidies,
 9 noise or land use impacts, or public health and safety concerns associ-
 10 ated with the development, operation and/or siting of utility-scale
 11 solar facilities, wind projects, battery energy storage systems, crypto-
 12 currency mining facilities, AI computing facilities, data centers and
 13 other large energy-intensive developments shall be void and unenforcea-
 14 ble and against public policy. No agreement or contract entered into by
 15 any parties in this state shall prohibit any resident, landowner, munic-
 16 ipal official, consultant, contractor or any other affected party from
 17 speaking publicly, attending and participating in public hearings,
 18 communicating with the media, submitting comments to government agencies
 19 or discussing any such project or its potential impacts.
 20 2. It shall be unlawful to threaten or to seek to enforce any
 21 provision of a contract or agreement made unlawful under this section,
 22 or to otherwise penalize any person for making any statement protected
 23 under this section.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD15901-01-6

 A. 11423 2

 1 3. Any waiver of the provisions of this section is contrary to public
 2 policy, and is void and unenforceable.
 3 4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to legitimate trade
 4 secrets, cybersecurity information, proprietary engineering information
 5 and competitively sensitive business data unrelated to the impacts of
 6 projects set forth in subdivision one of this section.
 7 5. Any person or entity that violates this section shall be subject to
 8 a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars for the
 9 first violation, and five thousand dollars for the second and for each
 10 subsequent violation, to be assessed and collected in a civil action
 11 brought by an individual or by the attorney general. In addition, for a
 12 willful or intentional violation of this section, an affected party or
 13 the attorney general may recover a civil penalty not to exceed ten thou-
 14 sand dollars.
 15 § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 28 to
 16 read as follows:
 17 § 28. Transparency regarding certain projects. All records, reports,
 1