Bedford, N.Y., Code of Ordinances ch. 76 (eCode360 ed. 2026) § 76-1

A. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a registry of all residential rental property, as defined herein, which will enable the Town to identify persons responsible for the care and management of such properties to require health and safety inspections of such properties, obtain building diagnostic tests and/or require reporting of energy use and tenant energy costs in buildings, to provide information or technical assistance, improve building performance, and to disclose information to the public to support the health and well-being of residents. The outcomes of these actions will improve the health and well-being of Town residents through elevated building performance and the identification of opportunities to improve safety, cut costs, reduce pollution, improve tenant health and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, and by ensuring compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations concerning the safety and maintenance of such properties, including but not limited to the Town Code of the Town of Bedford and other local, state or federal rules, regulations or laws. B. It is the policy of both the Town and the State of New York (the "state") to support the health and well-being of residents by promoting elevated building performance to reduce toxic air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, lower environmental and socioeconomic energy burdens, mitigate the effect of global climate change and advance a clean energy economy. The Town finds that it can advance these Town and state policy goals by making available accurate, complete, and actionable information on building energy use, building performance and available services to help identify opportunities to cut costs, reduce pollution, improve tenant health and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in the Town. C. The poorest performing buildings typically use several times the energy of the highest performing buildings for the same building use, causing undue cost strains and imposing avoidable pollution upon residents and the community. In addition, poorly performing buildings often contain harmful pollutants that affect the health and well-being of residents. D. It is the intent of this chapter to improve the health and well-being of tenants and the people of the Town by requiring the reporting and disclosure of building performance information for all residential rental property. Collecting, reporting and sharing building performance information on a regular basis allows owners and occupants to understand their buildings' performance relative to similar buildings. Equipped with this information, owners and government agencies are able to make smarter and more cost-effective operational and capital investment decisions, improve health conditions, boost efficiency, and drive widespread, continuous improvement in building energy efficiency and building performance.