NY Pub Serv L § 66-K (2021)
2021 New York Laws PBS - Public Service Article 4 - Provisions Relating to Gas and Electric Corporations; Regulation of Price of Gas and Electricity 66-K - Allowance Credit Trading or Sales.

§  66-k.  Allowance  credit  trading  or  sales.  1.  Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have  the  following meanings:  (a) "SO2" shall mean sulfur dioxide.  (b)  "SO2  allowance  credit"  shall  mean  any SO2 credit issued to a generating source within the United States pursuant to the provisions of title four of the Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.  (c) "select SO2 allowance credits" shall mean any SO2 allowance credit issued to generating sources located within the boundaries of the  state of New York.  (d)  "acid  precipitation  source  states"  shall  mean  the following states:  New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware,  Virginia,  North Carolina,  Tennessee, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Wisconsin.   2. Air pollution mitigation offset. (a) The commission shall assess an air pollution mitigation offset equal to any sum received by any utility corporation, person or entity entering into contracts or engaging in the sale or trade of select SO2 allowance credits  for  use  in  operations, permits  or for maintaining compliance with SO2 emission requirements in acid precipitation  source  states,  where  such  select  SO2  allowance credits  are  found to have been transferred to the allowance deductions reserve account by a generating source located in an  acid  rain  source state.  (b)  Any utility corporation, person or entity entering into contracts or engaging in the sale or trade of any  select  SO2  allowance  credits shall  provide  the  commission  with  written  notice of any select SO2 allowance transaction with five business days of such transaction.  Such notice   shall  include  the  purchase  price,  and  shall  provide  the commission a copy of the Allowance Transfer Form of  the  United  States Environmental Protection Agency upon the issuance and/or signing of said form relating to the sale, exchange or trade by the utility corporation, person  or  entity,  its subsidiaries, agents, employees, successors and assigns of select SO2 allowance credits.  (c) The commission will annually review information contained  in  the SO2   allowance   tracking   database  operated  by  the  United  States Environmental Protection Agency for select SO2 allowances as  identified by their unique serial number.  (d)  Any  moneys  collected  as  an  air  pollution  mitigation offset pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited  in  the  air  pollution mitigation  fund  established  pursuant  to section ninety-nine-g of the state finance law and administered by the New York state energy research and development authority  pursuant  to  subdivision  ten-a  of  section eighteen hundred fifty-four of the public authorities law.   3. Exemptions. (a) The commission, in consultation with the department of  environmental  conservation,  shall produce by rule or order a model restrictive covenant for use  by  any  utility  corporation,  person  or entity  entering  into  contracts  or  engaging  in the sale or trade of select SO2 allowance credits. The model restrictive covenant will  be  a self-enforcing contract that shall include at a minimum, the requirement to  give  notice  to  the  commission  of  any SO2 allowance transaction covered by the restrictive covenant; the requirement that any subsequent holders of the SO2 allowance covered by the restrictive covenant include an identical restrictive covenant in any document relating to  the  sale or  purchase of the covered SO2 allowances; provisions restricting usage in acid precipitation source states; and provisions for the  enforcement of the terms of the restrictive covenant by the state of New York.  (b)  Any utility corporation, person or entity entering into contracts or engaging in the sale or trade of select  SO2  allowance  credits  may  attach  a  restrictive  covenant as a standard provision in any document relating to the sale or trade by  the  utility  corporation,  person  or entity,  its subsidiaries, agents, employees, successors and assigns, of select  SO2  allowance  credits.  Such restrictive covenant must conform with the required provisions of the model restrictive covenant  produced by the commission pursuant to this subdivision.  (c)  Any  utility  corporation, person or entity acting in conformance with the provisions  of  this  subdivision  shall  be  exempt  from  the assessment of an air pollution mitigation offset.   4.  Nothing  contained  in  this  section  shall  restrict  a  utility corporation  from  use  or  transfer  of  SO2  allowances  at  New  York facilities  owned,  controlled  or  operated now or in the future by the utility corporation, its successors, assigns or purchasers that come  to own, control or operate such facilities.   5.  Nothing  in  this  section  shall discourage or prohibit allowance trades (such as for retirement purposes) that  will  have  a  beneficial impact on sensitive receptor areas in the state of New York.   6.  Nothing  within  this section will invalidate or subvert any prior contractual  commitments  and/or   obligations   made   by   a   utility corporation,  person  or  entity  identified  in subdivision two of this section prior to the effective date of this section.