2023 New York Laws › PBS - Public Service › Article 8 - Siting of Renewable Energy and Electric Transmission › 139 - General Provisions Related to Establishing Standards Related to Siting Major Electric Transmission Facilities.

* § 139. General  provisions related to establishing standards related
to siting major electric transmission facilities. 1. (a)  Within  twelve
months of the effective date of this section, ORES shall, subject to the
approval  of  the  commission, in consultation with other offices within
the department, the New  York  state  energy  research  and  development
authority,  the department of environmental conservation, the department
of agriculture and markets,  and  other  agencies  with  subject  matter
expertise,  establish  a set of uniform standards and conditions for the
siting,  design,  construction,  and   operation   of   major   electric
transmission  facilities subject to this article relevant to issues that
are common to such projects. Prior to adoption of uniform standards  and
conditions,   the   office  of  renewable  energy  siting  and  electric
transmissions shall hold four public hearings in  different  regions  of
the  state to solicit comment from municipal, or political subdivisions,
and the public on proposed uniform standards and  conditions  to  avoid,
minimize  or  mitigate  potential adverse environmental impacts from the
siting,  design,  construction  and  operation  of  a   major   electric
transmission facility.
(b)  The uniform standards and conditions established pursuant to this
section shall be designed to avoid or minimize, to  the  maximum  extent
practicable,  any  potential  significant  adverse environmental impacts
related to the siting, design, construction, and operation  of  a  major
electric  transmission  facility.  Such uniform standards and conditions
shall apply to those environmental impacts ORES determines are common to
major electric transmission facilities.
(c) The uniform standards and conditions established pursuant to  this
section shall be designed to avoid, minimize, or mitigate to the maximum
extent  practicable,  potential significant adverse impacts to land used
in agricultural  production,  with  additional  consideration  for  land
within an agricultural district or land that contain mineral soil groups
1-4 as defined by the department of agriculture and markets.
(d)  In its review of an application for a major electric transmission
facility  siting  permit  to  develop  a  major  electric   transmission
facility,  ORES,  in  consultation  with the department of environmental
conservation, shall identify those adverse  site-specific  environmental
impacts,  if  any,  that  may  be caused or contributed to by a specific
proposed major electric transmission  facility  and  are  unable  to  be
addressed  by  the uniform standards and conditions. ORES shall draft in
consultation  with  the   department   of   environmental   conservation
site-specific  major  electric transmission facility siting permit terms
and conditions for such impacts, including provisions for the  avoidance
or  mitigation  thereof,  taking  into  account  the  CLCPA targets, the
environmental benefits of,  and  public  need  for  the  proposed  major
electric  transmission  facility;  provided,  however,  that  ORES shall
require that the application of uniform  standards  and  conditions  and
site-specific conditions shall achieve a net conservation benefit to any
impacted endangered and threatened species.
(e)  Upon  the  establishment  of  uniform  standards  and  conditions
required by this section and the promulgation of regulations  specifying
the content of an application for a major electric transmission facility
siting permit, an application for a major electric transmission facility
siting permit shall only be made pursuant to this article.
2. To the extent that adverse environmental impacts are not completely
addressed  by  uniform  standards and conditions and site-specific major
electric transmission facility  siting  permit  conditions  proposed  by
ORES,  and  ORES  determines  that  mitigation  of  such  impacts may be
achieved by off-site mitigation, ORES may require payment of  a  fee  by
the  applicant  to achieve such off-site mitigation. If ORES determines,

in consultation with the department of environmental conservation,  that
mitigation  of impacts to endangered or threatened species that achieves
a net conservation benefit can be achieved by off-site  mitigation,  the
amount to be paid for such off-site mitigation shall be set forth in the
final  major  electric  transmission  facility  siting  permit. ORES may
require  payment  of  funds  sufficient  to  implement   such   off-site
mitigation  into  the  endangered and threatened species mitigation bank
fund established pursuant to section ninety-nine-hh of the state finance
law.
3. ORES shall identify and make public the basis of  the  public  need
for  a  major  electric  transmission  facility in a written finding and
shall grant permits to such projects that demonstrate a qualified public
need, so long as the adverse environmental impacts of the  facility  are
identified  and  addressed  by  the  uniform  standards  and  conditions
promulgated pursuant  to  this  article  and  any  site-specific  permit
conditions  applied to the facility. The written finding of a basis of a
public need for a major  electric  transmission  facility  shall,  at  a
minimum, include whether the proposed project conforms to plans relating
to   the   expansion   or   upgrade  of  the  electric  power  grid  and
interconnected utility systems or was  included  or  considered  in  the
power  grid  study  required  pursuant  to  section seven of part JJJ of
chapter fifty-eight of the laws of  two  thousand  twenty  for  a  major
electric  transmission  facility. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this article to the contrary,  ORES  shall  only  grant  major  electric
transmission   facility  siting  permits  to  such  projects  that:  (i)
demonstrate a  qualified  public  need;  (ii)  are  in  the  public  and
ratepayer   interest;   and  (iii)  identify  and  address  the  adverse
environmental impacts of the facility pursuant to the uniform  standards
and   conditions   promulgated   pursuant   to   this  article  and  any
site-specific  major  electric  transmission  facility   siting   permit
conditions, or otherwise mitigated as provided in this article.
4.  ORES,  in consultation with the department, shall promulgate rules
and regulations with respect to all necessary requirements to  implement
the  siting  permit  program  established in this article and promulgate
modifications to such rules  and  regulations  as  it  deems  necessary;
provided that ORES shall promulgate regulations requiring the service of
applications  on  affected  municipalities  and  political  subdivisions
simultaneously with submission of an application.  Any  such  rules  and
regulations,  or  any  amendments  or  modifications  thereto,  shall be
subject to the approval of the commission before they become effective.
5. The office of renewable energy  siting  and  electric  transmission
shall  include  within its regulations a framework to ensure potentially
affected state- and federally-recognized indigenous nations are informed
and consulted with, as appropriate, when a facility is  proposed  within
the ancestral territories of such nations.
6.  After  the effective date of this section, any person intending to
construct a major electric  transmission  facility  excluded  from  this
section  pursuant  to  paragraph  (c) of subdivision five of section one
hundred forty-one of this article may elect to  become  subject  to  the
provisions  of this section by filing an application for a siting permit
pursuant to the regulations of ORES governing such applications.
* NB Repealed December 31, 2040