2023 New York Laws › PBS - Public Service › Article 8 - Siting of Renewable Energy and Electric Transmission › 142 - Application, Notice, and Review Relating to Major Renewable Energy Facility Siting.

* § 142. Application,  notice,  and review relating to major renewable
  energy facility siting. 1. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, ORES
  shall, within sixty days of its receipt of an application for  a  siting
  permit with respect to a major renewable energy facility subject to this
  article  determine  whether  the  application is complete and notify the
  applicant of its determination. If ORES does not  deem  the  application
  complete, ORES shall set forth in writing delivered to the applicant the
  reasons  why it has determined the application to be incomplete. If ORES
  fails to make  a  determination  within  the  foregoing  sixty-day  time
  period,  the  application  shall  be deemed complete; provided, however,
  that the applicant may consent to an extension  of  the  sixty-day  time
  period for determining application completeness. Provided, further, that
  no  application  may  be complete without proof of consultation with the
  municipality or political subdivision where the project is  proposed  to
  be  located, or an agency thereof, prior to submission of an application
  to ORES, related to procedural and  substantive  requirements  of  local
  law.
2.  No  later  than  sixty  days  following  the  date  upon  which an
  application has been deemed complete, and  following  consultation  with
  any  relevant  state  agency or authority, ORES shall publish for public
  comment draft permit conditions prepared by the  office,  which  comment
  period  shall be for a minimum of sixty days from public notice thereof,
  or notice of intent to deny with reasons  thereof.  Such  public  notice
  shall  include,  but  shall not be limited to: (i) written notice to the
  municipalities or  political  subdivisions  in  which  such  project  is
  proposed to be located; (ii) publication in a newspaper or in electronic
  form,  having  general  circulation  in such municipalities or political
  subdivisions; (iii) posting the notice on the office of renewable energy
  siting and electric transmissions and the department's website; and (iv)
  written notice to each member of the legislature through whose  district
  the facility proposed in the application would be located.
3.  For  any  municipality, political subdivision or an agency thereof
  that has received notice of the filing of an  application,  pursuant  to
  regulations   promulgated   in   accordance   with   this  article,  the
  municipality or political subdivision or agency thereof shall within the
  timeframes established by this subdivision submit a  statement  to  ORES
  indicating  whether  the  proposed  project  is  designed  to  be sited,
  constructed and operated in compliance with applicable  local  laws  and
  regulations,  if  any,  concerning the environment, or public health and
  safety. In the event that a municipality, political  subdivision  or  an
  agency  thereof submits a statement to ORES that the proposed project is
  not designed to be sited, constructed or  operated  in  compliance  with
  local   laws  and  regulations  and  ORES  determines  not  to  hold  an
  adjudicatory  hearing  on   the   application,   ORES   shall   hold   a
  non-adjudicatory  public  hearing in or near one or more of the affected
  municipalities or  political  subdivisions.  In  any  such  adjudicatory
  hearing, ORES or the department, shall designate members of its staff to
  represent the public interest, including with respect to the application
  of local and state laws.
4.  If  public  comments on a draft permit condition published by ORES
  pursuant to this section, including comments provided by a  municipality
  or  political  subdivision  or agency thereof, landowners, or members of
  the public, raise a substantive and significant  issue,  as  defined  in
  regulations   adopted   pursuant   to   this   article,   that  requires
  adjudication, ORES shall promptly fix a date for an adjudicatory hearing
  to hear arguments and consider evidence with respect thereto.
5. Following the expiration of the public comment period set forth  in
  this  section,  and  following  the  conclusion  of a hearing undertaken

  pursuant to subdivision four of this section, ORES shall, in the case of
  a public comment period, issue a written summary of public comments  and
  an  assessment  of comments received, and in the case of an adjudicatory
  hearing,  the  executive  director  or  any person to whom the executive
  director has delegated  such  authority  shall  issue  a  final  written
  hearing report. A final siting permit may only be issued if ORES makes a
  finding  that the proposed project, together with any applicable uniform
  and site-specific standards and conditions, would comply with applicable
  laws and regulations. In making a final siting permit determination with
  respect to a major renewable energy facility,  ORES  may  elect  not  to
  apply,  in  whole  or  in  part,  any  local law or ordinance that would
  otherwise be applicable if it makes a finding that, as  applied  to  the
  proposed  facility,  it  is unreasonably burdensome in view of the CLCPA
  targets, and the environmental benefits.
6. Notwithstanding any other deadline made applicable by this section,
  ORES shall make a final decision on a major  renewable  energy  facility
  siting  permit  within one year from the date the application was deemed
  complete, or within six months from the date the application was  deemed
  complete  if  such  application  relates  to  a  major  renewable energy
  facility that is proposed to  be  sited  on  an  existing  or  abandoned
  commercial  use,  including  without limitation, brownfields, landfills,
  former commercial  or  industrial  sites,  dormant  electric  generating
  sites,  and  abandoned  or  otherwise  underutilized  sites,  as further
  defined by the regulations  promulgated  by  or  in  effect  under  this
  article.  Unless  ORES and the applicant have agreed to an extension and
  if a final siting permit decision has not been made by ORES within  such
  time  period,  then  such  siting  permit  shall  be deemed to have been
  automatically granted for all purposes set forth in this article and all
  uniform conditions or site specific permit conditions issued for  public
  comment  shall  constitute  enforceable provisions of the siting permit;
  provided, however, any portion of which is to be located on the land  of
  a  landowner  for  which  the  applicant  lacks an existing right-of-way
  agreement or valid and enforceable lease or easement  for  use  of  such
  relevant  property,  no  such permit shall be automatically granted. The
  final siting permit related to a major renewable energy  facility  shall
  include  a provision requiring the permittee to provide a host community
  benefit, which may be a host community  benefit  as  determined  by  the
  commission  pursuant to section eight of part JJJ of chapter fifty-eight
  of the laws of two thousand twenty or such other project  as  determined
  by  ORES or as subsequently agreed to between the applicant and the host
  community.
* NB Repealed December 31, 2040