New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 4 - Executive Orders (Mario M. Cuomo) › Section 4.141 - Executive order no. 141: authorizing the citizen's utility board access to state agency mailings

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, the availability of adequate and affordable
					 utility service for all residential customers is necessary for the preservation
					 of the health and general welfare of the citizens of this State;
WHEREAS, it is the policy of this State to foster and
					 encourage citizen participation in utility matters and to facilitate effective
					 representation and advocacy of the interests of residential utility customers
					 in the regulatory process to ensure that public policies affecting the
					 provision, quality and cost of utility service fairly reflect the needs and
					 concerns of those customers;
WHEREAS, individual participation by residential utility
					 customers in the regulatory process is impracticable because of the expertise
					 required and the disproportionate expense of taking such action;
WHEREAS, the Public Service Commission found, in Case
					 28655, that the establishment of a Citizens' Utility Board ("CUB") would allow
					 residential customers to participate collectively and directly in the
					 regulatory process and would further their interests; and
WHEREAS, the Public Service Commission also found that
					 providing a CUB limited access to mailings directed to residential utility
					 customers in order to facilitate increased utility consumer representation
					 would be in the public interest;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mario M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
					 New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Laws
					 of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows:
1. A single statewide CUB that is certified
				  by the Department of Public Service, pursuant to procedures established by the
				  Department of Public Service and consistent with the criteria considered in
				  Case 28655, as a single statewide entity representing the interests of
				  residential utility customers throughout New York State and open to membership
				  by all such customers, shall have access to State agency mailings under the
				  conditions contained in this Executive Order.
2. Certification of the CUB with an interim
				  board of directors by the Department of Public Service, with direction as to
				  the replacement of the interim board with a permanent board elected by the
				  members, shall comply with the certification requirement.
3. For any mailing by a State agency of the
				  same or a substantially similar type of document to more than 50,000 people in
				  one year, the State agency shall, upon request by the statewide CUB, include
				  enclosures prepared and provided by the CUB under the following conditions:
The CUB must provide the appropriate agency or agencies
					 with its proposed enclosure at a time reasonably in advance of the
					 mailing;
The total number of State mailings to which the CUB may
					 have access shall not exceed four in any calendar year, provided that a series
					 or group of the same or substantially similar mailings to over 50,000 people
					 over the course of a 12-month period shall be considered one mailing for such
					 purposes. In addition, the CUB shall not have access to such mailings three
					 years after the election of the first permanent board of directors or other
					 equivalent entity, unless the Department of Public Service determines that
					 additional access is necessary;
Enclosures proposed by the CUB shall be limited to
					 providing the following information:
the purpose, history, nature, activities and achievements
					 of the CUB;
that membership in the CUB is open to residential utility
					 customers;
that the CUB is not connected to any utility company or
					 governmental entity;
that the CUB is a not-for-profit corporation directed by
					 its consumer members;
the procedure for contributing to or becoming a member of
					 the CUB; and
the yearly membership fee.
4. Upon furnishing a proposed enclosure to a
				  State agency for mailing, the CUB shall certify that the proposed enclosure:
is not false or misleading; and
is limited to the information permitted in paragraph 3(c)
					 of this Executive Order.
A State agency may rely on the CUB's certification and is
					 not required to investigate the basis for the certification.
However, in the event a State agency requested by the CUB
					 to include an enclosure in the agency's mailing reviews the certification and
					 the proposed enclosure and determines that the proposed enclosure does not meet
					 requirements a) and b) of this paragraph, the agency shall return the enclosure
					 to the CUB for revision. If the agency and the CUB are unable to agree on a
					 revision, the agency or the CUB may submit the enclosure to the Department of
					 Public Service. If the Department determines that the proposed enclosure is
					 suitable for mailing pursuant to requirements a) and b) of this paragraph, the
					 agency shall include the enclosure in its mailing. The Department shall make a
					 determination promptly, but in no event later than 30 days after its receipt of
					 the enclosure.
5. The CUB
				  shall reimburse any State agency that mails a CUB enclosure for any reasonable
				  incremental costs incurred by the State agency in complying with this Executive
				  Order above the agency's normal postage and handling costs, provided that:
such State agency shall first furnish the CUB with an
					 itemized accounting of such incremental costs;
the CUB shall not be required to reimburse such State
					 agency for postage costs if the weight of the CUB's enclosure does not increase
					 the cost of the mailing. If the CUB's enclosure increases the cost of the
					 mailing, then it will be required to reimburse the State agency for postage
					 costs over and above what the agency's postage costs would have been without
					 the CUB's enclosure.
6. In
				  order to facilitate the CUB's access to State mailings without the imposition
				  of unnecessary incremental expenses, upon the CUB's request, a State agency
				  shall furnish the CUB with an accurate description and/or cost estimate of an
				  eligible mailing, including the weight and size of the mailing, prior to
				  sending the mailing. The description and/or cost estimate must be provided only
				  to the extent reasonably practicable in consideration of the time necessary to
				  respond to the CUB's request and the need to proceed with a given
				  mailing.
7. The requirement that
				  State agencies afford the CUB access to mailings does not require any State
				  agency to provide the CUB with a listing of the names or addresses of the
				  individuals to whom the mailing is sent nor does it abrogate, modify or in any
				  way affect existing confidentiality or privacy protections that apply to
				  information held by State agencies.
8. For purposes of this order, "State agency"
				  and "agency" means any department, board, bureau, commission, division, office,
				  council, committee, officer, institution or entity of the State, except that
				  the Public Service Commission and the Department of Public Service shall not be
				  considered State agencies for purposes of this Executive Order.
Signed: Mario M. CuomoDated: Jan. 3, 1991
[FN*] [Revoked and superseded by Executive Order No. 19
					 (George E. Pataki), §
											5.19, infra.]
[FN[DAGGER]] [Revoked by Executive Order No. 5 (Eliot
					 Spitzer), infra.]
[Revoked by Executive Order No. 9 (David A. Paterson),
					 infra.]
[Revoked by Executive Order No. 2 (Andrew M. Cuomo),
					 infra.]