§ 139 — General provisions related to establishing standards related to siting major electric transmission facilities

* § 139. General provisions related to establishing standards related\nto siting major electric transmission facilities. 1. (a) Within twelve\nmonths of the effective date of this section, ORES shall, subject to the\napproval of the commission, in consultation with other offices within\nthe department, the New York state energy research and development\nauthority, the department of environmental conservation, the department\nof agriculture and markets, and other agencies with subject matter\nexpertise, establish a set of uniform standards and conditions for the\nsiting, design, construction, and operation of major electric\ntransmission facilities subject to this article relevant to issues that\nare common to such projects. Prior to adoption of uniform standards and\nconditions, the office of renewable energy siting and electric\ntransmissions shall hold four public hearings in different regions of\nthe state to solicit comment from municipal, or political subdivisions,\nand the public on proposed uniform standards and conditions to avoid,\nminimize or mitigate potential adverse environmental impacts from the\nsiting, design, construction and operation of a major electric\ntransmission facility.\n (b) The uniform standards and conditions established pursuant to this\nsection shall be designed to avoid or minimize, to the maximum extent\npracticable, any potential significant adverse environmental impacts\nrelated to the siting, design, construction, and operation of a major\nelectric transmission facility. Such uniform standards and conditions\nshall apply to those environmental impacts ORES determines are common to\nmajor electric transmission facilities.\n (c) The uniform standards and conditions established pursuant to this\nsection shall be designed to avoid, minimize, or mitigate to the maximum\nextent practicable, potential significant adverse impacts to land used\nin agricultural production, with additional consideration for land\nwithin an agricultural district or land that contain mineral soil groups\n1-4 as defined by the department of agriculture and markets.\n (d) In its review of an application for a major electric transmission\nfacility siting permit to develop a major electric transmission\nfacility, ORES, in consultation with the department of environmental\nconservation, shall identify those adverse site-specific environmental\nimpacts, if any, that may be caused or contributed to by a specific\nproposed major electric transmission facility and are unable to be\naddressed by the uniform standards and conditions. ORES shall draft in\nconsultation with the department of environmental conservation\nsite-specific major electric transmission facility siting permit terms\nand conditions for such impacts, including provisions for the avoidance\nor mitigation thereof, taking into account the CLCPA targets, the\nenvironmental benefits of, and public need for the proposed major\nelectric transmission facility; provided, however, that ORES shall\nrequire that the application of uniform standards and conditions and\nsite-specific conditions shall achieve a net conservation benefit to any\nimpacted endangered and threatened species.\n (e) Upon the establishment of uniform standards and conditions\nrequired by this section and the promulgation of regulations specifying\nthe content of an application for a major electric transmission facility\nsiting permit, an application for a major electric transmission facility\nsiting permit shall only be made pursuant to this article.\n 2. To the extent that adverse environmental impacts are not completely\naddressed by uniform standards and conditions and site-specific major\nelectric transmission facility siting permit conditions proposed by\nORES, and ORES determines that mitigation of such impacts may be\nachieved by off-site mitigation, ORES may require payment of a fee by\nthe applicant to achieve such off-site mitigation. If ORES determines,\nin consultation with the department of environmental conservation, that\nmitigation of impacts to endangered or threatened species that achieves\na net conservation benefit can be achieved by off-site mitigation, the\namount to be paid for such off-site mitigation shall be set forth in the\nfinal major electric transmission facility siting permit. ORES may\nrequire payment of funds sufficient to implement such off-site\nmitigation into the endangered and threatened species mitigation bank\nfund established pursuant to section ninety-nine-hh of the state finance\nlaw.\n 3. ORES shall identify and make public the basis of the public need\nfor a major electric transmission facility in a written finding and\nshall grant permits to such projects that demonstrate a qualified public\nneed, so long as the adverse environmental impacts of the facility are\nidentified and addressed by the uniform standards and conditions\npromulgated pursuant to this article and any site-specific permit\nconditions applied to the facility. The written finding of a basis of a\npublic need for a major electric transmission facility shall, at a\nminimum, include whether the proposed project conforms to plans relating\nto the expansion or upgrade of the electric power grid and\ninterconnected utility systems or was included or considered in the\npower grid study required pursuant to section seven of part JJJ of\nchapter fifty-eight of the laws of two thousand twenty for a major\nelectric transmission facility. Notwithstanding any other provision of\nthis article to the contrary, ORES shall only grant major electric\ntransmission facility siting permits to such projects that: (i)\ndemonstrate a qualified public need; (ii) are in the public and\nratepayer interest; and (iii) identify and address the adverse\nenvironmental impacts of the facility pursuant to the uniform standards\nand conditions promulgated pursuant to this article and any\nsite-specific major electric transmission facility siting permit\nconditions, or otherwise mitigated as provided in this article.\n 4. ORES, in consultation with the department, shall promulgate rules\nand regulations with respect to all necessary requirements to implement\nthe siting permit program established in this article and promulgate\nmodifications to such rules and regulations as it deems necessary;\nprovided that ORES shall promulgate regulations requiring the service of\napplications on affected municipalities and political subdivisions\nsimultaneously with submission of an application. Any such rules and\nregulations, or any amendments or modifications thereto, shall be\nsubject to the approval of the commission before they become effective.\n 5. The office of renewable energy siting and electric transmission\nshall include within its regulations a framework to ensure potentially\naffected state- and federally-recognized indigenous nations are informed\nand consulted with, as appropriate, when a facility is proposed within\nthe ancestral territories of such nations.\n 6. After the effective date of this section, any person intending to\nconstruct a major electric transmission facility excluded from this\nsection pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision five of section one\nhundred forty-one of this article may elect to become subject to the\nprovisions of this section by filing an application for a siting permit\npursuant to the regulations of ORES governing such applications.\n * NB Repealed December 31, 2040\n