§ 144 — Powers of municipalities and state agencies and authorities

* § 144. Powers of municipalities and state agencies and authorities.\n1. Applicants shall, prior to filing an application, conduct meetings\nwith the respective chief executive officer of all municipalities in\nwhich the proposed major renewable generation facility or major electric\ntransmission facility will be located. The applicant shall provide as\npart of the application presentation materials and a summary of\nquestions raised, and responses provided during such meetings with\nmunicipalities. In the event the applicant is unable to secure a meeting\nwith a relevant municipality the application shall contain a detailed\nexplanation of all of the applicant's best efforts and reasonable\nattempts to secure such meeting, including, but not limited to, written\ncommunications between the applicant and the municipality.\n 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including without\nlimitation article eight of the environmental conservation law and\narticle VII of this chapter, no other state agency, department or\nauthority, or any municipality or political subdivision or any agency\nthereof may, except as expressly authorized under this article or the\nrules and regulations promulgated under this article, require any\napproval, consent, permit, certificate, contract, agreement, or other\ncondition for the development, design, construction, operation, or\ndecommissioning of a major renewable energy facility or a major electric\ntransmission facility with respect to which an application for a siting\npermit has been filed, provided in the case of a municipality, political\nsubdivision or an agency thereof, such entity has received notice of the\nfiling of the application therefor. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the\ndepartment of environmental conservation shall be the permitting agency\nfor permits issued pursuant to federally delegated or federally approved\nprograms.\n 3. This section shall not impair or abrogate any federal, state or\nlocal labor laws or any otherwise applicable state law for the\nprotection of employees engaged in the construction and operation of a\nmajor renewable energy facility or major electric transmission facility.\n 4. ORES and the department shall monitor, enforce and administer\ncompliance with any terms and conditions set forth in a siting permit\nissued pursuant to this article and in doing so may use and rely on\nauthority otherwise available under this chapter.\n * NB Repealed December 31, 2040\n