§ 161 — General provisions relating to the board

§ 161. General provisions relating to the board. 1. The board,\nexclusive of the ad hoc members, shall have the power to adopt the rules\nand regulations relating to the procedures to be used in certifying\nfacilities under the provisions of this article, including the\nsuspension or revocation thereof, and shall further have the power to\nseek delegation from the federal government pursuant to federal\nregulatory programs applicable to the siting of major electric\nfacilities. The chairperson, after consultation with the other members\nof the board exclusive of the ad hoc members, shall have exclusive\njurisdiction to issue declaratory rulings regarding the applicability\nof, or any other question under, this article and rules and regulations\nadopted hereunder and to grant requests for extensions or amendments to\nor transfers of certificate terms and conditions, provided that no party\nto the proceeding opposes such request for extensions or amendments\nwithin thirty days of the filing of such request. Regulations adopted by\nthe board may provide for renewal applications for pollutant control\npermits to be submitted to and acted upon by the department of\nenvironmental conservation following commercial operation of a certified\nfacility. The board shall not accept any pre-application preliminary\nscoping statement or application for a certificate, or exercise any\npowers or functions until the department of environmental conservation\nhas promulgated rules and regulations required by paragraphs (f) and (g)\nof subdivision one of section one hundred sixty-four of this article and\nsection 19-0312 of the environmental conservation law; provided however\nthat the board shall be authorized to adopt rules and regulations\nrequired by this article.\n 2. Upon receipt of a pre-application preliminary scoping statement\nunder this article, the chair shall promptly notify the governor, the\npresident pro tem of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chief\nexecutive officers representing the municipality and the county in which\nthe facility is proposed to be located, and, if such facility is\nproposed to be located within the city of New York, the mayor of the\ncity of New York, as well as the chairperson of the community board and\nthe borough president representing the area in which the facility is\nproposed to be located. One ad hoc member shall be appointed by the\npresident pro tem of the senate and one ad hoc member shall be appointed\nby the speaker of the assembly from a list of candidates submitted to\nthem, in the following manner. If such facility is proposed to be\nlocated outside of the city of New York, the chief executive officer\nrepresenting the municipality shall nominate four candidates and the\nchief executive officer representing the county shall nominate four\ncandidates for consideration. If such facility is proposed to be located\noutside of the city of New York and in a village located within a town,\nthe chief executive officer representing the town shall nominate four\ncandidates, the chief executive officer representing the county shall\nnominate four candidates, and the chief executive officer representing\nthe village shall nominate four candidates for consideration. If such\nfacility is proposed to be located in the city of New York, the\nchairperson of the community board, the borough president, and the mayor\nof the city of New York shall each nominate four candidates for\nconsideration. Nominations shall be submitted to the president pro tem\nof the senate and the speaker of the assembly within fifteen days of\nreceipt of notification of the pre-application preliminary scoping\nstatement. In the event that the president pro tem of the senate does\nnot appoint one of the candidates within thirty days of such\nnominations, the governor shall appoint the ad hoc member from the list\nof candidates. In the event that the speaker of the assembly does not\nappoint one of the candidates within thirty days of such nominations,\nthe governor shall appoint the ad hoc member from the list of\ncandidates. In the event that one or both of the ad hoc public members\nhave not been appointed within forty-five days, a majority of persons\nnamed to the board shall constitute a quorum.\n 3. In addition to the requirements of the public officers law, no\nperson shall be eligible to be an appointee to the board who holds\nanother state or local office. No member of the board may retain or hold\nany official relation to, or any securities of an electric utility\ncorporation operating in the state or proposed for operation in the\nstate, any affiliate thereof or any other company, firm, partnership,\ncorporation, association or joint-stock association that may appear\nbefore the board, nor shall either of the appointees have been a\ndirector, officer or, within the previous ten years, an employee\nthereof. The ad hoc appointees shall receive the sum of two hundred\ndollars for each day in which they are actually engaged in the\nperformance of their duties pursuant to this article plus actual and\nnecessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of such duties.\nThe chairperson shall provide such personnel, hearing examiners,\nsubordinates and employees and such legal, technological, scientific,\nengineering and other services and such meeting rooms, hearing rooms and\nother facilities as may be required in proceedings under this article.\nThe board under the direction of the chairperson, may provide for its\nown representation and appearance in all actions and proceedings\ninvolving any question under this article. The department of\nenvironmental conservation shall provide associate hearing examiners.\nEach member of the board other than the ad hoc appointees may designate\nan alternate to serve instead of the member with respect to all\nproceedings pursuant to this article. Such designation shall be in\nwriting and filed with the chairperson.\n