§ 3-C — Office of renewable energy siting and electric transmission

* § 3-c. Office of renewable energy siting and electric transmission.\n1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms\nshall have the following meanings:\n (a) "Executive director" or "director" shall mean the executive\ndirector of the office of renewable energy siting and electric\ntransmission.\n (b) "ORES" and "office" shall mean the office of renewable energy\nsiting and electric transmission established pursuant to this section.\n (c) "Siting permit" shall mean the major renewable energy facility\nsiting permit or major electric transmission facility permit issued by\nthe executive director pursuant to article VIII of this chapter, and the\nrules and regulations promulgated by ORES and approved by the\ncommission.\n 2. General powers and responsibilities. (a) There is hereby\nestablished in the department an office of renewable energy siting and\nelectric transmission.\n (b) ORES shall accept applications and evaluate, issue, amend, and\napprove the assignment and/or transfer of siting permits pursuant to\narticle VIII of this chapter. ORES shall exercise its authority by and\nthrough the executive director.\n (c) ORES, by and through the executive director, shall be authorized\nto conduct hearings and dispute resolution proceedings, issue permits,\nand adopt, subject to the approval of the public service commission,\nsuch rules, regulations and procedures as may be necessary, or any\namendments or modifications thereto, convenient, or desirable to\neffectuate the purposes of this section and article VIII of this\nchapter.\n (d) ORES shall, among other things, continue unimpeded the work of the\noffice of renewable energy siting established under the former section\nninety-four-c of the executive law. All permits issued by the former\noffice of renewable energy siting, established pursuant to former\nsection ninety-four-c of the executive law, and all certificates of\nenvironmental compatibility and public need issued by the commission\npursuant to article VII of this chapter shall be considered for all\nlegal purposes to be permits issued by ORES.\n (e) All final siting permits issued by ORES or heretofore issued by\nthe office of renewable energy siting established pursuant to the former\nsection ninety-four-c of the executive law are hereby enforceable by\nORES and the department pursuant to section twenty-four, section\ntwenty-five, and section twenty-six of this article as if issued by the\ncommission, except that such permits issued to combination gas and\nelectric corporations are also enforceable by ORES and the department\npursuant to section twenty-five-a of this article. ORES and the\ndepartment shall monitor, enforce, and administer compliance with any\nterms and conditions set forth in a siting permit issued pursuant to\narticle VIII of this chapter and in doing so may use and rely on\nauthority provided to the commission otherwise available under this\nchapter. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the\nholder of a certificate or permit issued under article VIII of this\nchapter, or a predecessor statute thereto, for a major renewable energy\nfacility with an electric generating capacity between twenty-five and\neighty megawatts or that otherwise opts into article VIII of this\nchapter is subject to enforcement by ORES or the department pursuant to\nsections twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six of this article.\n (f) At the request of ORES, all other state agencies and authorities\nare hereby authorized to provide support and render services to the\noffice within their respective functions.\n * NB Repealed December 31, 2040\n