Requires ad hoc members to be appointed in order to constitute a quorum on the board of electric generating facilities; includes ad hoc members as part of the board.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4294
SPONSOR: Morinello TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public service law, in relation to the need of ad
hoc members to be appointed to constitute a quorum on the board of elec-
tric generating facilities
PURPOSE:
To ensure that the siting board for an electric generating facility
cannot meet until local ad hoc members are appointed.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 removes language in the public service law that allows a
siting board to exclude ad hoc siting board members from siting board
decisions. It also amends the public service law to define what consti-
tutes a quorum in meetings of the siting board.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Under current law, the siting board for a proposed electric generating
facility is composed of five executive agency heads and two local ad hoc
members from the towns where the project is proposed to be built. The
host municipalities nominate lists of possible ad hoc members. The
Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker each appoint one ad hoc
member from these lists but must do so within 30 days of their nomi-
nation. If either chamber leader fails to make an appointment within 30
days, then their ability to make an appointment is forfeited and given
to the Governor.
If the Governor does not make an appointment within 45 days, then the
siting board may meet and conduct, business despite not having any local
members.
Ad hoc members serve the purpose of ensuring local voices are repres-
ented on siting boards. Without ad hoc members, siting decisions are
made solely by Albany bureaucrats in offices hundreds of miles from the
communities impacted by these projects. There have been instances like
Niagara County's Bear Ridge Solar Project, where legislative leaders and
the Governor all failed to make ad hoc member appointments. Failing to
make a nomination effectively serves as a pocket veto of local represen-
tation. This bill expresses our state's commitment to democracy and
local representation by establishing that siting boards may not conduct
business without local ad hoc members.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S.3059 referred to Energy and Telecommunications/A.4549
referred to Energy
2021-2022: S.7953 referred to Energy and Telecommunications/A.4549
referred to Energy
2019-2020: S.6338 referred to Energy and Telecommunications/A.8311
referred to Energy
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4294
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MORINELLO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Energy
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to the need of ad
hoc members to be appointed to constitute a quorum on the board of
electric generating facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 161 of the public service
2 law, as added by chapter 388 of the laws of 2011, are amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. The board[, exclusive of the ad hoc members,] shall have the power
5 to adopt the rules and regulations relating to the procedures to be used
6 in certifying facilities under the provisions of this article, including
7 the suspension or revocation thereof, and shall further have the power
8 to seek delegation from the federal government pursuant to federal regu-
9 latory programs applicable to the siting of major electric facilities.
10 The chairperson, after consultation with the other members of the board
11 [exclusive of the ad hoc members], shall have exclusive jurisdiction to
12 issue declaratory rulings regarding the applicability of, or any other
13 question under, this article and rules and regulations adopted hereunder
14 and to grant requests for extensions or amendments to or transfers of
15 certificate terms and conditions, provided that no party to the proceed-
16 ing opposes such request for extensions or amendments within thirty days
17 of the filing of such request. Regulations adopted by the board may
18 provide for renewal applications for pollutant control permits to be
19 submitted to and acted upon by the department of environmental conserva-
20 tion following commercial operation of a certified facility. The board
21 shall not accept any pre-application preliminary scoping statement or
22 application for a certificate, or exercise any powers or functions until
23 the department of environmental conservation has promulgated rules and
24 regulations required by paragraphs (f) and (g) of subdivision one of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01226-01-5
A. 4294 2
1 section one hundred sixty-four of this article and section 19-0312 of
2 the environmental conservation law; provided however that the board
3 shall be authorized to adopt rules and regulations required by this
4 article.
5 2. Upon receipt of a pre-application preliminary scoping statement
6 under this article, the chair shall promptly notify the governor, the
7 president pro tem of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chief
8 executive officers representing the municipality and the county in which
9 the facility is proposed to be located, and, if such facility is
10 proposed to be located within the city of New York, the mayor of the
11 city of New York, as well as the chairperson of the community board and
12 the borough president representing the area in which the facility is
13 proposed to be located. One ad hoc member shall be appointed by the
14 president pro tem of the senate and one ad hoc member shall be appointed
15 by the speaker of the assembly from a list of candidates submitted to
16 them, in the following manner. If such facility is proposed to be
17 located outside of the city of New York, the chief executive officer
18 representing the municipality shall nominate four candidates and the
19 chief executive officer representing the county shall nominate four
20 candidates for consideration. If such facility is proposed to be located
21 outside of the city of New York and in a village located within a town,
22 the chief executive officer representing the town shall nominate four
23 candidates, the chief executive officer representing the county shall
24 nominate four candidates, and the chief executive officer representing
25 the village shall nominate four candidates for consideration. If such
26 facility is proposed to be located in the city of New York, the chair-
27 person of the community board, the borough president, and the mayor of
28 the city of New York shall each nominate four candidates for consider-
29 ation. Nominations shall be submitted to the president pro tem of the
30 senate and the speaker of the assembly within fifteen days of receipt of
31 notification of the pre-application preliminary scoping statement. In
32 the event that the president pro tem of the senate does not appoint one
33 of the candidates within thirty days of such nominations, the governor
34 shall appoint the ad hoc member from the list of candidates. In the
35 event that the speaker of the assembly does not appoint one of the
36 candidates within thirty days of such nominations, the governor shall
37 appoint the ad hoc member from the list of candidates. [In the event
38 that one or both of the ad hoc public members have not been appointed
39 within forty-five days, a majority of persons named to the board shall
40 constitute a quorum] A majority of persons named to the board shall not
41 constitute a quorum unless both of the ad hoc public members have been
42 appointed.
43 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
