Requires the New York state energy research and development authority to establish a do-not-solicit solar development statewide registry prohibiting solar solicitors from contacting persons who are included on such registry; establishes requirements for solar solicitors who make solar marketing sales calls, electronic messaging, and on-premises sales appeals to customers in New York state; establishes penalties for violations.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6887
SPONSOR: Lupardo TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to establishing
a do-not-solicit solar development statewide registry prohibiting solar
solicitors from contacting persons who are included on such registry
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To establish a mechanism to prevent the harassment of farmers and farm
businesses by solar developers.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Adds a new section (51885) to the Public Authorities law
which:
1.Defines solar developer, solar solicitor, commercial purposes, custom-
er, doing business in this state, unsolicited solar development call,
caller identification information, caller identification service, elec-
tronic messaging, and on-premises sales appeal.
2. Prohibits solar solicitation outside the hours of 8 A.M. through 7
P.M. and requires that solar solicitors identify themselves and on whose
behalf they are soliciting.
2-A. Prohibits the use of false caller identification information by
solar solicitors.
3. Authorizes NYSERDA to create and operate a do-not-solicit solar
development registry.
4. Prohibits solar solicitors from making unsolicited solar development
calls to anyone whose name and contact information is on the do-not-sol-
icit solar development registry.
4-A. Prohibits solar solicitation calls in an area under a declared
state of emergency.
5. Prohibits solar solicitors from making pre-recorded calls to custom-
ers in the State.
6. Requires solar solicitors to inform customers that they may add their
name to the seller's entity-specific do-not-solicit registry.
7. Prohibits solar solicitors or developers from sharing customer's
contact information.
8. Requires solar solicitors or developers to keep records of their
solicitation activities for 60 months.
9. Requires NYSERDA to inform customers of the establishment of the
do-not-solicit solar registry.
10. Authorizes NYSERDA to request in writing a solar solicitor's or
developer's documents in relation to a suspected violation and author-
izes the authority to issue subpoenas in cases of noncompliance.
11. Provides for the punishment of solar developers who are found to
have violated the provisions of this section: for the first violation,
the offending developer shall be fined $11,000; for the second
violation, they shall be fined $22,000; and for the third violation, the
offending developer shall have their development permits revoked and
have their company placed on a registry with other offending developers.
12. Authorizes NYSERDA to promulgate rules and regulations for the
administration of this section.
13. Provides for severability if any clause, sentence, paragraph, or
part of this section be invalidated that the remainder of the section
remain valid.
Section 2: Establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York is leading the country in the fight against the climate crisis.
While it is imperative that we scale renewable energy quickly, it must
not come at the cost of our food supply and finite agricultural
resources. Farmland across New York State is at great risk due to pres-
sures from solar development and many farmers and farm businesses,
specifically small and midsized family farms, have experienced harass-
ment and coercion tactics to sell or lease their land. This farmland is
often the easiest and cheapest land for developers to site for solar;
meanwhile, federal policy and global food market volatility have hurt
many of New York's agricultural businesses. This confluence of factors
has made the agriculture industry a prime target for predatory solicita-
tion.
Creating a do-not-solicit solar development registry will alleviate the
pressures put on farmers who do not want to sell or lease their land.
This, in turn, may protect local farmland and help ensure a regional,
safe food supply for the future and guarantee that the development of
solar projects on farmland is above board.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
The fiscal implications are still to be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6887
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Energy
AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to establishing
a do-not-solicit solar development statewide registry prohibiting
solar solicitors from contacting persons who are included on such
registry
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new
2 section 1885 to read as follows:
3 § 1885. Solar solicitation; establishment of do-not-solicit solar
4 development statewide registry. 1. As used in this section, the follow-
5 ing terms shall have the following meanings:
6 (a) "President" means the president of the New York state energy
7 research and development authority.
8 (b) "Solar developer" means a business that finances, installs, owns,
9 operates and/or maintains solar panels for the purposes of generating
10 electricity.
11 (c) "Solar solicitor" means any person who, for financial profit or
12 commercial purposes in connection with solar development, makes solar
13 marketing sales calls, electronic messaging, or on-premises sales
14 appeals to a customer when the customer is in this state or any person
15 who directly controls or supervises the conduct of a solar solicitor.
16 (d) "Commercial purposes" means the sale or offer for sale or lease of
17 property for the purposes of constructing major solar energy generation
18 projects.
19 (e) "Customer" means any natural person who is a resident of this
20 state and who is or may be offered payment for portions of land for the
21 purposes of the installation of solar panels for electricity generation.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10605-03-3
A. 6887 2
1 (f) "Doing business in this state" means conducting solar solicitation
2 calls: (i) from a location in this state; or (ii) from a location
3 outside of this state to consumers residing in this state.
4 (g) "Unsolicited solar development call" means any solar solicitation
5 call, electronic messaging, or on-premises appeal other than a call,
6 electronic message or on-premises appeal:
7 (i) in response to an express written or verbal request by the custom-
8 er; or
9 (ii) in connection with an established business relationship, which
10 has not been terminated by either party, unless such customer has stated
11 to the solar solicitor that such customer no longer wishes to receive
12 the solar solicitation calls of such solar solicitor.
13 (h) "Caller identification information" means information provided by
14 a caller identification service regarding the telephone number and name
15 of the person calling.
16 (i) "Caller identification service" means a service that allows a
17 telephone subscriber to have the telephone number, and, where available,
18 name of the calling party transmitted contemporaneously with the tele-
19 phone call, and displayed on a device in or connected to the subscrib-
20 er's telephone.
21 (j) "Electronic messaging" means: real-time or near real-time non-
22 voice messages in text form over communications networks, and includes
23 the transmission of writing, signs, signals, pictures, and sounds of all
24 kinds by aid of wire, cable or other like connection between the points
25 of origin and reception of such transmission; or an electronic message
26 or an executable program or computer file that contains an image of a
27 message that is transmitted between two or more computers or electronic
28 terminals. Such term shall include electronic messages that are trans-
29 mitted within or between computer networks.
30 (k) "On-premises sales appeals" means in-person communication taking
31 place at or in the vicinity of the customer's residence or the land
32 which the solar solicitor is offering to purchase or lease.
33 2. No solar solicitor shall engage in solar solicitation at any time
34 other than between 8:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. at the location of the
35 customer unless the customer has given their express consent to the call
36 at a different time. Solar solicitors shall provide, in a clear and
37 coherent manner using words with common and everyday meanings, at the
38 beginning of each solar solicitation call all of the following informa-
39 tion, provided that the information set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b)
40 of this subdivision shall be given to the customer first:
41 (a) the solar solicitor's name and the person on whose behalf the
42 solicitation is being made, if other than the solar solicitor;
43 (b) the option to be automatically added to the seller's entity
44 specific do-not-solicit list, as required by subdivision three of this
45 section;
46 (c) whether the call is being recorded; and
47 (d) the purpose of the telephone call.
48 2-a. It shall be unlawful for any solar solicitor to knowingly cause
49 any caller identification service to transmit misleading, inaccurate, or
50 false caller identification information, provided that it shall not be a
51 violation of this section to substitute (for the name and phone number
52 used in, or billed for, making the call) the name or telephone number of
53 the person or seller on behalf of which a solar solicitation call is
54 placed.
55 3. The authority is authorized to establish, manage, and maintain a
56 do-not-solicit solar development statewide registry which shall contain
A. 6887 3
1 a list of customers who do not wish to receive unsolicited solar solic-
2 itation calls. The authority may contract with a private vendor to
3 establish, manage and maintain such a registry, and such contract shall
4 require the vendor to provide the no solar solicitation calls registry
5 in a printed hard copy format and in any other format as prescribed by
6 the authority.
7 4. No solar solicitor may make or cause to be made any unsolicited
8 solar development call to any customer when such customer's telephone
9 number, email address, address of the customer's residence or address of
10 the land which the solar solicitor is offering to purchase or lease has
11 been on the statewide do-not-solicit registry established by the author-
12 ity for a period of thirty-one days prior to the date the call is made.
13 4-a. It shall be unlawful for any solar solicitor doing business in
14 this state to knowingly make an unsolicited solar development call to
15 any person in a county, city, town or village under a declared local
16 state of emergency, pursuant to section twenty-four of the executive
17 law, or state declared disaster emergency, pursuant to section twenty-
18 eight of the executive law.
19 5. No solar solicitor shall initiate any solar solicitation call by
20 means of a technology that delivers a pre-recorded message, unless the
21 solar solicitor has obtained from the customer an express agreement, in
22 writing that:
23 (a) the solar solicitor obtained only after a clear and conspicuous
24 disclosure that the purpose of the agreement is to authorize the devel-
25 oper to make solar solicitation calls to such customer;
26 (b) the solar solicitor obtained without requiring, directly or indi-
27 rectly, that the agreement be executed as a condition of selling or
28 leasing portions of land for the purposes of the installation of solar
29 panels for electricity generation;
30 (c) evidences the willingness of the customer to receive solar solic-
31 itation calls by or made on behalf of a specific seller; and
32 (d) includes such customer's telephone number and signature.
33 6. In the case of any solar solicitation call made by a natural
34 person, the solar solicitor shall inform the customer that they may
35 request that their telephone number, email address, address of the
36 customer's residence or address of the land which the solar solicitor is
37 offering to purchase or lease be added to the seller's entity specific
38 do-not-solicit registry. If the customer opts to do so, the solar soli-
39 citor shall immediately end the call and shall add the number called to
40 such list or cause the number called to be added to such list.
41 7. No solar solicitor or developer shall transmit, share, or otherwise
42 make available any customer's contact information, including name, tele-
43 phone number, or email address, which has been provided to such solar
44 solicitor or developer by such customer, to any person, corporation, or
45 other entity without the express agreement of the consumer in writing or
46 in electronic format, unless otherwise required by law, or pursuant to a
47 lawful subpoena or court order.
48 8. Solar solicitors or developers shall keep records relating to its
49 solicitation activities for a period of sixty months from the date the
50 record is created.
51 9. (a) The authority shall provide notice to customers of the estab-
52 lishment of the statewide do-not-solicit registry. Any customer who
53 wishes to be included on such registry shall notify the authority in the
54 manner provided for by the authority.
55 (b) Any company that provides local telephone directories to customers
56 in this state shall inform its customers of the provisions of this
A. 6887 4
1 section by means of publishing a notice in such local telephone directo-
2 ries.
3 10. When the authority has reason to believe a solar solicitor or
4 developer has engaged in repeated unlawful acts in violation of this
5 section, or when a notice of hearing has been issued pursuant to subdi-
6 vision eleven of this section, the authority may request in writing the
7 production of relevant documents and records as part of its investi-
8 gation. If the person upon whom such request was made fails to produce
9 the documents or records within thirty days after the date of the
10 request, the authority may issue and serve subpoenas to compel the
11 production of such documents and records. If any person shall refuse to
12 comply with a subpoena issued under this section, the authority may
13 petition a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the subpoena and
14 such sanctions as the court may direct.
15 11. (a) Where it is determined after hearing that any person has
16 violated one or more provisions of this section, the president, or his
17 or her designee, may assess a fine of eleven thousand dollars for each
18 violation.
19 (b) Where it is determined after hearing that any person has, on a
20 second, separate occasion violated one or more provisions of this
21 section, the president, or their designee, may assess a fine of twenty-
22 two thousand dollars for each violation.
23 (c) Where it is determined after hearing that any person has, on a
24 third, separate occasion violated one or more provisions of this
25 section, the authority in conjunction with the office for renewable
26 energy siting, shall revoke any development permits for the solar devel-
27 oper and place their name on a public registry, created by the authori-
28 ty, of companies that have repeatedly violated the provisions of this
29 section.
30 (d) Any proceeding conducted pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdi-
31 vision shall be subject to the state administrative procedure act.
32 (e) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to restrict any
33 right which any person may have under any other law, rule or regulation.
34 12. The authority shall promulgate rules and regulations for the
35 administration of this section.
36 13. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this
37 section shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be
38 invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the
39 remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause,
40 sentence, paragraph or part thereof directly involved in the controversy
41 in which such judgment shall have been rendered.
42 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
43 have become a law.
